Creative Expression Research Articles

Challenging Voices: Listening to Australian Women Writers across Time to Understand the Dynamics Shaping Creative Expression for Women Writing Today

This article argues for the critical need to value the voices and creative work of contemporary women writers in Australia. Historically, women writing in Australia have endured erasure, dismissal, and suppression. I argue that there is still, in the modern period, a continued lack of awareness, recognition and education on Australian women’s writing despite targeted awards and the achievements of the feminist movement. This piece reflects back across time, drawing on interviews I conducted and PhD thesis research with women writers in Australia at the turn of the twenty-first century, and maps how the legacies of gendered notions of writers impacted women at this pivotal era to consider what this may mean for women writing today. It also explores how feminist theories such as écriture féminine are helpful for framing and understanding the responses of Australian women writers to the shifting notions of sexual difference and agency in writing. This article aims to provide insights into the complexities of liberation for women from the past to modern times, and the impact of gender on creative expression in Australia across changing social periods.

Silent Speech in Phaswane Mpe's HIV/AIDS Writing.

South African writer Phaswane Mpe (1970-2004) is often canonized and memorialized as a brave truth-teller who broke the silence on HIV/AIDS in the context of government silence and denial. And yet Mpe's writings-including poetry, short stories, a novel, and scholarly criticism-contemplate illness as a problem for truth and representation in works that linger in silence and ambiguity. This article analyses the tension between silence and speech in Mpe's creative writing in response to HIV/AIDS. Using Mpe's works as an illustrative example, I trouble the desire to read illness narratives as forms of truth-telling and silence-breaking. The desire for the transparency of speech in a global archive of illness narratives also informs a colonial politics of representation that instrumentalizes literature as ethnographic evidence. Mpe's writing on HIV/AIDS refuses a demand for authenticity by holding the embodied experience of disease at a slight remove from the reader in order to register the forms of spiritual and epistemological crisis that epidemic and social loss produce. My contention is that the political stakes of this writing lie not in Mpe's ability to render a public health crisis with verisimilitude, but in the capacity for writing to provide solace and sublimity faced with death. Through an analysis of Mpe's fiction and poetry, this article proposes a methodology for reading the politics of illness narratives across globalized space which attends to the world-building potential of creative expression as a radical practice that resists incorporative models of aesthetic intelligibility.

Improving the Generation Z’s Self-Esteem and Decreasing their Mental Issues by Creative Expression Art Therapy

Improving the Generation Z’s Self-Esteem and Decreasing their Mental Issues by Creative Expression Art Therapy

Impact of Theater Arts Participation on High School Students

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the impact of theater arts participation on high school students. Materials and Methods: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Participation in theater arts has been shown to enhance students' academic performance, with improvements in reading comprehension, verbal skills, and overall academic achievement. This is attributed to the discipline, memorization, and comprehension skills that theater activities demand. Additionally, involvement in theater arts fosters critical thinking and creativity, encouraging students to approach problems and situations from multiple perspectives and think outside the box. Beyond academics, theater arts participation positively affects students' social and emotional development. It helps build self-confidence and self-esteem as students perform in front of audiences and receive feedback on their work. Theater also promotes teamwork and collaboration, as students must work closely with their peers to produce successful performances. This collaborative environment helps students develop strong communication skills and a sense of empathy, as they must understand and convey different characters' emotions and motivations. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: Constructivist learning theory, social learning theory and arts integration theory may be used to anchor future studies on assessing the impact of theater arts participation on high school students. In practice, schools should actively incorporate theater arts into core academic subjects through interdisciplinary projects that promote creative expression alongside academic learning. From a policy perspective, it is crucial for educational policymakers to prioritize funding for arts education programs, recognizing their significant role in enhancing academic performance.

The mental imagery scale for art students: Building and validating a short form

Mental imagery is a vital cognitive skill that significantly influences how reality is perceived while creating art. Its multifaceted nature reveals various dimensions of creative expression, amplifying the inherent complexities of measuring it. This study aimed to shorten the Mental Imagery Scale in Artistic Creativity (MISAC) via the Ant Colony Optimization algorithm (ACO), a metaheuristic methodology for developing psychometrically robust brief scales. Answering 63 items in the original version of MISAC demands a higher cognitive load and, consequently, more time. Therefore, our goal was to shorten it while preserving its psychometric properties. In this study, responses to the MISAC were obtained from 500 undergraduate students enrolled in an art education program. The items on the short form of the MISAC were selected based on pre-specified validity criteria and content representability. The 28-item short form of MISAC demonstrated comparable performance to the original version regarding construct validity, criteria-related validity, and reliability coefficients. Moreover, strict invariance was attained across both gender groups in the validation process of the short form. These results highlight the utility of the shortened version of the MISAC as a valid measure with minimal loss of information of scores compared to the full version.

