Methodology

We used different approaches and tried to integrate them in an overall methodological framework. We based our research philosophy on indigenous research methodologies that take into consideration non-intrusive ways of engaging respectfully with members of vulnerable groups through anti-oppressive ways of conducting research and focused on employing arts-based research methodologies in order to maximize the understanding and utility of the artistic process (Capous-Desyllas & Morgaine 2018; Leavy 2015; Kovach 2010; Finley 2008). The indigenous and arts-based research methodologies aim at establishing meaningful connections with the participants, empowering them during the research, providing them with relevant ideas and experiences based on the principle of reciprocity and care. Moreover, the indigenous and arts-based research methodologies focus on self-awareness and location as a researcher in the process that requires to reflect on privileges and power dynamics within the context that might bias the research.

• Arts-Based Research (ABR) Methodologies

Art can be understood as a tool for individual and collective empowerment and social change. Next to more self-expressive forms of art, art can also be a space of responding to social conditions and social relations. This means challenging the construction and representation of knowledge, and engaging individuals, groups and communities both inside and outside of academia (Capous-Desyllas & Morgaine 2018). Arts-based research methodologies have broadened the ideas about what constitutes research and knowledge production. In particular, proponents of Arts-Based Research (ABR) have pressed to change social science research from within the institutions (Finley 2008; Leavy 2015).

Art has the capacity to engage the audience in ways that are emotional and sensory, but also intellectual and cognitive. As such, art is able to generate complex, nuanced and empathic understandings. Leavy (2015) notes that ABR has the “capacity to evoke emotions, promote reflection, and transform the way people think” (2015, p. 255). Furthermore, ABR emphasizes the importance of the creative process rather than simply the end product. As such ABR can promote a new way of knowing, seeing, and experiencing social issues which may foster social solidarity (Sinding & Barnes 2015). Moreover, art can interrupt habits of perception, and challenges and changes in what and how we know. This can deconstruct dominant and oppressive ways of knowing, while simultaneously facilitating forms of resistance. ABR therefore has the potential to facilitate and support decolonizing and indigenous research methodologies (Capous-Desyllas & Morgaine 2018).

Moreover, the decolonization of research can be supported by artist-researchers who foster multiple readings, entry points, and possibilities for participation (Capous-Desyllas & Morgaine 2018). Literature, poetry, visual arts, dance, and music are included in ABR methodologies and can help to provide insight into the special ways that only art can make possible (Cole & Knowles 2008, p. 58). Here, the authors refer to the the use of the arts as a medium through which researchers examine and represent the social world, because it is understood as an accessible way to connect to emotions and support empathic responses (Eisner 2008).

Together with the potential and the idea for research to promote social change, ABR is about engaging anti-oppressive principles and practicing them, which means to be truly transgressive both within and outside the institutions and as researchers. Moreover this includes paying attention to power relations in the research process so that they can be problematized and deconstructed (Brown & Strega 2005).The attention to anti-oppressive principles in research is important because various forms of oppression are present, from a local as well as a global perspective (Capous-Desyllas & Morgaine 2018). Given the climate of changing migration policies, we feel that Globe Aroma as an open art house for migrants bears the brunt of these changes and their situation would best be understood from the lens of anti-oppressive research methodologies.

• Interviews and participant observation

We conducted several interviews with our actors from Globe Aroma, both with volunteers and artists to gain an understanding of the importance of Globe Aroma as an open art house in the context of migration in Brussels. Moreover, we asked our actors about the police raid, and why they were interested in using Globe Aroma as a space. We used semi-structured interviews to get to know more about the experiences and meanings of the visitors of Globe Aroma. Most questions were phrased as open-ended in order to give room for the artists to express their thoughts and feelings freely. On this basis, we delved further into the different meanings of Globe Aroma for our informants. Some of them were interviewed on several occasions, while others participated once. We tried to make the interview as comfortable as possible to the participants, and respected when they did not want to talk about certain issues. Moreover, after informing them about our research and asking for their consent, we recorded most of the interviews, either with audio or video recordings.

To be able to better understand our actors we also made use of participant observation. We went to Globe Aroma on the several occasions to get to know our actors, and we participated with them in making works of art. This was done in order to get a better insight into the work that Global Aroma is doing and the importance of Globe Aroma to the artists.

On the 18/12/2017, we went to Globe Aroma for a first preliminary meeting to get to know the project and meet the organizers as well as some of the artists. After our first positive impressions, and seeing the feasibility of the project, we decided to focus on Globe Aroma as our main actor.

The second visit took place at Globe Aroma on the 28/2/2018. During our second visit we became acquainted with Globe Aroma as an open-art house. We got some more initial impressions, got acquinted with the internal workings of Globe Aroma and started introducing ourselves to the different individuals. We did not conduct any interviews yet, but interacted with our participants informally and amicably.

