Changing Identities and Contexts in the Arts marks the cooperation of six recognised European institutions of art. The coordinator, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, and the Universities of Leeds and Gothenburg participate with their artistic research units, and the Finnish National Gallery, Gothenburg Center for Contemporary Art and Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, represent national, institutional stakeholders of the art world.The project's prime objective is to open and encourage intercultural dialogue over the changes taken and taking place in the European conceptions of the artist. The prevailing image of 'artist' still lingers around the idea of a 'creative genius', inherited from the Romantic period, but the profession's real dimensions today are much more diverse: generator of new knowledge, writer and philosopher, organiser and manager, an active participant in societal debate.Through mapping, reflecting and analysing the trajectory of artist identities and their relation to institutions from the 19th century through modern times and current practices, and finally to the plethora of positions available in the future, the project functions as a generator of new knowledge produced by creative contemporary means.The project includes workshops for professionals in the cultural sector, public seminars and coinciding art exhibitions on artist identities in three different countries, and a benchmarking programme designed to further develop the European discipline of artistic research. An article collection with documentation of art works produced in the project will be published; the project will host a web portal on which all activities are advertised and documented and project results archived. The portal also functions as a shared platform for international dialogue in the European art communities.With support from Culture 2007-2013, Changing Identities and Contexts in the Arts will grow into a firmly rooted, sustained and creative European collaboration.