Enhancing EFL Learners’ Communicative Skills through Dramatisation of Lessons

Dramatisation breathes vitality into the realm of language learning, transcending mere vocabulary to engage the entire learner - their body, mind, emotions, and senses. This research explores the integration of drama within language instruction and its profound impact on students' speaking proficiency. Studies consistently highlight that enacting lessons not only bolsters fluency but also instills a sense of confidence in learners. As students step into various roles and articulate lines, their language skills undergo marked improvement, rendering their speech more natural and expressive. This newfound confidence serves as a catalyst, empowering students to actively participate in classroom discourse and embrace English communication with enthusiasm. Even for those initially hesitant to voice their thoughts, the immersive experience of dramatisation provides a safe haven. The playful nature of role-play alleviates apprehensions, enabling even the most reserved learners to find their voice and connect with their peers on a deeper level. Furthermore, the empathetic exploration of diverse perspectives inherent in dramatisation enriches students' spoken English with nuance and emotion. Beyond immediate language proficiency, dramatised lessons foster positive attitudes towards learning, injecting an element of enjoyment and excitement into the language acquisition process. By engaging in creative expression, learners not only acquire language skills but also develop a genuine passion for linguistic exploration. In essence, the integration of dramatisation into language instruction serves as a powerful tool for guiding students towards achieving proficiency in a language. Its multifaceted benefits extend beyond the classroom, shaping learners into confident, expressive communicators with a profound appreciation for the intricacies of language and culture.

The Designing Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair Event Poster At Garuda Indonesia Booth Using Maluku Kakehan Motifs

Indonesian tourism is a key driver of the national economy, with the potential to spur significant economic growth. The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism is committed to enhancing both the quantity and quality of tourism through various initiatives. Collaborative efforts between the government, industry, and community groups are exemplified in events like the Travel and Holiday Fair Jakarta, Indonesia Tourism Creative Economic Fair Jakarta, and Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair (GATF). These travel fairs are becoming essential sales promotion strategies for the Indonesian tourism industry, helping to introduce new products and stimulate public interest.One such initiative, the Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair, also plays a vital role in promoting the rich cultural heritage of Maluku by featuring the Kakehan Motif, a stylized sun ornament symbol from the Alifuru tribe on Seram Island. This study, using descriptive qualitative methods, explores the design of a booth exhibition that incorporates the Kakehan Motif to showcase and celebrate Maluku’s culture. The booth not only serves as a promotional platform for Maluku Province at the Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair but also acts as a communication medium, offering visitors an immersive experience. It provides a practical space for the creative expression of ideas and serves as a promotional tool for companies, institutions, and organizations. Through this visual media, the booth aims to elevate the Kakehan Motif's prominence, contributing to the broader efforts of cultural preservation and tourism promotion in Indonesia.

A mindful body approach to creating architecture: movement, models and spatial experiences.

If architecture is an expression of human creativity through multi-sensory embodiment, then learning, creating and experiencing architecture should also be multi-sensory and embodied. In this article, we challenge the separation of mind and body through Sheets-Johnstone's mindful bodies concept. We define a mindful body in architecture as one that documents, analyses and memory maps the moving body in different qualities of movement to create diverse spatial experiences. A mindful body approach to creating architecture involves: (i) engaging in meaningful movement and documenting the body, (ii) documenting embodied interactions with dynamic, animate elements in the built environment, (iii) connecting our body's movements with emotions and memories, (iv) designing spaces that produce diverse movements and atmospheres, and (v) designing architecture based on these spaces. We hypothesize that if designers engage in a mindful body approach to design, they can create spatial experiences that help us make sense of ourselves, others and the world. A mindful body approach to design can result in architectural spaces that activate our attentional switches, connect haptic experiences and memories and reveal wonders. This article is part of the theme issue 'Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence'.

