• I wish to demonstrate what I’ve come to know of emergent arts-based inquiry, drawing findings from my multimodal arts inquiry. I’m heartened by notions that the expression(s) “…rather than descriptions of fact,…(are) the empirical evidence” (McNiff, 2011, p. 257) + will use the non-linear possibilities of this platform (whilst keeping front-of-mind Findlay’s (2011) 4R’s - rigour, relevance, resonance and reflexivity) to offer the most resonant key elements/fragments/remnants/expressions/resources/access points that I’ve gathered whilst inquiring, scaffolded by MIECAT’s procedures + methods. 

    There are clear limitations towards expressing what is an ambiguous/cyclical/imaginal/ever-iterative experience - no way to give an all-encompassing analysis of the manifold experiencing of that which has emerged/occurred + subsequently everything I’ve come to know about emergent arts-based inquiry. 

    Therefore I’ve described the initial access point + given an overview of key elements that emerged/were distilled. I then describe the re-searcher reflexivity to these resonances + the novel access points that later arose as I reveled in the subsequent “...multiple and contingent ‘truths’ art-based research offers’”. (Sajnani, 2012, p. 83).


  • Emergent arts-based inquiry aka arts-based research (ABR) “...is a transdisciplinary approach to knowledge building that combines the tenets of the creative arts in research contexts…to address research questions holistically (and)...involves researchers engaging in art making as a way of knowing…the beauty elicited by ABR is explicitly linked to how it fosters reflexivity and empathy in the consumer (and researcher).” (Leavy, 2019, pp. 4-5). 

    From this point I’ll refer to emergent art-based inquiry as ABR.

  • I am a re-searcher + an art-full scientist, living/dreaming/knowing/being/creating/walking/communing on unceded Wurundjeri land.

    As an Irish descendent of colonised people who became the colonisers + have passed on (through our line + those we’ve oppressed) strong patterns of silence/shame - I sit with the complexity of my positionality, the impact of colonial invasion + sever-ance/ing from land/culture/spirit/belonging. I will critically engage with what I understand to be an ongoing/lifelong/ethical responsibility towards right relationship with the lands I live on + to acknowledge/probe/unsettle my settler self through researcher reflexivity; + the consequent generative, multi-dimensional re/un-learning/s + fresh understandings that will inevitably flow as a result. 

    I recognise my white, able-bodied privilege is “…an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day…” + as “…one who writes about having white privilege must ask, “having described it, what will I do to lessen or end it?”” (McIntosh, 1988, p.1).

    My responsibilities are toward fellow beings, co-creators + community (including the more-than-human/ancestors/descendents).

    In my role as an ABR-tist I hold close “…the centrality of the So What? question and the power of inquiry work to provide insights into the human condition…(and) imagine new possibilities…” (Cole, 2008, p. 67). I understand my re-search is incomplete without the stories of others. I therefore bring the voices of ancestors/the art(ist)s/activists + future dreamings of descendants into my arts process + endeavour to incorporate the MIECAT bundle (of methods and procedures alongside the interpersonal, intersubjective collective-care-field of MIECAT co-companions + facilitators) to illuminate ways to express both my own voice + theirs. This enriching paradigm allows me to imprint my/our “...personal fingerprint…”/s (Leavy, 2019, p. 578) in autoethnography, rather than compete with the scientific method.

    I’ll monitor “...the potential for the abuse of power in the research relationship…demonstrate ethical concern for the wider impact of the research…” (Findlay, 2011, p.265) + wherever possible, will give more than I take.

    I am not a passive agent of the state, MIECAT or any other agency but am intrigued by notions of re-enchanting the world +, as a consequence of my re-search, enchanting the academy. I acknowledge the limitations of my re-search and any knowledge claimed herein.

Identifying acces points/key elements

An intersubjective experience alongside fellow ABR-tists on Day 5 seemed the fulcrum around which so much else that emerged as meaningful was entwined. Such emergent generativity had come before + yet there was still so much to come. This reflective engagement held such potency - “...it is the reflection in experience that allows a reflexive methodology to be possible.” (Reis, 2011, p. 4).

In our morning circle, another ABR-tist offered EFT Tapping advice - “…if debriefing from something heavy, tap your fingers lightly + continuously on your chest to release the grievous/stuck energy as you speak the words …”

We collectively tapped our way into this notion - my chest holding resonance for me.

Our facilitator, Cara, placed a paper cutout firepit atop a portable speaker in the middle of our group (Figure 3.1) - drawing us together in symbolic fireside intimacy. She noted the tapping as a fitting segue into her Acknowledgement to Country.

Dropping into a new heartbeat-esque tapping rhythm, 

- two chest-beats with an open palm followed by two chest-beats with her fist and repeat -

Cara played The Children Came Back (Figure 3.2) - a strong example of rigour, relevance + resonance - equally heartbreaking + uplifting - honouring the Stolen Generations by bringing together Indigenous musicians + community. 

I found the rhythmic motion soothing - gentle repetition of a soft resistance fist on my heart. The fist had become a key element of my inquiry + held such potency along with stitches/threads/resistance.

