A1 Journal article (refereed)
Anchoring Belonging Through Material Practices in Participatory Arts-Based Research (2020)

Hiltunen, K., Sääskilahti, N., Vallius, A., Pöyhönen, S., Jäntti, S., & Saresma, T. (2020). Anchoring Belonging Through Material Practices in Participatory Arts-Based Research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 21(2), Article 25. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-21.2.3403

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Hiltunen, Kaisa; Sääskilahti, Nina; Vallius, Antti; Pöyhönen, Sari; Jäntti, Saara; Saresma, Tuija

Journal or series: Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung

ISSN: 1438-5627

eISSN: 1438-5627

Publication year: 2020

Volume: 21

Issue number: 2

Article number: 25

Publisher: Freie Universität Berlin

Publication country: Germany

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-21.2.3403

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/70229

Abstract

How do people understand belonging and what kinds of stances toward belonging do they take? What kind of knowledge or ways of knowing (EISNER, 2008) does artistic practice yield about belonging? We ask these questions in this article, which is based on the research project Crossing Borders, in which we used participatory arts-based methods to study belonging. We invited participants to explore the notion of belonging in three parallel workshops drawing on different art forms, film, writing and visual arts. The goal of the workshops was for each participant to produce an artwork that deals with belonging.In the article, we identify four stances that the participants expressed toward the concept of belonging and explore the ways in which their ideas were manifested in the artworks. We analyze the workshop discussions, the participants' interviews and the artworks, and demonstrate on both the conceptual and material level that artistic practice can provide extremely nuanced and situated knowledge, or ways of knowing, about belonging. We argue that the artworks anchor the ever-shifting stances into material forms and expressions. Artistic practice is thus one way of defining and contextualizing the fluid concept of belonging.

Keywords: participatory research; arts-based methods

Free keywords: belonging; arts-based research; artistic practice; collaboration; stance

Contributing organizations

Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2020

JUFO rating: 1