Moving Between Cultures Through Arts-Based Inquiry

This book is an exploration of the concept of in-betweenness, as it occurs within the process of moving between the author’s root culture and adopted culture, from her perspective as an immigrant creative arts therapist. Through the critical autoethnographic voice and a/r/tographic inquiry, she introduces a unique exploration site within the process of Guqin-making, an ancient Chinese art form. Through the creation of images and poetry, and through Guqin-making and music-making/playing, the book expands the discussion of in-betweenness by re-theorising ancient Chinese philosophical perspectives on harmonic space. This contribution to arts-based research provides a unique standpoint to explore research methods of moving, walking, making, resting and awakening. It showcases how other researchers can transfer the invisible and intangible embodied feelings, memories and emotions arising from moving between two or more cultures into visible and tangible images, narrative, poetry, craft and music-playing to conduct powerful, interdisciplinary arts-based research.