Constructing Global Identity Through Creative Linguistic and Artistic Branding of African Countries’ Monikers

This qualitative study investigated into the complex dynamics of African nation monikers and their profound implications for national identity and international branding. The purpose of the research was to examine the interplay between linguistic inventiveness and artistic representation in 54 African nations, exploring how these components contributed to shaping global perceptions. Adopting a content analysis approach, the study systematically investigated linguistic nuances and artistic depictions associated with each nation's moniker. The population comprised the 54 diverse African nations, ensuring a purposive and representative sampling approach that considered linguistic, cultural, and geographical variations. Data was sourced from official documents, historical records, and public discourse surrounding each nation's moniker, with a focus on linguistic analysis from official statements, literature, and media representations. Artistic representations were examined through visual sources such as national emblems, flags, and associated symbols. The findings revealed a complex tapestry of linguistic features firmly anchored in cultural and historical contexts. Artistic depictions, including visual metaphors and symbols, contributed significantly to each nation's unique character. Notable examples included Nigeria's "The Giant of Africa" and South Africa's "The Rainbow Nation." Recommendations emphasized the strategic use of linguistic and artistic components to enhance international image, recognizing their critical role in shaping global perceptions of African nations. The study also acknowledged its limitations and proposed directions for future research, offering valuable insights into the nuanced dynamics of language and creative expression in constructing national identity on the global stage.

“Making for Others”: A Creative Inquiry Into Understanding Older Men’s Motivations for Making

The do-it-yourself (DIY) and maker cultures have expanded into older adult communities and shown to bring a strong agency and well-being outcomes. Looking into well-established spaces, where older adults have engaged in making over a longer period, can provide an insight into the sustained motivations and benefits of making for older adults. Men’s sheds represent a great opportunity in this regard, as they are open, community spaces where retired, older men engage in woodworking, metalworking and other craft-based activities. We involved nine men’s shed members in a creative inquiry where a “probe kit” consisting of recycled timber and wooden materials was provided. The participants were asked to create an artifact from the kit for someone other than themselves. We interviewed them once they completed their projects and qualitatively analyzed their design process. Our findings show that older men’s involvement in making is driven by the ethos of “making for others” and can be seen across three themes: (1) creative expressions; (2) memories and social connections; and (3) practical needs. We unpack these themes in the paper and discuss factors that can play an important role when engaging with older adults.

Disrupting the estate: Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie at Coleshill

ABSTRACT This article explores some of the ways in which queer women living in country houses have used their economic privilege and class leverage for their own purposes, disrupting and reshaping country house living to make space for their own independent endeavours. It takes as its case study the life of Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie (1895–1985), an innovative woman potter in the early British studio ceramics movement who rejected aristocratic, familial and societal expectations of duty and lineage to self-fashion an identity as an artist. Pleydell-Bouverie created a separate household on her family estate of Coleshill where she prioritised pleasurable domesticity with her female partners alongside creative expression and productivity. This essay investigates Pleydell-Bouverie’s use of the estate – both the conditions it afforded her and its ecological materiality – as a resource in her experimental artistic practice and in her alternative, non-heteronormative mode of living.

Bridging the Self’s worlds: Young girls’ creative TikTok expressions of multimodal literacy during Covid-19

Bridging the Self’s worlds: Young girls’ creative TikTok expressions of multimodal literacy during Covid-19

Impressions and Expressions of Creativity: Expanding our Understanding of Creativity

Impressions and Expressions of Creativity: Expanding our Understanding of Creativity

The Impact of Montessori Education on Creative Expression in Preschoolers

The Impact of Montessori Education on Creative Expression in Preschoolers

Creating Real Situations, Developing Thinking Tools Design and Implementation of the Interdisciplinary Project Autumn Museum for Lower Grades of Primary School

Childrens expressive abilities need to be gradually built. In the lower grades of primary school, real situational tasks should be used as the teaching environment, students task inquiry activities as the main line of learning, and language interaction between teachers and students as the teaching technique. The ultimate goal is to enhance individual language experience centered on students pragmatic abilities. By using situational tasks as the main line, continuously providing students with tools for expression, and achieving the learning objective of childrens creative expression through a structured language construction process. This paper develops and designs an expressive literacy course based on the first semester Chinese textbook for first graders.

AN ARCHETYPAL ANALYSIS OF VASYL SIMONENKO’S WORK IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIONAL COMMEMORATIVE PRACTICES

The article deals with the creative heritage of the Sixties poet Vasyl Symonenko through the prism of the archetypal method. The methodological basis of the research is the principle of interdisciplinarity, methods of archetypal and comparative analysis, as well as the concept of language as a «house of being» (M.Heidegger). The relevance of this consideration is due to the growing theoretical and practical interest of social philosophy in various historical and cultural forms of spiritual phenomena of resistance and social cohesion under totalitarian pressure. The presence of markers of psychoanalytic structures of Jungian archetypes of the Self, Shadow, and Mother, as well as paradigms of Sophia, the Earth archetype, agrarian and Cossack background of Ukrainian mentality, high status of the family and value attitude to the past, substantiated by the theory of Ukrainian national archetypes and studies of Ukrainian mentality, is revealed in the poet’s civil lyrics. The author traces the manifestations of the philosophy of freedom, human dignity and national self-determination in the poetic word. As a result of the study, it is also noted that V.Symonenko’s poetry is characterized by vivid features of individualism, Ukraine-centrism, emotionality, courage or individual rebellion, which is a way of manifesting one’s national identity in the context of colonialism. The central idea of the study is that the archetypal method is a modern scientific method that offers a wide range of interpretations in the field of humanities, explication of philosophical meanings and problematization of collective phenomena of humanization of life, including the study of national cultures. One of the important conclusions of the article is the thesis about the ontological status of the socio-cultural phenomenon of the Sixties as a manifestation of non-conformism and counteraction to dogmatism, in the worldview of which the philosophy of dignity, freedom, protection of national identity, cultural pluralism and creative expression were important.

