Performing Arts in Urban Space, Creative Methods in Social Research
- Time: Wednesday 11 December 2024, at 9:45 – 15:45
- Venue: Linna Building, Tampere University (address: Kalevantie 5) and on Zoom
- Registration for the morning session (talks and roundtable) >>> here
- Registration for the afternoon session (call for papers) >>> here
- The event is free of charge.
Creative and art-based methods, including visual, audiovisual and performing arts, are increasingly applied in social sciences in diverse research topics. These methods have the potential to challenge the normativity of scientific knowledge production through, for example, allowing embodied ways of expressing thoughts and challenging the dominance of verbal language. The symposium Performing Arts in Urban Space, Creative Methods in Social Research brings together scholars from cross-disciplinary fields to reflect the potential, possibilities, and challenges of creative, art-based methods in research.
In his talk, Ian R. Walsh (University of Galway) will discuss how performing arts, exemplified by circus, challenge and remake understandings of urban space. On 16 July 2022, 150 people of all ages and backgrounds crossed the River Corrib in Galway City on a high wire as part of Galway Community Circus’s LifeLine event. Twenty thousand people witnessed this momentous event that ran continually over five hours with a finale performance performed by BassAlto, a wire-walking company made up of both professional and amateur performers. The site on the river where the performance took place is one where suicide is prevalent and thus LIfeLine aimed to reinfuse hope into a space that carries great sadness and beauty. Ian Walsh’s talk examines this performance event as a means to outline the benefits and drawbacks of urban space initiatives that are framed in terms of impacting wellbeing.
In the second talk, Ilaria Bessone (AltroCirco, Italy), Heta Mulari (Tampere University) and Ian R. Walsh (University of Galway) discuss how art-based methods may provide ways of accessing and representing a wider range of perspectives than traditional research methods, via experiential and alternative ways of knowing. Through their observations and experiences, the speakers discuss how performing arts such as theatre and circus are useful to elicit meanings and dimensions which cannot otherwise be observed, especially those aspects (multisensory, physical, corporeal) of life which are experienced through the body and the senses rather than (before being) cognitively acknowledged.
The symposium is organized by Youth Research, Faculty of Social Sciences and the Under Pressure research project. The event has received TURNS (Tampere Urban Research Network for Sustainability) research platform’s seed funding.
Programme
Morning session: Talks and roundtable
- Venue: Room 4013, Linna Building, Tampere University and on Zoom.
- Time: Wednesday 11 December, 9:45-12:15
- Registration for the morning session
9:45 Coffee
10:15-10:25 Päivi Honkatukia, Heta Mulari: Opening Words: Participatory and Creative Methods in Youth Research
10:25-11:05 Ian R. Walsh: Crossed Wires: examining LifeLine, an urban funambulism for all project and issues with promoting wellbeing through performing arts
11:05-11:45 Ilaria Bessone, Heta Mulari, Ian R. Walsh: How to Co-Create Embodied Knowledge? Performing arts methods in research on social circus
11:45-12:15 Roundtable: Questions, Comments and Discussion
12:15-13:15 Lunch (at one’s own cost)
Afternoon session: Call for Research Papers
- Venue: Room K112, Linna Building, Tampere University
- Time: Wednesday 11 December, 13:15-15:45
- Registration to the afternoon session
Are you doing research on performing arts, urban space and/or using creative, art-based methods in your research? Does your research discuss intersections between art and research? We welcome presentations (15-20 min) on empirical, theoretical, or methodological observations or considerations on research ethics. Paper proposals from various research fields, including Social Sciences, Urban Studies, Education, Studies in Performing Arts etc. are welcome.
Proposals may respond to, but are not limited by, the following themes:
- Creative, art-based methods (music, performing or visual arts, etc.) in different research setups and at different stages of research
- How to apply creative methods to analysis and dissemination of research results
- Considerations on research ethics
Call for Papers: If you’d like to present a paper, please send a title and an abstract (max 200 words) to Heta Mulari (heta.mulari@tuni.fi) and Maaria Hartman (maaria.hartman@tuni.fi) by Tuesday 19 November. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by Thursday 21 November.
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Speakers
Dr. Ian R. Walsh is Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at University of Galway. He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and edited collections. Longer publications include Contemporary Irish Theatre: Histories and Theories (Palgrave, 2024) co-written with Charlotte McIvor, ‘Staging Europe at the Gate’, special issue of Review of Irish Studies in Europe, 4.1 (2021) co-edited with Siobhán O’Gorman and Elaine Sisson. Cultural Convergence: The Dublin Gate Theatre, 1928-1960 (Palgrave, 2020) co-edited with Ondrej Pilny and Ruud van den Beuken. The Theatre of Enda Walsh (Peter Lang, 2019) co-edited with Mary Caulfield; Experimental Irish Theatre: After W.B Yeats (Palgrave, 2012).From 2019-2022 Ian was the principal investigator for University of Galway on Circus ++ which developed the first Curriculum for an international BA in Youth and Social Circus (funded by Erasmus +). From 2019-2023 he was the principal evaluator in the monitoring and evaluation: Wires Crossed: Head, Heart, Balance (funded by Creative Europe) and (2023-24) he was part of the research team evaluating CTF Advanced (funded by Erasmus +). He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of Galway Community Circus.
Dr. Ilaria Bessone holds a PhD in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research (University of Milan), an MSc in International Migration and Social Cohesion (University of Amsterdam, Deusto and University College Dublin), and a master’s in development studies (University of Turin). In 2019-2022 Ilaria was one of the research coordinators of the project Circus as Intercultural Encounter, funded by Erasmus+, and in 2022-2024 she was involved in the evaluation research of CTF advanced (funded by Erasmus+). She is the research coordinator of AltroCirco, a circus teacher, a trainer of trainers, and has collaborated with different organisations and networks in Italy and abroad, including Caravan Circus Network.
Dr. Heta Mulari is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Youth Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University. She specializes in youth and subculture studies, urban studies, digital media studies, gender studies, and art-based methodologies. Since completing her PhD in Cultural History, she has worked in research and research/art projects focusing on topics such as young people, artistic subcultures, digital media, art-based research methods and urban space.
Photo by Áine Kilgallon.