The theme that is hopefully pervading this issue of the journal is "what is the role of the artefact in art and design research?" Being of an enquiring disposition that immediately raises two further questions in my mind: firstly, what does the question mean, and secondly how does this question arise?In terms of determining what the question means, the key term is artefact. We need to be clear about what is meant by artefact in this question in order to fully understand the question. What we have done is to select the definition of artefact from the Oxford English Dictionary which is quite broad. It does not only include objects. We are therefore not only interested in objects that arise in art and design production such as sculptures, paintings, architecture, etc., but also ephemeral outcomes such as performances, and intangibles such as music. It is characteristic of the Research into Practice conferences that they adopt an inclusive approach to disciplines close to art and design, and to provide a shared platform for discussion between artists, designers, architects, musicians, performance artists, dancers, etc. So our question asks how do these varied types of object contribute to research, and what part do they play in the advancement of the discipline?