Opening New Learning through Art
Latest Updates
ABR Handbook Online Reading Group / MMA Online Study Group — The online reading group for the ABR Handbook and the online study group for When Research Meets Art will continue as planned. The latest information will be updated regularly at the bottom of this page.
The 2nd ABR Study Meeting will be held at Kansai University, Takatsuki Campus. The next ABR Study Meeting is scheduled to take place at Kansai University, Takatsuki Campus.
→ Click here for detailsThanks to the participation of so many people, we were able to successfully hold the 1st ABR Study Meeting.
→ Click here for details
Vision / Mission / Objective
Vision
Through arts-based inquiry, we expand ways of knowing and sensing, challenge dominant frameworks, and open up new relationships, values, and possibilities for society.
Mission
We design and facilitate processes where people engage with others through artistic practices, encounter different perspectives, and co-create knowledge that enables more inclusive and responsive ways of living together.
Objective
We prototype and implement arts-based approaches to learning and inquiry, activate embodied and tacit forms of knowledge, and create platforms for dialogue across differences. Through these practices, we connect inquiry to social contexts and support the emergence of people and projects that can contribute to meaningful transformation.
about ABR
ABR is a research approach that incorporates art as a method of inquiry. In conventional research, conclusions are generally drawn through the analysis of numbers and data. In contrast, ABR uses creative practices themselves—such as painting, composing music, or performing theatre—as part of the research process.
For example, if we want to deepen our understanding of a social issue, creating artwork or performing a play on that theme can reveal new perspectives and insights that may not emerge through data analysis alone.
A distinctive feature of ABR is that the researcher also changes through the creative process. Rather than remaining a detached observer, the researcher participates in creative activity, making unexpected discoveries and finding new questions. In this sense, ABR can also be described as "an inquiry process that generates new knowledge."
In this way, ABR is an innovative research approach that brings new perspectives to existing ideas and values through artistic practice.
about PROJECT
Our research team engages in arts-based research across diverse fields, including education, community, and multicultural coexistence. In collaboration with researchers and practitioners both in Japan and internationally, we develop a wide range of practices and inquiries, grounded in schools and communities.
Voices
We introduce the voices of researchers, practitioners, and participants engaging in ABR in Japan.
Listening to Voices
Case Studies
We present practices from a wide range of fields, including education, community building, multicultural coexistence, and intercultural education.
View ABR ProjectThis website is managed by the research team, collaborators, and research partners of the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) project, "Arts-Based Research for Diversifying Inquiry Learning: Designing Educational Environments for Cyclical Co-Creation" (Project No. 24K06243). *Click here for details
See the Research Team
SCHEDULE
2026 Schedule — Fourth Wednesday of every month, 20:00–21:00
| Date | Session | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, April 22 | Session 1 | Narrative |
| Wednesday, May 27 | Session 2 | Poetic Inquiry |
| Wednesday, June 24 | Session 3 | Music |
| Wednesday, July 22 | Session 4 | Dance / Movement |
| Wednesday, September 23 | Session 5 | Theatre / Drama / Film |
| Wednesday, October 28 | Session 6 | Visual Art |
This book introduces the basic principles, methodologies, and applications of ABR, and explains how creative research contributes to interdisciplinary knowledge production. It also presents examples of ABR works, checklists, discussion questions, and activities.
The Japan Association for Educational Media Study is conducting a three-year SIG activity (as a special research theme) on ABR from 2024 to 2026. At its annual conferences, ABR-related sessions will be organized as part of the thematic research, while a variety of ABR activities will also be offered both online and in person.
We hold an ABR study meeting every December. In 2025 it was held at Meiji University Nakano Campus, and in 2026 it is planned to take place at Kansai University Takatsuki Campus. Students, graduate students, practitioners, and researchers gather to share their current ABR work and develop it further through conversation.
The Planning Committee of the Intercultural Education Society of Japan is working on an initiative that does not treat the concepts included in the Encyclopedia of Intercultural Education as fixed, but instead reweaves them through ABR practice to generate new interpretations and possibilities. Using When Research Meets Art as a guide, participants engage in the exercises introduced in the book and connect them to their own research, thereby dynamically reexamining concepts in intercultural education.
Study Group Schedule
Session 1: Saturday, December 6, 2025, 10:30–12:00 (MMA Chapter 1 + Dialogue)
Session 2: Saturday, December 20, 2025, 10:30–13:30 (Presentations) — Reference materials available here
Session 3: Friday, January 30, 2026, 13:30–15:00 (MMA Chapter 2 + Kishi Practice)
Session 4: Friday, February 27, 2026, 13:30–15:00 (MMA Chapter 6 + Kawashima Practice)
Session 5: Thursday, March 5, 2026, 13:30–15:00 (MMA Chapter 7 + Tokunaga Practice)
Session 6: Sunday, April 5, 2026, 10:00–11:30 (MMA Chapter 8 or/and 9 + Kobayashi Practice)
Get in Touch
This website is a community space for exploring new forms of learning together through Arts-Based Research (ABR). For ideas for collaborative practice, workshop requests, or inquiries about the ABR Study Meeting, please contact us at the email address below.
Makiko Kishi, Meiji University
