2 RESEARCH DESIGN

2.1 Artistic research approach

The methodology of this project leans into artistic research as a form of qualitative research. In contrast to scientific research, artistic research deals with subjective meanings and can take many forms.

Importantly, the Vienna Declaration on Artistic Research describes artistic research as practice-led research through means of artistic practice and reflection, and as an epistemic inquiry that strives to increase knowledge, insight, understanding, and skills (2020, p.1). As the Vienna Declaration on Artistic Research also notes, artistic research incorporates many mediums besides text-based material, such as artefacts, movements, and sounds (2020, p.2). 

Julian Klein writes: ”Whether silent or verbal, declarative or procedural, implicit or explicit - in any case, artistic knowledge is sensual and physical, ’embodied knowledge’. The knowledge that artistic research strives for, is a felt knowledge.” (2010, p.6.) This artistic research takes place during a felt artistic experience: a performance. The materials and methods combine different mediums of knowledge and different modes of knowledge making. For example, sensing and discussion were used to process materials such as video recordings and personal emotional responses, to distill understanding of shared space.

This research follows a particular artistic research methodology: I choose to use my artform as a method to research a topic that in itself is not art.

2.2 Artistic research design

The research design of this project is tailored to this particular artistic research process. It involves a series of two alternating and interconnected stages (indaba and reflection) that form a cyclical loop where both stages inform each other.

This research is focused on five cycles of indabas and their respective reflection sessions, which were recorded and transcribed. Each round produced new outcomes and fed into the next cycle, contributing to our understanding of shared space in these indabas. The five indabas were performed on 3.12.2024, 27.2.2025, 1.3.2025, and 7.5.2025. We alternated between indabas (i1, i2, etc.) and reflection sessions (r1, r2, etc.) as follows:

The reflection sessions were held directly after each indaba. Our conversations followed the research question: “What kind of tools and skills are helpful in creating a sense of shared space in a performative setting?”. We spoke from our experience of the freshly performed indaba, shared our observations, and discussed these with a core focus on moments where we felt a sense of shared space emerged, or was absent.

The data of the artistic research project at hand consists of:

- recordings and transcripts of the reflection discussions together with Pietari and Kasheshi

- personal notes and observations

- video recordings of the performed indabas

- sensory knowledge and emotional responses that emerged during the performed indabas

- formal and informal conversations with friends, colleagues, and mentors

Data analysis began with transcribing the reflection discussions and highlighting key moments of interest during those conversations. I reviewed the transcripts alongside video recordings of the indabas, took notes, studied other thinkers’ ideas and concepts around shared space and in-between identities, took more notes, and continued reflecting and sharpening my perception of shared space in this context. The process of making sense of the data and the emerging findings included several formal and informal conversations around the topic together with friends, colleagues, and mentors.

Five indabas provided a rich material base which could have led the research into more than one direction. Ultimately, I arrived at the findings of this research by consciously choosing to sit with the findings that presented themselves the most clearly in dialogue with the research question, and the ones that felt the most exciting.

This research material is based on these indabas as our trio perceived and experienced them. I am not making suggestions on how the indabas were received by the children and adults in the audience. The choice to conduct this research project in this way (rather than interviewing audience members after the performance, for example) was guided by my approach to artistic research. Whereas studying subjective experiences through interviews is a common and valid method in social science research, in my chosen method of knowledge making, the interaction with the children happens during the performance. For me, this is where the magic happens and where art carries the potential to unearth new knowledge.