Making Visible (re)Presentations: A Paper That Explores the Use of Participatory Arts-Based Methods (visual and narrative) with Lgbtiq Migrants and Refugees.

Can participatory arts based research contribute to social justice movements? Do these methods reveal increased insights into ‘hard to reach’ groups of people?  How are issues of power addressed between research participants and the researcher/research team?  This paper will discuss the use of arts-based methods, with special attention paid to two participatory visual and narrative projects that were conducted with LGBTIQ refugees living in South Africa.  Using these two projects as case studies, this paper will critically examine the role of community-based participatory projects that seek to engage research and research participants with social justice action.  The paper will attempt to address issues and concerns of representation, ethical considerations and epistemological quandries of visual and narrative research with populations that are considred ‘vulnerable’ and under-represented.  Furthermore, the paper will examine tensions, links and strategies when seeking to share bodies of visual works in public spaces.