Academic and artist simultaneously emerge through arts-based research

Being a new way of expression, the arts based research can facilitate one to emerge as academic and artist simultaneously.

The Distinguished discussants who attended the 21st episode of Communication Talk in a form of webinar series firmly opined it while talking on the topic titled ‘Arts-based Research in Communication and Media Studies’.

The talk organized by the International Communication Club, a Bangladesh based forum of communication and journalism scholars was held on 22 May this month.

Anchored by Sadia Jamil, an advisor of the Club, three renowned academics Nico Carpentier, president of International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Alexandre Le Voci Sayad, International Co-Chairman of UNESCO MILL Alliance and Avery Holton, associate chair of the Department of Communication of University of Utah attended the program as key discussants.

Nico Carpentier commenced the discussion by delivering a presentation centering the topic. He said, "My books paved the way of arts-based research and related knowledge to me. We can generate knowledge in communication and media studies, (though) we haven’t been doing too often".

Nico also asserted, "Arts-based research is the use of arts in knowledge production. It allows us to produce new knowledge through experimenting with ways of doing. We can be an academic and an artist at the same time. Artistic world has its restrictions in audience reach but it does allow us to diversify our audiences.”

Describing a glimpse of relations between UNESCO MIL Alliance and arts-based research, Alexandre Le Voci Sayad said, "MIL and UNESCO is an umbrella concept and Arts based research should be under this umbrella. MIL is an onion that we need to peel. When we talk about the first layer of this onion, it is social network. But as soon as we start to peel, we get philosophy, we get our representation on media in the ways we express ourselves in the world. This is where arts based in MIL.”

He further added, “Art and digital are the spirits of our time and with these we express and we actually change and transform the world.”

Avery Holton focused the impact of social media on journalists and the interrelationships between journalism and industry. He said, "We are seeing a trail of women journalists globally. In journalism research, there is now a pressure on journalism to continue to work to influence social media.”

He also said, "Arts based research is the way of expression. Through the work of researchers we are starting to see arts based research as a means to express our works differently, to experience it in a meaningful way, to use this experience to connect the community.”

Video link (from the club’s facebook page) of the session.