About the project

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC),  the project is concerned with communication and creativity, seeing the two as linked and essential to full human development.

It builds on seven years of work with marginalised communities in western Kenya and eastern Uganda where a communities recognised poor interpersonal communication as a problem and have asked for support in addressing it.

In the UK we will are working with migrant communities of East Africans in Leeds, to understand how issues of communication and creativity apply when translated to a British context.

Our research takes place over three years in three locations: in the slum district of Walukuba/Masese in Jinja, Uganda; in six rural villages in Kisumu County in western Kenya; and in Lincoln Green in Leeds, one of the most deprived areas of the UK with the highest population of African descent in the city.

The project works at three levels: among families, in schools and with community groups. It draws on arts-based methodology for both research and subsequent communication of findings within communities and to stakeholder and national arts communities, in relation to the schools and community programmes, building on expertise and positive impact created in preceding related projects.

Why communication and creativity?

Through performance and dialogue with communities on numerous matters  in our previous projects – including sexual reproductive health, male mental health and gender inequalities – we reached a consensus that the underlying theme was one of communication.

Communication between families, friends, citizens and decision makers. Poor communication on these levels has negative outcomes for communities – violence, political ambivalence and ill-health.

Arts-based research has been the mode by which we have co-investigated the issues above and is the central method for this project.

Our previous research has shown that arts-based methods offer an alternative to established mainstream research methods. Embodied knowledges and the opportunities of co-creation have enabled social impact and new insights to social issues. We are aware that arts-based methods, such as theatre, music, dance and film, can be easily adopted or utilised in a way which can be tokenistic or simplified.

In addition to this, we are aware of theatre’s limitations to create social change, and we have adopted an interdisciplinary method working with childhood studies researchers and local families to extend the social possibilities of arts-based research.

This research project seeks to challenge the existing issues of our sector and forge new approaches to interdisciplinary arts-based research.