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Arts & Communication Using multiple languages within an improvised fairytale

verbal narratives used in the fairytale, most were not. This verbal reflections the group made in the final step at the
led to moments in which those improvising continued conclusion of the fairytale.
without the benefit of or response to and understanding of
the verbal story. 2.1. Participants of the session
All participants from the session studied had significant
2. Methods of review complex personal experiences with the health crisis, and
The authors applied an arts-based approach to describe the all participants were actively engaged in collaborative arts-
themes and meaning within the metaphors that emerged based communication about their experiences together in
in a session that had already been completed. Arts-based the session. Almost all had been infected with COVID-19
inquiry 19-25 involves using artistic methods for gathering, at some point during the pandemic. Some participants were
analyzing, and presenting findings of a central question ill multiple times, and most had close friends and family
or point of interest. These authors conclude that arts whom they were unable to visit when these people became
processes are central to every part of this style of inquiry critically ill due to travel restrictions in their country. Some
and are not merely an illustration of other verbal methods. knew people who died or developed long COVID-19
When using arts-based inquiry, researchers follow a illnesses during the crisis. All participants reported feeling
creative process to investigate areas that are not easily socially isolated at some time during this time frame and
described verbally but are instead related to the complex were distressed by the spread of the virus. All participants
personal, non-verbal, and emotional experiences of those worked in either the education or mental health sectors
involved in the project. The main questions subsequently and reported professional stresses, such as having to work
emerge through the reflections of artistic expressions in person when surges of cases were reported in their areas.
and metaphors produced in response to an initial area Some reported being harassed for performing their roles
of interest or question, often in a non-linear manner. according to the required health government guidelines as
During an inquiry process, care is required to clarify part of political protest within their communities.
such communications using ongoing creative reflections These experiences were certainly similar to those of
together with several modes of arts expression to refine others throughout the world. However, some differences
results. This use of multiple arts-based media expands did exist. These participants lived in very different
the metaphor-making to help authors find aesthetic parts of the world, had different cultural and linguistic
relevance and communicate the complexities of subjective backgrounds, and could only meet each other on Zoom.
experience with universality and authenticity. 19,20 They also had experience and interest in using arts
In our review, the area of interest was how expression improvisation. Importantly for our inquiry, we had the
and communication of subjective personal experiences experience of communicating using arts-based metaphors
developed in the session, given our diverse cultures and with each other about these concerns. It is assumed that
different primary languages, and specifically how the use of the international nature of the group, their interest, and
two languages in imaginative fairytale-making fit into this ease with arts-based collaboration as communication
process. The expression of our own subjective experiences would contribute to the overall purpose of this review.
became the focus during the process of creating a series
of arts-based metaphors. We considered each step of our 2.2. Participant attendance and permission to use
session, from the initial verbal statements of our everyday the material
experiences related to the easing of the health crisis to Overall, the project consisted of a group of colleagues
the fanciful ensemble fairytale-making, to describe the who used the time to develop creative collaborations as
creative transformations of exchanges that led to the personal support, and it was not seen as therapy. The arts-
final innovative development during the dual-language based research aspect only developed after the sessions
collaborative improvisation. This description tracks were completed. Participation was voluntary and informal.
the non-linear manner of change and expansion from All participants were informed that the improvisations of
the individual verbal reports to a group metaphor that the project would be recorded. They all gave their written
integrated nonverbal, somatic, and emotional experiences permission and agreed that the material could be shared
and suggested multiple meanings. In the subsequent in future presentations and that this permission could be
sections, we will present our results using a series of pictures withdrawn at any time. Permission for the use of pictures
of dance, art, and creative writing/fairytale-making to of the dance, art, poetry, and fairytale material in this
show how the progression of these results evolved and article was obtained. No harm occurred to any of the
the surprising directions of meaning that emerged in participants in either session being reviewed here or in the
the co-created metaphors. Finally, we will report the overall project.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 6 doi: 10.36922/ac.2079