CAET Journal, the international peer-reviewed journal of the International Association of Creative Arts in Education and Therapy, invites submissions for its Winter 2026 edition focused on Art-Based Research: Art as Living Inquiry.

This issue focuses on work in which artistic practice is not illustrative of research but constitutive of it; where the artwork, performance, or creative process itself serves as a primary mode of inquiry and a form of knowledge production. Across contexts of education, therapy, community life, and health, artists and practitioner-scholars are advancing forms of investigation that emerge through art-making. We seek contributions that trust the aesthetic process as a way of knowing and recognise form, embodiment, listening, relational encounter, and material engagement as central to understanding.

In this issue, art-based research is understood as an inquiry in which the researcher engages directly and empirically in the artistic process as a primary mode of investigation and communication. Artistic experimentation is not supplementary to research design; it is central to how questions are explored, how insight emerges, and how meaning is conveyed. The artistic process generates knowledge, and the artwork or performance stands as evidence of inquiry. Reflection and writing are welcomed as vital companions to the artistic process, yet they should illuminate rather than override aesthetic knowing. We are especially interested in submissions that demonstrate first-hand artistic engagement by the researcher, whether through visual art, movement, music, performance, poetic writing, intermodal practice, digital media, or other creative forms, where the unfolding of the artistic process itself constitutes systematic exploration.

Rooted in creative and expressive arts traditions and in practice-led research, this issue welcomes submissions informed by relational and community-based ethics, Indigenous and decolonial epistemologies, and culturally grounded practices that frame inquiry as accountable to community, ancestry, and place. In this sense, art-making can be both relational and ecological; a way of breathing with the world, attuning to land and waters, and honouring interdependence across human and more-than-human spheres.

We invite artistic research portfolios, documentation of performance-based inquiry, community-engaged art-based research projects, and collaborative or co-created works in which art-making remains central to generating insight. Submissions should include documentation of the artistic work, such as images, recordings, or links to performances, and a reflective, critical articulation that situates the inquiry within relevant theoretical, cultural, and ethical contexts, clarifying its contribution to creative arts in education, therapy, health, community practice, or ecological awareness. Written components should remain in dialogue with the artistic process, supporting and contextualising it without displacing its primary epistemological role.

Submission Deadline: September 1, 2026 

Please consult the full CAET submission guidelines on our website for formatting and technical requirements.

CAET is committed to advancing rigorous, innovative, and ethically grounded art-based research that expands the possibilities of knowing through artistic practice. We look forward to receiving work that embodies courage, depth, and creative integrity, in the spirit of art as living inquiry.

Beginning in late 2026, CAET will transition to a hybrid access model. Selected content may remain open access, while full journal access will be available through institutional subscription or IACAET membership. This transition aims to support the long-term sustainability and global development of the journal.