Designing for Dissensus: Socially Engaged Art to access experience and support participation.

For social justice-oriented design, pluralistic participatory practices are recognised as important. This paper explores Socially Engaged Art (SEA) as one such practice, which uses dialogical inquiry to address social justice issues. We describe a case study of SEA-informed digital storytelling workshops in a rurban community in Ireland. The workshops aimed to support diverse adolescent participants in identifying and critiquing place-based social issues with a view to imagining alternative and inclusive futures. SEA was instrumental in uncovering contradictory and hidden experiences of community life. We propose incorporating SEA into design processes to: i) challenge assumptions around identity and belonging; ii) recognise diverse experiences; and iii) breakdown social-engagement barriers. As we ask questions on what design is for, who should design, and why design matters, SEA can centre marginalised experiences, support polyvocal participation and help develop participant agency to work towards more equitable futures in rapidly changing environments.