Synectic Model: Unleashing Creative Expression in Students' Narrative Writing Skills

This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the synectic model in enhancing students' narrative writing skills. A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving 60 participants randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group. Data collection utilized pretests and posttests to assess students' writing performance. Analysis involved calculating mean scores and employing t-tests and gain score analysis to determine the impact of the synectic model. The results revealed a significant increase in narrative writing abilities among students in the synectic model group compared to the control group. This suggests that the synectic model effectively promotes creative thinking and diverse perspectives, making it a valuable tool for educators to improve students' narrative writing skills. The study highlights the potential of the synectic model in fostering narrative writing skills. Educators can integrate this model into their curriculum to enhance students' writing abilities. Further research is recommended to explore the model's effectiveness in different contexts and grade levels.

Fuzzy Cluster Pitch Synthesis System for the Violin Sound with Machine Learning

Pitch synthesis with violin sound involves the generation of musical pitches using technology to mimic the distinctive tonal characteristics of a violin. This process typically employs digital signal processing techniques to recreate the timbre, articulation, and nuances of a real violin. Advanced algorithms analyze and model the acoustic properties of a violin sound, allowing for the synthesis of realistic pitch variations and expressive qualities. Whether utilized in electronic music production, virtual instruments, or sound design, pitch synthesis with violin sound aims to emulate the rich and complex sonic palette of the violin, offering musicians and composers versatile tools for creative expression and sonic exploration. In this paper proposed Fuzzy Pitch Clustering Machine Learning (FPC-ML) for the violin Music Pitch Synthesis using Machine Learning. The proposed FPC-ML model uses the Fuzzy Clustering model for the estimation of pitches in the violin music signal. Based on the Fuzzy clustering model membership degree is computed for the proposed FPC-ML for the estimation of the pitch in the violin music. With the estimation of linguistic variables, clustering is performed in the Music signal for the computation of pitches. With the estimated pitches in the violin music, the features are trained in the machine learning model for the classification and estimation of features in the Violin Music. Simulation analysis demonstrated that the proposed FPC-ML model computes the features of the Violin Music Pitch values based on the estimated clustering values synthesis performed for the classification of the Violin Music signal. The proposed FPC-ML technique achieves an accuracy value of 0.98 for the violin signal with an iteration of 20. With the increase in several iterations and epoch, the accuracy of the FPC-ML model is further increased for the synthesis of the Violin Music.

Optimized Art Design Model With Statistical Model with Digital Media

Art design is a form of creative expression that encompasses the visual aesthetics and conceptual elements of various mediums. Art design has undergone a transformative evolution with the integration of digital media, reshaping the landscape of creative expression. In contemporary art, artists leverage digital tools and technologies to explore innovative ways of crafting visual narratives. Hence, to improve the quality of the art design this paper constructed a framework of Weighted Genetic Optimization (WGO). The proposed WGO model incorporates the statistical modeling of digital media technology. The statistical technique comprises the estimation of the features in the art design model. Through the integration of WGO with the statistical model features related to the art design with the incorporation of digital media are evaluated. The statistical features in the art design are observed as the digital information such as geometric, GLCM and HUE are the essential features in the integrated WGO with statistical techniques. The estimated features are applied over the deep learning model with the LSTM network for the automated classification of art design that uses digital media for improvement. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed WGO integrated statistical model achieves the HUE value ranges from 0 -360 which is effective for art design modeling. Also, the proposed model achieves a significant classification rate of 0.98 accuracy with a loss value of 0.2 which is ~9% less loss than the conventional techniques.

Exploring Collaborative Approaches in Literature Education: Fostering Creative Expression and Student Engagement through Adaptation of “An Inspector Calls”

Exploring Collaborative Approaches in Literature Education: Fostering Creative Expression and Student Engagement through Adaptation of “An Inspector Calls”