Arts and Action Research Special Issue Reflection by guest blogger Ariane Berthoin Antal

 

Doorhandle to the Seeburg of the Institute for Advanced Study Konstanz.

Opening the door to work each day with such a joker has to lead to something new, doesn't it? 

I first "met" the authors in the special issue of ARJ on the arts and action research in January 2010 when we had the challenge of selecting a few articles from the many submissions we received to our call for papers, submissions from all around the world. It was exciting and also humbling to discover how many exciting projects colleagues are experimenting in to enable learning and change to happen in organizations and in society.

Ariane at a picnic on Lake Konstanz

Choosing just a few articles to take into the journal was difficult! Then the real pleasure started: working with our authors via emails to develop their ideas even further. Editing this special issue for ARJ turned into a year-long journey of discovery, what happens in societies when we dare to engage issues by drawing on the arts? And what happens to action researchers when participants in their projects engage artists and artistic media? How can we learn to express the multiple forms of knowing--and not knowing--that arise from these engagements? Now in January 2011 I am really looking forward to responses from readers!http://www.wzb.eu/gwd/kneu/people/berthoin_antal.en.htm