Translations-Generations: Representing and producing migration generations through arts-based research

Abstract

Migration generations play a central role in structuring and mediating relations in immigrant-background groups and are important conceptual categories for understanding how these groups change over time. Yet, in both research and practice, communicating the complexities of intergenerational relations and generational change can be challenging. Tacit, sensuous, affective and embodied aspects of generations frequently evade capture in conventional research approaches, while generational differences can impede understanding within immigrant-background families and communities. Arts-based research, through its engagement with alternative modes of knowing and understanding, and its capacity to reach beyond the academy and across generations, offers possibilities for addressing both of these challenges. Via an account of a collaborative arts-based research project exploring Vietnamese Australian generations, and focusing on two of the artworks produced, this article demonstrates the potential of arts-based research to contribute to producing and sharing knowledge about intergenerational relations and generational change in immigrant-background communities.