Expanding paradigms: Art as performance and performance as communication in politically turbulent times

Abstract

This chapter documents the creation of a critical ABR methodology, employing a collaborative focus group analysis plus theatre. We describe the experiences of female activists in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement, a protest movement for greater democratic participation, and how this evolved into devised theatre and research connected to feminist movements in Hong Kong and Mainland China. This chapter raises questions about how scholars not primarily trained or engaged in artistic pursuits can adopt artistic forms to further their empirical and political goals: specifically, in this case, providing a platform for female activists to communicate issues of concern. Do those who engage in ABER without any training in “art” risk creating “shoddy” art? What can be gained by accepting and defying this risk? This chapter addresses these questions.