Creating Together

This anthology examines a relatively new kind of scholarship that pairs artistic practice with research. Its contributors work across Canadian disciplines and consider how making art together produces and shares knowledge that belongs to a group. The art forms they discuss range from photographs and murals to live performance and poetry.

Rather than relying only on conventional intellectual reasoning, this approach also draws on the senses, the body, and feeling as ways of understanding. The artistic process and the finished works both count as forms of inquiry. The book also addresses the rising interest in arts-based research that is shared with others. It encourages scholars to team up with colleagues from other professions and with community groups to pose questions, build understanding, and express views held in common.

The volume highlights three approaches. Participatory arts-based research involves people at every stage of an inquiry and aims to yield practical understanding that serves the community. Community-based arts research places public or communal space at the center of its practice. Collaborative arts research brings together partners across many layers and disciplines, drawing on varied perspectives.

The examples come from across Canada, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, and span fine arts, education, health sciences, and social work.