Tears began rolling down my cheeks, flowing freely - an enormous sense of grief /relief. With eyes closed for most of the song, when I finally opened them I noticed others in the group were also deeply affected (Figure 3.3) - “…expressing her grief…in the company of others…she was left with what she called “opening reverberation” and she felt changed by it.” (Cameron, 2016, pp.102-103).

Afterwards watching the film-clip with others we noticed tapping motions also made by the film clips’ creatives + activists - all looking straight-to-camera, clear-eyed, as if seeing deep inside us. I once again teared up whilst tapping. 

There’d been a visceral collective embodied experiencing - the group was touched by the song, so we decided to pause + reflect in our own ways on the experience.

I was drawn to trace rhizomatic patterns using paints with watery fingertips on the kitchen benchtop around the co-created collective care expression from Day 1. Others also gathered around - weaving in + around each other's finger-trails representing the grief/relief outside of ourselves in ways other-than-with-words. (Figures 3.4, 3.5) ”Malchiodi (2020) refers to this as externalising implicit experiences without words: self-regulation is nurtured by giving individuals ways to separate from what is going on internally, while experiencing a pleasurable or novel creative experience.” (Contos, 2022). The trails reminded me of the roots I’d sewn into the earthy spirit-realm of my initial artifact. 

As we quietly tracked the liminal terrain of the benchtop Cara wondered aloud if anyone might wish to walk to Parliament. Reflexively this was a YES from me. An intuitive response to further process (political) resistance which had emerged as a key element in previous days. What better way to embody that than a walk to Parliament?

Emotional reverberations

  • Figure 3.1: Emma Byrnes, True Stories Well Told Around The Firepit, 2024, Still image of photograph and handwritten notes.

  • Figure 3.2: Emma Byrnes, “I take a stand” , 2024, Still image of lyrics from Briggs’ “The Children Came Back” song with keywords highlighted.

  • An image of my acess point.

    Figure 3.3: Emma Byrnes, An Education in One Song, 2024, Still image of photographs and handwritten quotes and keywords.

  • Figure 3.4: Emma Byrnes, Liminal Terrain, 2024, Still image of photographs and handwritten note/keyword.

  • An image of Yield

    Figure 3.5: Emma Byrnes, Cluster as reduction, 2024, Still image of photographs and handwritten notes/quotes.

Beckoned “...by the illusions…coming into presence” (Sajnani, 2012, p. 84) I notice a profound willingness to enter into dialogue + amplify this vivid, embodied emergence.

Rather than following the scheduled “Creative-Clustering” activity, Cara supports me with a disturbance towards institutional arbitrary constraints. So I don my ABR-tist hat to step into Leavy’s (2021) “expansive terrain” of Wurundjeri lands, grounding myself in further reflexive research to walk Country as part of rigour + “…to perceive the ‘forces in between’” (Yunkaporta & Moodie, 2021, p. 89) - taking fresh understandings by seeking further resonance from Fitzroys’ historic streets (where Aboriginal activism has such deep roots) + seek the transformative potential offered by this ever-humming ancient land. 

I’m drawn to walk-in-wonder with an emergent form (dialoguing + exploring with materials as co-participant is often my preference to amplify data). I chose clay - more organic + unprocessed (Figure 4.1) compared to the plasticky, resistant compound I’d used a few days previous - gripping it tightly with my fist. I’d reached for embroidery threads - the same skeins I'd used on the roots of my initial access point - pressing different coloured frayed ends into the deep crevices and remembering stuffing clay fingers with threads just days before.

I step onto the streets with my cold, substantial form - this new access point, pulled by a larger force, walking in openness + a “...largely wordless inquiry into perceptual palpable presences.” (Halafoff et al., 2024, p. 6). I smear some of the still-wet clay, that earthy substance, onto my veins. When I’d tried that earlier in the week the processed clay felt dissonant on my forearm…now it felt smooth. I move toward the Eucalypt that has so generously companioned/co-created with me over the past few units.

Threads wrap around my wrist, twisting in the breeze, co-joining me with someone I’m not sure I’ve ever met but who resides deep inside of me. Her voice comes from my deep root system, an invisible presence I am connected to. The only thing I am sure of is that I am willing to stay with the complexity + let her speak through me.

The tree looms large + we understand it has summoned us. My invisible presence whispers hello + together we rest a spare palm on its trunk, feeling into the gentle, pulsing, animacy as rain drops on our face - the multimodality of deep listening.

We look up through expansive branches, solid yet yielding to the wind now blowing strong. Holding up the form, we capture some photo imagery. How would it feel to be the tree that stands so firm or the light dancing on its softly creased bark or the whistle on the wind? We pick up a small branch of dried leaves + gumnuts (Figure 4.2) then keep walking. On arrival at Parliament we close + rest our eyes, listening to the rush from the water-fountain next door. We think of Birrarung…the river that has re/awakened me/us into re/membering…

We watch the Aboriginal flag flap around with the breeze. We’re drawn to note keywords (Figure 4.3) + take further photos of the form, understanding the “expression…is the empirical evidence”. (McNiff, 2014, p.257). It's an ISR to all who walk these steps in resistance to the powers that be. (Figure 4.4) The clay smear on our wrist has fallen off. It had dried up like a river but that power-full current of quiet resistance still pulses through.

