Project description

This doctoral study focuses on participatory musicking activities with refugees. After designing a mapping system that shows what ‘participatory’ could mean for participants in these projects, the research focus zooms in on songwriting in refugee accommodation (asylum centers and immigration detention). We examine which topics occur in song lyrics and how participants depict their lives in refugee accommodation through a content analysis of available output. Furthermore, we unravel what are narratives of facilitators to choose songwriting topics that focusses on participants’ lived experiences of forced migration. Additionally, we reveal the context- and content-based challenges that occurred in facilitation processes of The Scratch Band, an exploratory case study that focused on songwriting about life in a Belgian refugee accommodation. Based on the results, we propose ethical implications for music facilitators that aim for epistemological decentering through songwriting in refugee accommodation and explore what could be the role of bodily based activities to overcome challenges related to these musicking contexts.

About Tina

Since November 2023, Tina Reynaert has an individual FWO mandate and works as an academic researcher within  the Department of Art Science, Musicology and Theatre studies and the Academic Chair Jonet at Ghent University. She is also connected to the Social Work department of Ghent University (interdisciplinary doctorate). 

She is a professional pianist and obtained a master’s degree in Performing arts (2014) and a teaching degree (2015) at KASK/Conservatory Ghent.  Moreover, she holds a master's degree Gender & Diversity in Ghent University (2020) and a bachelor’s degree in art science/ visual arts (2018). Alongside playing piano recitals, she works as an artistic facilitator in Belgian refugee accommodation. She has 7 years of experience working with refugees and applicants for international protection. Highlights were “The Ladies of Istanbul” in close collaboration with Bij de Vieze Gasten in Ghent and the refugee-led music theatre piece “Vlamingstraat 55” with Concertgebouw Brugge & Red Cross reception center in Bruges.