ABSTRACT

Participatory Art as an approach to research situates the ‘visual’ as ‘inextricably interwoven with our personal identities, narratives, lifestyles, cultures and societies, as well as with definitions of history, space and truth’ (Pink 2007: 22) and thus can be an appropriate, effective tool of qualitative research. The engagement with visual methods can also be the means to work across disciplinary divides for academic research (see also Chapters 14-20 in this volume). Visual processes can be used to ‘triangulate’ qualitative research methods, developing a richer relationship with views, politics and experiences beyond the restraint of written and oral practices. Visual methods have long been used by those wanting to engage with the ‘experiences’ of those marginalised within society, for example children, women and people with mental illness, and by researchers of rural development policy in the majority world. The politics of using Participatory Art enable the research to be engaged ethically, plurally, creatively and inclusively towards the development of theory, policy and practice.