Sally Jane Norman’s research spans performing arts, cultural theory, and technology.
Born in Aotearoa/ New Zealand in 1953, she studied music and dance there, and earned Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Canterbury. She pursued her research into interdisciplinary arts and performance in Paris with a Doctorat de 3ème cycle (PhD) followed by a Doctorat d’état ès Lettres et Sciences humaines the Institut d’Etudes théâtrales, Université de Paris III.
Parallel to publications including studies for the Laboratoire des Arts du Spectacle of the French Centre national de la recherche scientifique, UNESCO and the French Ministry of Culture, Sally Jane has run live performance workshops with digital tools at the International Institute of Puppetry in Charleville-Mézières, Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM) in Amsterdam, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, and European Festival of Digital Creation in Valenciennes. She organised the 1992 New Images and Museology Conference at the Louvre, and co-organised STEIM’s 1998 TOUCH Festival and Symposium in Amsterdam, and IRCAM’s Dance and Technology session at the 2003 Resonance Festival. Sally Jane worked on EU R&D projects at the ZKM before moving to the Ecole supérieure de l’image in France, where she served as Director General of both two sites (Angoulême/ Poitiers) of this unique arts education and research establishment, launching ESI’s pioneering Digital Arts Doctoral Programme with Poitiers University.
Since joining Newcastle University in September 2004, her efforts have been focussed on coordinating design and equipment for the Culture Lab refurbishment project, creating and participating in research networks at university, regional and national levels, and building links apt to consolidate Culture Lab’s unique standing within the international interdisciplinary arts and research community.
Sally Jane collaborates with many organisations dedicated to transdisciplinary research, including Hexagram and the Daniel Langlois Foundation in Montreal, the Telefonica Foundation in Madrid, and the International Symposium of Electronic Arts.
