WIRE DOCTUS 2026 is an international seminar series that invites PhD candidates to reimagine decadence as a vibrant force for critique and creativity. Together, we will explore a rich constellation of themes — including artifice, sensuality, aesthetic excess, diversity, transgression, fluid gender, ambiguity, fantasy, and desire.
Through discussions and workshops, we will consider how decadence challenges conventions, opens new imaginative horizons, and offers transformative ways of seeing, feeling, and making.
Who: Doctoral candidates from FilmEU partner institutions are welcome to apply. A maximum of two mobility scholarships per institution will be awarded to support participation.
Please note: While applications for individual sessions are possible, priority will be given to candidates able to participate in the full three-session programme.
Where & When:
- Lisbon, Lusófona University – Cinema and Decadence: The New Relevance of an Old Topic - 13–14 April 2026
- Online session, hosted by NATFA Sofia – The Unbearable Lightness of Freedom - 4 May 2026
- Vilnius, LMTA – The Decadent Gaze as Method in Artistic Research - 26–27 May 2026
How to Apply: Please refer to the read more document for more details and submit your application via the registration form.
Deadline: 31.1.2026
Results: Will be communicated by 12.2.2026
Contact: ingrida.jasoniene@filmeu.eu
Selection process
Completed registration form must be submitted by 31 January. The selection will be carried out by an evaluation committee appointed by the organisers. Selected candidates will be informed by 12 February.
Applications will be evaluated based on:
- Relevance of the doctoral project to the DOCTUS thematic focus;
- Motivation and commitment to attend all three sessions;
- Potential benefit for the candidate’s research and/or artistic practice.
WIRE DOCTUS 2026: Media Arts and Decadence
In April-May in Lisbon, Vilnius and online, hosted by NATFA (SOFIA)
In 2026, WIRE DOCTUS: Media Arts and Decadence unfolds as a three-session international seminar series inviting PhD candidates and artistic researchers to explore decadence as a vibrant force for critique and creativity. Across lectures, screenings, discussions, and intensive workshops, the programme examines decadence as an aesthetic condition, a political gesture, and a methodological provocation within contemporary artistic research.
Session 1 | Lisbon
Cinema and Decadence: The New Relevance of an Old Topic
Lusófona University, Lisbon | 13–14 April 2026
The Lisbon session opens the DOCTUS 2026 programme by revisiting decadence through cinema, fashion, technology, and artistic research. It brings together leading scholars in decadence studies, screenings and discussions in a Decadent Film Club, an AI workshop that uses your PhD project to counter and challenge algorithmic bias, and a guided tour of the WIRE Artistic Research Exhibition.
Opening session & welcome remarks
- Victor Flores – DOCTUS organiser, Lusófona University
- Manuel José Damásio – WIRE Coordinator
Key contributors include:
- Giovanni Maria Conti (Politecnico di Milano)
- Bénédicte Coste (Université de Bourgogne Europe)
- Jane Desmarais (Goldsmiths, University of London)
- Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths, University of London)
- Catarina Patrício (Lusófona University)
Session 2 | Online (NATFA)
The Unbearable Lightness of Freedom
National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), Sofia | 4 May 2026
(Online session)
Building on the discussions initiated during the Lisbon session, this online seminar continues the DOCTUS 2026 programme by extending the exploration of decadence through the lens of freedom. PhD candidates will explore new, creative, and non-traditional methodological approaches to research in the field of arts, examining the connection between decadence and freedom as aesthetic conditions, political gestures, and methodological provocations within contemporary artistic research.
Key lecturer:
Elizaveta Boeva – Associate Professor at the Cinema & TV Department of New Bulgarian University and host of a specialised art programme on Bulgarian National Television.
Session 3 | Vilnius
The Decadent Gaze as Method in Artistic Research
LMTA, Vilnius | 26–27 May 2026
The Vilnius session combines a theoretical lecture by Dr. Kristupas Sabolius (a philosopher of cinema and imagination) and an intensive practice-based workshop to deepen participants’ artistic research. Focusing on decadent gaze as method, it brings philosophical reflection, hands-on experimentation with individual research material, and informal evening discussions that support critical exchange, reflection, and methodological development. The intensive workshop will be led by cinema artist and artistic researcher Miklos Tamas Ambrozy.
Opening session & welcome remarks
- Greta Grinevičiūtė – DOCTUS organiser, LMTA
Key contributors include:
- Kristupas Sabolius (Vilnius University)
- Miklos Tamas Ambrozy (LMTA)