14 Art and artefact: displaying social work through objects
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Mark Doel
Abstract
This chapter presents the origins, process, and findings of an online research project, Social Work in 40 Objects. The project is ongoing, and its aims are to explore the possibility of discovering meanings in social work through material objects and the stories that attach to them. The experiment is proving to be a quantitative success, with over 160 objects to date (2020) from 26 countries donated to a virtual exhibition of social work. Qualitative success is evident in the many facets of social work refracted through the objects and the wide variety of relationships to social work apparent in those who are participating. The research methodologies that support the experiment are explored, as well as the theoretical perspectives that have deepened the analysis of the findings: these include material culture theory and museum ethnography, especially the notion of ‘charged objects’. The ‘snowball’ method speeded and broadened the donation of objects and a ‘bricolage’ process helped in the playful clustering of groups of objects into themed ‘collections’. The chapter explores the learning from this experiment and presents a suggested typology of objects.
Abstract
This chapter presents the origins, process, and findings of an online research project, Social Work in 40 Objects. The project is ongoing, and its aims are to explore the possibility of discovering meanings in social work through material objects and the stories that attach to them. The experiment is proving to be a quantitative success, with over 160 objects to date (2020) from 26 countries donated to a virtual exhibition of social work. Qualitative success is evident in the many facets of social work refracted through the objects and the wide variety of relationships to social work apparent in those who are participating. The research methodologies that support the experiment are explored, as well as the theoretical perspectives that have deepened the analysis of the findings: these include material culture theory and museum ethnography, especially the notion of ‘charged objects’. The ‘snowball’ method speeded and broadened the donation of objects and a ‘bricolage’ process helped in the playful clustering of groups of objects into themed ‘collections’. The chapter explores the learning from this experiment and presents a suggested typology of objects.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents ix
- List of figures and tables xi
- Notes on contributors xiii
- Introduction 1
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Arts-based research as a method to understand and give voice to marginalised groups
- Using arts-based methods to explore existential issues around ageing 13
- Arts- and music-based activities and nondeliberative participatory research methods: building connection and community 24
- Arts-based methods to co-create knowledge and reconstruct power relations with marginalised women in and through research 33
- Autoethnographic playwriting and performance for self-healing and advocacy 45
- Using photography to research the ‘other’: the validity of photography for social work research – a visual case study from China 55
- Mixed arts-based methods as a platform for expressing lived experience 68
- Arts-based methods to support and reveal new mothers’ and families’ experiences: a positive parenting and feminist approach 77
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Using arts-based research to listen to, and give voice to, children in social work
- “I don’t like the cameras in the house. They’re looking at us all the time”: the contribution of Photovoice to children in a post-hospitalisation programme 89
- Arts-based research work with migrant children 102
- Using creative art research approaches to assess arts-based interventions with children in post-disaster contexts 117
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Arts-based research as a way for researchers and community members to understand communities
- Murals and photography in community engagement and assessment 129
- Forum theatre as participatory action research with community workers 139
- A/r/tography, rhizomatic storytelling, and ripple effects mapping: a combined arts-based and community mapping methodology to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 expressive arts support groups for frontliners in the Philippines 148
- Art and artefact: displaying social work through objects 162
- Building research capacity: scaffolding the process through arts-based pedagogy 170
- Art as a way of improving participatory action research: an experience with youngsters with an intellectual disability and their families 181
- Epilogue 198
- Index 200
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents ix
- List of figures and tables xi
- Notes on contributors xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Arts-based research as a method to understand and give voice to marginalised groups
- Using arts-based methods to explore existential issues around ageing 13
- Arts- and music-based activities and nondeliberative participatory research methods: building connection and community 24
- Arts-based methods to co-create knowledge and reconstruct power relations with marginalised women in and through research 33
- Autoethnographic playwriting and performance for self-healing and advocacy 45
- Using photography to research the ‘other’: the validity of photography for social work research – a visual case study from China 55
- Mixed arts-based methods as a platform for expressing lived experience 68
- Arts-based methods to support and reveal new mothers’ and families’ experiences: a positive parenting and feminist approach 77
-
Using arts-based research to listen to, and give voice to, children in social work
- “I don’t like the cameras in the house. They’re looking at us all the time”: the contribution of Photovoice to children in a post-hospitalisation programme 89
- Arts-based research work with migrant children 102
- Using creative art research approaches to assess arts-based interventions with children in post-disaster contexts 117
-
Arts-based research as a way for researchers and community members to understand communities
- Murals and photography in community engagement and assessment 129
- Forum theatre as participatory action research with community workers 139
- A/r/tography, rhizomatic storytelling, and ripple effects mapping: a combined arts-based and community mapping methodology to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 expressive arts support groups for frontliners in the Philippines 148
- Art and artefact: displaying social work through objects 162
- Building research capacity: scaffolding the process through arts-based pedagogy 170
- Art as a way of improving participatory action research: an experience with youngsters with an intellectual disability and their families 181
- Epilogue 198
- Index 200
