Approach

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Humans, across time and cultures, have always felt the need to create — and how this creativity can become a transformative force in shaping individuals and communities alike is what we seek to investigate. By engaging with the anthropological roots of art, we emphasize the importance of looking beyond the artistic object itself. We believe that art has the power to reshape limiting cultural frameworks, dissolve feelings of separation, and create space for new perspectives.

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Art-Based Research (ABR) methods provide a crucial set of tools that enable us to explore these themes in dynamic and innovative ways. ABR draws from diverse art forms — literary writing, music, dance, performance, visual arts, and film — allowing us to address research questions in holistic and deeply engaged ways where theory and practice are intertwined.

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ABR methods adapt the tenets of the creative arts in order to address research questions in holistic and engaged ways in which theory and practice are intertwined (Leavy, 2020). This interdisciplinary and inclusive approach allows us to open new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. The methods we use include, but are not limited to:

 

• Literary forms: Short stories, novels, experimental writing, graphic novels, comics, poems

• Visual arts: Collages, paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, video art

• Textile arts: Quilts, needlework, especially in indigenous research

• Performing arts: Performance scripts, theatrical performances, dances

• Multimedia: Films, songs, musical scores

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Our approach to creativity focuses on the anthropological aspects of human exchange, particularly rituals, celebrations, and gifts. In this way, we aim to understand how individual sensitivities relate to collective experiences through shared creative intentions, which can ultimately reshape limiting cultural frameworks and dissolve feelings of separation which can ultimately reshape limiting cultural frameworks and dissolve feelings of separation. By integrating diverse cultural behaviours in response to sensory experiences common to all humans, we seek to foster deeper connections and a more inclusive understanding of our shared humanity.