Abstract

How we form our common impressions in the future could determine how effectively we engage with others in an increasingly intercultural environment. This paper outlines a practice-led international research project that was developed as a model that could investigate the significance of creativity and creative practice in setting up sites for shared understanding in a contemporary and globally interactive world. The project, titled Big Blue Ball: Pictures, people, place, positions visual culture as being central to our understanding of ourselves and our lifeworld by offering a critical link to making sense of the unfamiliar and extending meaning and connection to others, thereby providing us with practical processes to facilitate a sharing of meaning across cultures.