We walk up + down the steps with the form, then put it down - we’d been bearing the weight all that time - only now just realising how heavy it was. 


Walking Country as rigour

  • Figure 4.1: Emma Byrnes, Clay yields, 2024, Still image of photographs of expression and key words.

  • Figure 4.2: Emma Byrnes, Form threads with Eucalypt, 2024, Still image of clay form + dried leaves/gum nuts.

  • Figure 4.3: Emma Byrnes, An Elemental Force, 2024, Still image of keywords in a poem.

  • Figure 4.4: Emma Byrnes, Walking Country with form, 2024, Still image of photographs and key words/quote.

My final creative synthesis is a reflexive offering. 

With so much data before me I hadn’t yet reached a point of aesthetic elegance. But just before everyone packs up, I decide to offer + integrate some of my understandings to the group. The other ABR-tists gather around, and holding my clay-form-with-threads above my head - the one that journeyed through the streets of Fitzroy to Parliament - I offer the words:

“Re/membering is Resistance.”

I pass the form to the closest ABR-tist. An unexpected reverence + tenderness fills the room as each co-participant spends time (Figures 5.1, 5.2) - passing it slowly/gently around the collective, threads trailing, then finally returning it to me - “...inter-dependent beings free to choose and act while remaining immersed in profoundly deep connection with each other.” (Paradies, 2023). 

Intuitively I join the threads of the form with those of my original artifact - a meaningful improvised moment. (Figures 5.3) Later, Cara shared photos of the unfolding; one in particular resonates, featuring co-participants encircled around the form - evoking a spontaneous ritual event. I simplify the lines in an ink-sketch + wonder if it needs permission, so seek clarification from Cara. (Figure 5.4) She says that rendering the photo into an ink-sketch successfully de-identifies the participants.

Some of the ABR-tists offer keywords on their experience of the synthesis. (Figure 5.5) I notice POWER features thrice. That evening this quote from @ykreborn (2024) resonates - “Our next era must decenter power OVER, and reclaim power WITH and power WITHIN” (Figure 5.6).

I re/member the trail of my inquiry…Senator Thorpe speaking up to empire - to “the power”. Of Briggs + the Stolen Generation + the power-over dynamic. I think about how much in/visible power I have as a white woman. 

I consider my inquiry + it’s relevance - how ABR should be empowering +/or growth enhancing. 

Is this my new access point?!

My inquiry began seeking personal re-connection to my ancestors/descendants/spirituality with a 2d artifact. Intellectually I saw myself as one-of-many seeking further connection with myself/others. But as an ABR-tist + re-searcher, facilitated by + co-created/ing with artists, activists, companions, more-than-humans, the intersubjective field of MIECAT + beyond…I have experienced full body emergence in a rhizomatic, multi-dimensional network of re-membering. A re-enchantment of the world that has invited an ecology of participation “…sensuous..spiritual lives brimming with …connection…grief…intuition, interdependence, kinship, love, sorrow and wonder.” (Paradies, p. 26).

power with/in

  • Figure 5.1: Emma Byrnes, Collective tenderness, 2024, Still image of photographs.

  • Figure 5.2: Emma Byrnes, Ecology of participation, 2024, Still image of photographs and keywords.

  • Figure 5.3: Emma Byrnes, A Spontaneous Ritual Event, 2024, Still image of photograph, handwritten notes, ink drawing + clay form.

  • Figure 5.4: Emma Byrnes, Convo on Ethics, 2024, Still image of photograph of text chat.

  • Figure 5.5: Emma Byrnes, There is Somewhere I Am Going, 2024, Still image of photograph and keywords poem.

  • Figure 5.6: Emma Byrnes, Power with/in, 2024, Still image of photographs and handwritten notes.

What I am coming to know of ABR

  • MIECAT prioritises care + attention towards creating an ethically safe environment for co-creators/companions to “come to know” - both ourselves and within a broader context. This scaffolding gives re-searcher/s the space to co-exist with vulnerability, richness, complexity + tenderness offering a resonance to re-search inquiry/outcomes that might otherwise be intangible or less truthful.


  • Inquiring/re-searching within a community of companions + co-creators (including more-than-human) allows for deeper understandings, facilitating findings beyond what could be located purely within self. Through procedures of amplification/ reduction over days, the resonance of the fist motion emerged as a palpable key element witnessed by others. These knowings allowed for greater attunement + further meaningful reflexivity when listening/feeling/moving.

  • Engaging with artists/activists/ancestors/descendents/materials is a crucial way for an inquiry/re-searcher to stay in a reflexive mode with other voices, adding rigour to re/search inquiry + outcomes. When we engage relationally, with ethics, bringing in those voices + then returning to the art to express it’s not necessary to compete with the scientific method.

  • Acknowledgement of Country is a powerful way/ritual to sit with complexity + honour the traditional custodians whilst also locating ourselves, our insights/probings + how/where the re-search trails sit in relation to these positions.