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CReArC Global

Centre for Research in Artistic Citizenship


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CReArC Global is a collaborative network founded by scholars in music and arts from across the globe. The founding members span four continents, encompassing varied backgrounds, diverse interests, and a wide range of methodologies and approaches.

The aim of the network is the formation of an international community of scholars, educators, and practitioners for whom the framework of Artistic Citizenship impacts their approaches to arts and arts education. Artistic Citizenship encompasses perspectives on music and arts that relate to social inclusion, education, and artistic practices and their reception, among others. This includes the development and empowerment of individuals and communities within (co-) creative, just, and cooperative (democratic) contexts, whether at conceptual, institutional, or systemic levels. Researchers in the network are involved in different studies and projects that relate to the topics mentioned above. CReArC Global is thus a forum in which we develop and share new ideas, studies, publications and collaborations. The ideas behind the concept of Artistic Citizenship have the prospective to unfold the art institutions’ capacity for contributing in diverse ways to the cultural and artistic engagement of all citizens in society., Artistic Citizenship holds strong notions of inclusion and co-productive creativity that tangibly can involve individual and communities to increasingly participate in creative art processes. Such processes that can enhance and enforce people’s creative agency and general quality of life from a life-long perspective. Therefore, CReArC Global aims at being the pivot of such research and research-based activities.


Vision

CReArC Global aims to

  • be an internationally recognized hub for research in the field of music and arts education, with a particular emphasis on Artistic Citizenship.
  • become the go-to place for practitioners, leaders and politicians in the cultural sector regarding various artistic and cultural relationships in society, both local and global

Main Objectives - Mission

  • CReArC Global contributes new research-based knowledge to the international field of Artistic Citizenship, including music and arts education.
  • CReArC Global initiates, develops and carries out research activities through a range of collaborative formats across conventional lineages and borders of interest and perspectives.
  • CReArC Global shares and disseminates research results and discussions relevant to the field of Artistic Citizenship.

Methods

At CReArC Global, international research activities such as workshops, talks, conferences and network meetings, ensure critical dialogues about Artistic Citizenship.

At CReArC Global we initiate and lead research project development and design aimed at securing funding from national and international funding agencies.

At CReArC Global we welcome invitations and initiatives to participate in research projects within adjacent fields of music education.

At CReArC Global students, teachers and researchers engage in a wide range of collaborative educational research activities in-house and in collaboration with partners.


The Network

CReArC-network

Dr. Maria Westvall, Professor of Music Education at SMI, University College of Music Education in Stockholm, Sweden. Director

Dr. Emily Achieng Akuno, Professor of Music Education, Vice Chancellor of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology in Siaya County, Kenya.

Dr. Charles Carson, Associate professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology at University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Dr. Andrea Creech, Professor of Music Pedagogy at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Canada.

Dr. Flávia Narita, Senior lecturer of Music Education at Universidade de Brasília, Brazil.

Dr. Oscar Pripp, Associate professor of Ethnology at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Dr. Nan Qi, Professor of Music Education at Zhejiang International Studies University, China, also affiliated with Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.


Recent Network Activities

  • Online launch of CReArC (February 23, 2021)
  • Panel at GRASP, Roskilde, Denmark (November 2021)
  • Panel at 1st Conference of Performing Arts Nairobi, Kenya (February 2022)
  • Participation at ANPPOM (Brazilian National Association for Research and Postgraduate studies in Music) Natal, Brazil (October 2022)
  • Collaboration with Social Impact of Music Making SIMM (2021-2024)
  • Publication Westvall, M., & Achieng’ Akuno, E. (Eds.). (2024). Music as Agency: Diversities of Perspectives on Artistic Citizenship. Routledge (April 2024).
  • Official book launch for Music as Agency at ARKADIA Oy International Bookshop, Helsinki, Finland (July 2024)
  • CReArC network members facilitating and participating in two panels at the ISME conference, Helsinki, Finland (August 2024).
  • Co-hosting SIMM-posium at RMC, Copenhagen, Denmark (November 2024)
  • CReArC network members guest lecturing in Master programmes (intercultural interaction) between institutions (2021-2025).

Contact

For further information please contact maria.westvall@smi.se

Senast upppdaterad: 2025-10-30