Transformative arts is the use of artistic activities, such as

story-telling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and music-making, to precipitate constructive individual and social change. The individual changes effected through transformative arts are commonly

cognitive Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and

emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

al. This results from the way participation in a creative process and pursuit of an artistic practice can promote a critical re-evaluation of previously held

belief A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

s, accompanied by unfamiliar

feeling According to the '' APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations, thoughts, or images evoking them". The term ''feeling'' is closel ...

s, which alters

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

of the world, oneself, and others. The social changes effected through transformative arts occurs when this altered perception manifests in new ways of interacting with others. Although engagement in artistic activities has been integral to the means by which individuals and communities have sought personal comfort,

self-reflection Self-reflection is the ability to witness and evaluate one's own cognitive, emotional, and behavioural processes. In psychology, other terms used for this self-observation include "reflective awareness" and "reflective consciousness", which or ...

, and

group cohesion Group cohesiveness, also called group cohesion, social harmony or social cohesion, is the degree or strength of bonds linking members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole. Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it ...

for thousands of years, the origin of transformative arts as a modern formal concept is commonly attributed to the work of

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

. Dewey espoused four main ideas around which transformative arts pivot. Firstly, art is not an object but an experience, in which one or more persons participate. Secondly, every individual is potentially an artist by way of his or her capacity to participate in this experience, through any artistic activity. Thirdly, such participation inevitably precipitates some kind of transformative change to how the participants think, feel, and behave. Fourthly, art is therefore both psychological and social, transforming not only individual intrapersonal processes, but also interpersonal relationships. Accordingly, transformative arts are facilitated by artists with the psychological purpose of promoting individual

introspection Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's s ...

, and with the social purpose of promoting

inclusion Inclusion or Include may refer to: Sociology * Social inclusion, action taken to support people of different backgrounds sharing life together. ** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabilities sharing various aspects of lif ...

, reciprocity, and

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

.LeBaron, M. and Sarra, J. eds., 2018. Changing Our Worlds: Arts as Transformative Practice (Vol. 12). AFRICAN SUN MeDIA.

References

{{Reflist

External links

International Society for Transformative Arts
The arts Change Creative arts therapies Activism