Art practice with migrant women

Three challenges to rediscovering home

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7985754
AutoresMastoureh Fathi (0000-0002-7292-4187, University College Dublin), Rabia Nasimi (University College Dublin)
Ano2022
Volume21
Fascículo4
Páginas438-455
Data de publicação2022-04-29
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAction Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1476-7503 • E-ISSN: 1741-2617
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14767503221086531
OpenAlexW4225086342
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas39

The paper is based on an arts-based project that was aimed at understanding what ‘home’ means to migrant women in London. The project entailed teaching art techniques to 36 women participants and the active contribution of a large group of volunteers and research assistants. Women in the project were from various backgrounds but the majority were from Afghanistan. As such the project was conducted using multiple languages and a systematic collaboration among the research team members and between researchers and participants. This complex communication made the process of meaning-making of concept of home challenging. Three main challenges that were experienced in relation to this collaborative methodology have been identified and the strategies that were developed to address them are detailed. The three challenges in combining action research and arts methods that are discussed in this paper include: 1. Challenges about collective decision-making; 2. Challenges about the notions of progress and process; and 3. Challenges concerning stakeholders’ scope of experience. The paper offers a pathway towards working in contentious research settings between academia and community-based organisations in project that include participants from different backgrounds and speak various languages. We offer insights into how both researchers and participants can learn from challenges in deploying collaborative methodologies such as art practice in action research. We show here that incorporating art practice is a transformative action even when it is seen as far from an essential skill or unnecessary. Such action-oriented practices in research are directly related to United Nations’ sustainable development goals in reducing gender inequality and the opportunities that art practice can offer for quality education to marginalised groups in society

Action (physics · Action research · Engineering ethics · Meaning (existential · Pedagogy · Political science · Process (computing · Public relations · Scope (computer science · Sociology · The arts · Transformative learning · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Computer Science · Engineering · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics