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- Convenors:
-
Jennifer Philippa Eggert
(Independent researcher and practitioner)
Emma Tomalin (University of Leeds)
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- Format:
- Roundtable
- Stream:
- Methods - research, participation and practice
- Location:
- CB5.7
- Sessions:
- Friday 27 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Arts-based methods are becoming increasingly popular in social sciences and humanities research, including development studies. This roundtable will provide space to showcase various arts-based methods in religions and development research, and to discuss challenges and opportunities in this area.
Description:
Arts-based methods are becoming increasingly popular in social sciences and humanities research, including development studies. Arts-based methods are appreciated by many as they allow for experiences and insights to be captured and disseminated holistically. Moreover, they allow for research producers, research participants and research users to participate in research and research dissemination in engaging and inclusive ways. Arts-based methods are arguably particularly well-suited for religions and development research, as they allow for questions of spirituality, faith and beliefs to be explored in their full complexity. At the same time, existing frameworks and processes in many research institutions can, at times, limit the types of arts-based methods that are feasible for researchers to employ. This roundtable, which is convened by the DSA Religions and Development Study Group, in collaboration with NatCen International and the University of Leeds, aims to explore a range of different arts-based methods in religions and development research and research dissemination. Examining the use of methods including photos, videos, drawings, paintings, music, theatre, dance, storytelling, prose, poetry, amongst others, the roundtable will provide a space to researchers, practitioners and community members to showcase various arts-based methods in religions and development research, and to discuss challenges and opportunities in this area.
Accepted contributions:
Session 1 Friday 27 June, 2025, -Contribution short abstract:
This research explores the use of arts-based methods to address coloniality, faith, and power. A lament workshop demonstrated how creative tools like scriptural reflection and artistic expression can tackle complex themes, foster safe and meaningful dialogue, and inspire transformative action.
Contribution long abstract:
This research examines the integration of arts-based methods into religions and development research, emphasising their transformative potential in addressing themes of coloniality, decolonisation, and power dynamics. Employing participatory action research, the study conducted a lament workshop with practitioners from diverse global backgrounds, exploring lament as both a theological and creative tool to foster dialogue between Global South and Global North practitioners in Christian development organisations. The workshop, centred on Psalm 10, combined scriptural reflection with creative practices, inviting participants to engage in activities such as writing, painting, drawing and collaging to honestly and authentically express their emotional responses to injustices within their organisational context. This creative engagement provided a space for deep reflection on systemic inequities and their impact, culminating in the composition of lament prayers that articulated participants’ honest experiences and aspirations for change.
The creative outputs and prayers, collected anonymously, were analysed for emerging themes, which were subsequently shared during an online reflection forum. This process highlighted the potential of creative methodologies to facilitate critical reflection, emotional healing, and actionable insights. By fostering a collaborative and reflective environment, the workshop underscored the value of integrating arts-based approaches into religions and development research. The findings underscore the potential of such methodologies to address complex and difficult themes, provide a safe space for meaningful dialogue and ultimately inspire transformative action.
Contribution short abstract:
In this roundtable I will reflect on the distinctiveness, but also on the challenges, of creative art-based methods in representing lived religious experiences of LGBTIQ refugees in their process of reconciling and experiencing new liberating and affirming religious and theological readings.
Contribution long abstract:
Luhrmann’s seminal work, 'When God talks' (2012, 41), argues that being Pentecostal is a sensorial process that requires training in identifying the divine in multiple sites (physical, audial, olfactory, etc.) but also as a very personal, individual and dynamic experience. This malleability creates particular challenges to the study of Pentecostalism, which may become even more complicated with the analysis of specific groups. In this round-table, I will discuss the meaning of religiosity and the process of ‘religious re-appropriation’ of LGBTIQ refugees in East Africa and art-based methods as appropriate methods of analysis.
In my study in Kenya with Congolese and Ugandan LGBTIQ displaced people, who were forced to leave their home country because of sexual persecution often fuelled through conservative religious discrimination, it was apparent that old categorisations were not holding and that certain methodologies were not fruitful in grasping their complex religious experience. While living in transition, many participants tried to use their time to reconcile and re-appropriate the spiritual but without belonging to any specific local church, as those religious sites had previously became places of pain and trauma. In their Kenyan life, religious music, prayers, religious art and symbols were incredibly relevant to their everyday religious experience and process of reconciliation with religion. This roundtable will offer the opportunity to reflect on the distinctiveness, but also on the challenges, of creative art-based methods in representing lived religious experiences of LGBTIQ refugees in their process of reconciling and experiencing new liberating and affirming religious and theological readings.
Contribution short abstract:
We hereby present our roles in the video collection research element of the British Academy-funded project on community resilience and reconciliation.
Contribution long abstract:
We would like to present an overview of our respective roles within the video collection research element of the British Academy-funded project "Building community resilience, peace and reconciliation as a response to Global (Dis)Order: The 'tangible' and 'intangible' aspects of local faith actors' contributions.". Charles Rukundo, Fathima Afra, and I collaborated on this initiative, which explored LFAs’ (Local Faith Actors) engagement with the Do No Harm principles introduced during a preliminary workshop. Each of us undertook specific responsibilities:
Afra managed on-the-ground video collection, including filming and guiding LFAs on optimal techniques for filming and submission.
Charles oversaw the subtitling process, ensuring monthly submissions from LFAs in three countries were subtitled before being shared with a wider audience. Given the project's multilingual scope, videos were translated into English to facilitate broader understanding. However, as many Burundian LFAs were not fluent in English, videos from the Philippines and Sri Lanka were further translated by Charles into Kirundi, enabling meaningful engagement across regions.
Meanwhile, Oscar managed the logistics of video collection and distribution, developed a YouTube playlist system, and streamlined the project’s administrative processes.
Contribution short abstract:
This roundtable proposal discusses the use of documentary film in articulating Birmingham-based Soul City Arts' interface with individuals as already emancipated.
Contribution long abstract:
This roundtable proposal discusses the use of documentary film in articulating Birmingham-based Soul City Arts' interface with individuals as already emancipated. Muslims and non-Muslims come together through Soul City Arts' experiences to do emancipatory work of reflection and action on their own. The company articulate immersive experiences with multiple communicative channels that allow for difference to survive in plurality. We introduce our different experiences of Soul City Arts' work, and how documentary film helped to explore these multiplicities, side-by-side.
Contribution short abstract:
This contribution reflects on the use of the creative method of dialogue as research in the context of a research project on the experiences of female activists in the Baloch rights movement in Pakistan, examining the women's experiences in the light of their gender, age, ethnicity, class, religion.
Contribution long abstract:
This contribution reflects on the use of the creative method of dialogue as research in the context of a research project on the experiences of female activists in the Baloch rights movement in Pakistan, examining the women's experiences in the light of their gender, age, ethnicity, class, religion.