Patterns Repeat: Transformation Through Creativity in Research about Land and Colonialism

Authors

  • Margaret McKeon University of British Columbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29387

Keywords:

creative process, transformation, colonialism, intergenerational trauma, relationship with land

Abstract

Within arts-based research, creativity becomes methodology. The art-work created may or may not participate in disrupting and renewing our world, may or may not bear its own heart beat. In this reflective and lyrical paper, I explore, in form and content, sacredness in the creative process and its potential for creating transformative works capable of disrupting deep patterns of colonial violence and loss. Sitting with a research question of what it means to “listen” to the land, I story experiences within and outside doctoral studies in which I grow and learn through Western, Indigenous and my ancestral Irish-Celtic teachings.

Author Biography

Margaret McKeon, University of British Columbia

Margaret McKeon is an outdoor educator, poet and doctoral candidate in language and literacy education at the University of British Columbia. A person of Euro-Settler ancestry, in her research she is creating poetry and stories about land relationship, ancestral knowledges and colonialism. 

References

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Published

2019-02-27

How to Cite

McKeon, M. (2019). Patterns Repeat: Transformation Through Creativity in Research about Land and Colonialism. Art/Research/International:/A/Transdisciplinary/Journal, 4(1), 222–239. https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29387