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Angels talking back and new organs of perception

This article focuses on the role of the artistic process in connecting to the natural environment. In my research I have explored what participants experience and learn when they engage in different types of arts-based environmental education (AEE) practices that I have facilitated. The premise of AEE is that efforts to learn about our (natural) environment can effectively take their starting point in an artistic activity, usually conducted in groups. I found that, on the whole, two major orientations can be distinguished. One starts from the point of aesthetic sensibility: the tuning in with the senses, or with ‘a new organ of perception’ (Goethe), in order to perceive ‘the more than human’ with fresh new eyes. This tradition can be traced back (but is by no means limited) to the Romantic Movement. Art in this context may help to amplify the receptivity of the senses and strengthen a sense of connectedness to the natural world. The other major orientation in seeking bridges between nature and art builds on a view of artistic process as leading to unexpected outcomes and ‘emergent properties’. The fundamentally singular experience of making a work of art may evoke an aesthetic object that becomes a ‘self-sufficient, spiritually breathing subject’ (Kandinsky). The artwork can be spontaneously generative and multilayered with meanings, some of which may even be ambiguous and paradoxical. But perhaps more importantly: it can catch the participant of an AEE activity by surprise, overwhelm him or her as ‘coming from behind one’s back’. The element of improvisation, of taking in the new and unanticipated and accommodating for it, is the core quality here. These two orientations, when practiced as part of AEE, have implications on how we relate to nature through art. In the closing of this article I address the question of whether it is possible to bridge the dualism between the two orientations.

Practicing active non-activeness in the facilitation of arts-based environmental education

Based on his personal experience, the author aims to examine some of the key competencies that he considers essential for facilitators of group activities in arts-based environmental education (AEE). In this, participants are encouraged to enhance their sensibility to the environment through artistic approaches. A case in point is a workshop called “making a little me”. Its participants sculpt – while keeping their eyes closed – a clay version of their own seated body in miniature. When guiding such a workshop, it is of critical importance, according to the author, to encourage the participants to suspend their judgments on the art works of others. The facilitator should make every effort to provide a safe environment by practicing “holding space”.

Arts-based research voor het sociaal domein. Een andere manier van praktijkgericht onderzoek

Verandering en innovatie zijn een zaak van lange adem. Ook bij praktijkgericht onderzoek in het sociaal domein vergt de introductie van nieuwe manieren van werken vaak geduld en tijd. In ons dagelijks werk ervaren wij dat bestaande perspectieven op onderzoek nog beperkt ruimte bieden aan de mogelijkheden die de kunsten kunnen creëren. Tegelijkertijd is er in de Angelsaksische literatuur een “nieuwe loot” aan de (praktijkgerichte) onderzoekstam ontsproten: ‘Arts-Based Research (ABR)’. Volgens ons krijgt ABR als praktijkgericht onderzoek nog niet de aandacht die het verdient. In Nederlandstalige rapportages en literatuur over praktijkgericht onderzoek vinden we er weinig over terug. Binnen het onderwijs en de beroepspraktijk in het brede sociaal domein bestaat er echter wel een lange traditie van het werken met kunst en creativiteit. Het gaat dan bijvoorbeeld om creatief agogisch werken, projecten en activiteiten gericht op sociaal-culturele participatie of kunst- en cultuureducatie in school of wijk. Het is zaak het praktijkgericht onderzoek hierop aan te sluiten, met als inzet het opleiden tot de onderzoekende creatieve sociale professional van de 21e eeuw. Dat is een professional met onderzoekend vermogen (Greve, Munneke & Andriessen, 2015) die steeds weer doet wat nodig is in de specifieke context. Door de inzet van Arts-Based Research bij sociale vraagstukken wordt onzes inziens een nieuw perspectief toegevoegd dat andere mogelijkheden creëert om een bijdrage te leveren aan verandering in de complexe praktijk van het brede sociaal domein

At the heart of art and earth: an exploration of practices in arts-based environmental education

The divide between us and the rest of nature has been attributed to various rootcauses: the growing disenchantment of the world, the loss of direct experience andlately the replacement of the real with simulations of it. Modernity's move away fromthe natural world has also generated countervailing movements, beginning with theRomantics and leading up to the manifold forms of environmental education in ourtimes. When we seek to reconnect to the natural world through an open-ended artistic process, what happens? In this thesis, Jan van Boeckel explores the kind of learning that takes place through arts-based environmental education.

Set of service design and art-based methods for co-design and stakeholder work in cultural tourism.

Imagery rehearsal based art therapy

Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) is effective for trauma-related nightmares and is also a challenge to patients in finding access to their traumatic memories, because these are saved in non-verbal, visual, or audiovisual language. Art therapy (AT) is an experiential treatment that addresses images rather than words. This study investigates the possibility of an IRT-AT combination. Systematic literature review and field research was conducted, and the integration of theoretical and practice-based knowledge resulted in a framework for Imagery Rehearsal-based Art Therapy (IR-AT). The added value of AT in IRT appears to be more readily gaining access to traumatic experiences, living through feelings, and breaking through avoidance. Exposure and re-scripting take place more indirectly, experientially and sometimes in a playlike manner using art assignments and materials. In the artwork, imagination, play and fantasy offer creative space to stop the vicious circle of nightmares by changing theme, story line, ending, or any part of the dream into a more positive and acceptable one. IR-AT emerges as a promising method for treatment, and could be especially useful for patients who benefit least from verbal exposure techniques. This description of IR-AT offers a base for further research.