Curated Immersion: An Exploration of Participatory Arts Practice in Healthcare Contexts

Abstract

Research into the nature of participatory arts practice in health is scarce. Literature discussing this practice lists successful components but there are few conceptualisations of the practice that draw these components together. Assemblages available are specific to health contexts or art-forms and therefore this research investigates the common componential nature of participatory arts practice in health (PAPH) and aims to map a casual network of this practice. Artist ‘case studies’ are formed from data gathered through social-science methodologies (observations and semi-structured interviews). These case studies are coded and then displayed as data matrices, used to collate common components across the diversity of practices. Causation networks then plot the causal relationships of these components and a map is created to visualise the collective whole. This map is then analogised as a terrarium, an emblem of the whole practice, describing both the constituent parts of PAPH and its assembly. The findings reveal that, despite the diversity of PAPH, common components - and their assembly - exist. This research suggests that PAPH consists of a carefully curated and attentively adapted space in which an immersive, co-created, participatory experience is nurtured.