The third visit was on the 02/03/2018 to collect further information. We interviewed artists, learned about their artwork, tried to establish deeper connections, listened to music, drank coffee and tried to get an overall impression of Globe Aroma as an open-art house.

For the fourth visit, we went to Globe Aroma on the 06/03/2018. On this day, we interviewed several new persons. At the same time, we got into deeper conversations with people that we already got acquainted with in previous meetings. In this particular meeting, several of us also started to make small paintings for ourselves with one of the artists.

For the fifth visit, we went on the 09/03/2018 to Globe Aroma to interview some more artists, especially with a focus on women’s art. After an initial phase of just interacting informally with our actors, we continued with the interviews and the recordings. Next to several artists painting or chatting, we also participated in the women’s group jam session.

Finally, we visited Globe Aroma on the 16/03/2018 to present our recommendations for improving the process and to sketch a way forward, we presented the idea of T.R.E.E (Together Resistant Encouraged Empowered) to Brecht and Else. They seemed to receive the idea positively and were encouraged by our ideas. We also recorded some more footage for our videos.

For an overview of our events and activities as a group, have a look at the calendar.

• Events

On the 19/1/2018 we went to the New Year’s Party of Globe Aroma. The evening was as much a review on events of the past year as it was showcasing versatile artworks and featuring a number of musical performances. ‘Awards’ were being presented to the all female participants of the project TXT. The atmosphere was characterized by an overwhelming hospitality and openness. Even as strangers we were being greeted personally at the entrance and being handed a glass of sparkling wine free of charge. The events on stage were being closely and noisily followed by the crowd. The majority of the roughly 100 people obviously knew each other which added to the overall atmosphere of participating at a party of a big and harmonious family.

On 17/2/2018, we attended the event from Global Aroma called #OneAlarmManyVoices to raise voices, concerns and to make public the police raid that had taken place in Globe Aroma on 09/02. What has been announced as a special inspection by the Federal Police and the FPS Finance culminated into the violent arrest of seven people, almost all newcomer artist. With music, speeches, poetry, open letters and an art exhibit, volunteers and artists tried to increase awareness and protest against police violence in Brussels.

• Description of the analysis

With regards to the analysis of the different interviews, we used grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and followed thematic analysis (Hernandez, 2009), as a way of identifying recurring and key themes in the conversations we had with the artists at Globe Aroma. This provided us with the adequate means, and supported through academic methodological literature, to come up with a structured analysis to make sense of and combine the different voices and stories that we heard at Globe Aroma. We based our coding list upon the three major themes that we used in our research (dissent, space, resilience), in order to be able in the conclusion to answer our main research question. During the process of doing fieldwork, several other themes came up, which were related to out main concepts, but which could not be fully incorporated in our main existing ideas. We also included these concepts in our coding, finding thematic fields in which we could link them to our general analysis of Globe Aroma.

• Reflexivity

Reflexivity formed an important basis of conducting our research with Globe Aroma. Reflexivity is about the idea of the researchers’ own self-reflection in the interpretative process of giving meaning and interpreting reality (Kovach 2010). It requires being aware of oneself in the process of creating knowledge. Moreover, critical reflexivity in anti-oppressive research gives room for the political examination of privilege and position. As Gergen and Gergen (2003) argue rather than having the reader consider the biases in the research, the relation between the self and the subject matter are used to enrich the ethnographic report (Kovach 2010). We tried to incorporate self-reflexivity throughout the seminar by continuously engaging ourselves with the way we were doing our research. We often had discussions about how we should approach our actors regarding difficult or sensitive topics, and gave each other feedback on becoming more aware of certain implicit biases and assumptions. One topic that came up during one of these discussions was that up to this point, we mainly had conducted interviews with male artists, while forgetting about and actively encouraging women artists to come forth. For more information, see our individual reflections page.

• Ethical responsibility

We adhered to the ethical norms on engaging responsibly in our research. The ethical responsibility is about the permission from the actor, informed consent and confidentiality. At Globe Aroma, before conducting the interviews we informed the participants that we were recording the interview and asked for their permission and consent in participating in the project. Moreover, we informed our participants in depth about the website and how we are going to use the information they provided to us, making sure that if information was sensitive we were treating it confidential.

Since some of the participants who we interviewed were in a vulnerable situation because of being either undocumented asylum seekers, migrants or refugees we made sure that all very sensitive information was anonymized. We upheld this principle especially when we asked them about personal experiences referring to their situation in Belgium, the police raid, whether they were undocumented, their housing situation or other difficult experiences. Moreover, we adhered to the no harm principle never to expose our participants to physical, emotional or psychological harm.

• Study limitations

Limitations of the study concern the fact that we could not interview all the participants in more depth. Sometimes after we collected the interviews, we realized that we would have liked to ask more questions in depth, continue some of the questions we already asked and raise some topics we did not mention in the conversation. Moreover, what we realized was that we only interviewed few women artists at Globe Aroma.