Arts-Based Methods for Decolonising Participatory Research

In an effort to challenge the ways in which colonial power relations and Eurocentric knowledges are reproduced in participatory research, this book explores whether and how it is possible to use arts-based methods for creating more horizontal and democratic research practices. In discussing both the transformative potential and limitations of arts-based methods, the book asks: What can arts-based methods contribute to decolonising participatory research andits processes and practices? The book takes part in ongoing debates related to the need to decolonise research, and investigates practical contributions of arts-based methods in the practice-led research domain. Further, it discusses the role of artistic research in depth, locating it in a decolonising context. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, design, fine arts, service design, social sciences and development studies.

1. Introduction: Arts-Based Methods for Decolonising Participatory Research Tiina Seppälä, Melanie Sarantou and Satu Miettinen SECTION I: Co-Creation, Collaboration, Movement 2. Co-Creation Through Quilting: Connected Entanglements and Disruptions With Care Vishnu Vardhani Rajan, Shyam Gadhavi and Marjaana Jauhola 3. In Touch With the Mindful Body: Moving With Women and Girls at the Za’atari Refugee Camp Susanna Hast 4. Towards Just Dance Research: An uMunthu Participatory and Performative Inquiry Into Malawian–Norwegian Entanglements Sunniva Hovde, Asante Smzy Maulidi and Tone Pernille Østern 5. Participatory Photography With Women’s Rights Activists in Nepal: Towards a Practice of Decolonial Feminist Solidarity? Tiina Seppälä SECTION II: Participatory Service Design 6. Archipelagos of Designing Through Ko -Ontological Encounters Yoko Akama 7. Building a Community Through Service Design and Responsiveness to Emotions Mariluz Soto Hormazábal, Katherine Mollenhauer, Satu Miettinen and Melanie Sarantou 8. Developing the Relational Dimension of Participatory Design Through Creativity-Based Methods Caoimhe Isha Beaulé, Solen Roth, Anne Marchand and Karine Awashish 9. Navigating Uncertainty: Developing the Facilitator’s Role Through Participatory Service Design Workshops Maija Rautiainen, Michelle Van Wyk and Satu Miettinen SECTION III: Artistic Research and Practice 10. Decoloniality of Knowing and Being: Artistic Research Through Collaborative Craft Practice Nithikul Nimkulrat 11. The Flying Ants and the Beauty of Ice Heidi Pietarinen and Eija Timonen 12. Paint That Place With Light! Light Painting as a Means of Creating Attachment to Historical Locations—An Arts-Based Action Research Project Nina Luostarinen and Kirsi MacKenzie 13. John Savio’s Art as a Part of Early Sámi Decolonisation in the 1920s and 1930s Tuija Hautala-Hirvioja

Tiina Seppälä is a senior researcher at the University of Lapland, Finland. Melanie Sarantou is a senior researcher at the University of Lapland, Finland. Satu Miettinen is aprofessor in service design at the University of Lapland, Finland.