معرفی
Dr Sandra Johnston is a Lecturer in Fine Art (Performance) at Ulster University's Belfast School of Art within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. Her practice-based research investigates contested spaces through site-responsive performance, video installations, and collaborative improvisation frameworks.
Johnston's research centers on trauma of place, legal testimony systems, and embodied memory. Her AHRC Fellowship explored how collective memory connects to locations altered by violence, while her 2013 PhD research examined doubt, risk, and testimony through performance art processes in legal justice systems. Current work evolves these concerns toward healing through performance improvisation as self-sensing/self-knowing.
Her research output demonstrates significant trends in:
- Exploration of Belfast's contested urban spaces
- Interdisciplinary collaborations with activist networks
- Embodied approaches to memory retrieval
- Challenging rationality in legal processes through improvisation
- International presentation across Germany, Ireland, USA, and Denmark
Major scientific awards include:
- O'MALLEY VISUAL ARTS AWARD (2020)
- HAWKE EU CENTRE/HELPMANN ACADEMY FUNDING (2015)
- BBC 'POWER OF ART' commission (2007)
- DIVA funding award for SIGRID'S STUE residency (2011)
Johnston advises PhD researchers including Selina Bonelli and Celina Muldoon while securing substantial grants like the Arts Council Northern Ireland Travel Awards and British Council support for international collaborations. She co-edited the scholarly monograph Actional Poetics – ASH SHE HE on Alastair MacLennan's performance works. Her collaborative networks include Bbeyond (2002-present), AGENCY (2007-2009), and Vane Gallery (2018-2021), where she develops creative sustainability frameworks through facilitated workshops.
