Adrian Heathfield

Adrian Heathfield is a Professor of Performance and Visual Culture at the School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. His work bridges cultural theory, performance practice, and curatorial innovation, with a focus on the intersections of ethics, aesthetics, and temporality in contemporary art.

• Co-director of Performance Matters (AHRC-funded, 2009-2013)
• Marie Curie International Fellow at Columbia University (2014-2016)
• Curator of the Taiwan Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017)

Research interests center on performance as an interdisciplinary phenomenon, exploring ethics and aesthetics, theories of corporeality, memory and trauma, archival practices, affect theory, and temporalities. His work interrogates the spectator-artwork encounter and cultural knowledge production.

Key publications like Out of Now (2009) and Perform, Repeat, Record (2012) reveal his focus on ephemerality, historical documentation, and sensory experience. Recent films such as Outside Again (2019) and Spirit Labour (2019) extend these themes into collaborative visual works.

Scientific awards include

• Marie Curie International Fellowship (2014-2016)
• President of Performance Studies international (2004-2007)

As a supervisor, Adrian has guided 17 completed doctoral theses and currently oversees projects on materialism, sensory installation, ethics, experimental dramaturgy, and more. His practice-as-research spans curating, dialogues with artists, and film creation shown globally.