Intersections: Art and Narrative in Intercultural and Educational Research

The experience of art, artistry and narrative in research is a key methodological concern of both the artist and the researcher, whose work together occurs in and beyond an intersection of educational, intercultural and cultural narratives. Arts-based research and educational pedagogy intersect with the multimodal expression of a sophisticated Eastern Arrernte homelands knowledge system, prompting rich learning and teaching outcomes. Considered as one body of work and of Eastern Arrernte homelands knowledge, Wallace uses her paintings and stories to engage intercultural and cultural intersections in research and in education. The proposition for research based on the multimodal work of one artist challenged Lovell’s audacity and the academy’s conceptualisation of intercultural and arts-based research and data. This paper examines how interrelationships within Wallace’s contemporary artworks (2003-2010) intersected with the researcher’s developing insight of the Eastern Arrernte homelands, and the relationship of the homelands as a system of knowledge which Wallace seeks to communicate. This process led to a formative research framework that was informed by literature, the researcher’s experience of the homelands knowledge system, and the characteristics of Wallace’s multimodal expressions of her knowledge and culture.