Utilising Lived Experience in Participatory Arts: Why Creative Approaches Work

‘Lived experience’ is a term used frequently across the safeguarding and domestic abuse sectors, but meaningful and ethical involvement of those with lived experience can be tricky to get right. At our recent conference, ‘Walking on Eggshells: Ending Male Violence Against Women’, we demonstrated how creative mediums allow lived experience to be central without placing survivors at risk or requiring them to repeatedly relive trauma. We believe that lived experience must be included in ways that honour, protect and empower survivors rather than exposing them or relying on them to carry the emotional weight of educating professionals.

Instead of asking survivors to speak directly, delegates engaged with their stories through film, immersive audio and music. This meant the learning remained emotionally powerful and grounded in real experience, but delivered in a way that prioritised safety, dignity and consent. All stories shared throughout the day were co-produced by Made By Mortals in collaboration with groups of people with lived experience through creative workshops with facilitators, writers and musicians. This ensures the stories are reflective of the broader issues and situations survivors find themselves in, and not based solely on one person’s experience.

Our short film Eggshells was a clear example of this. Shaped with older survivors, the story portrayed decades of coercive control in a long-term marriage, but it was performed by actors. The women whose insights informed the film never had to disclose personal details publicly or be on show. Their expertise shaped the narrative, but their privacy remained protected. Although based on real-lived experience, using fictional characters within the film allowed delegates to discuss and explore the case more freely and for everyone to own one story.

The same care shaped the audio stories of Kerri and Sadiqa. Both pieces were voiced by actors and developed in partnership with lived-experience groups. Delegates listening through headphones felt a powerful emotional closeness to the women’s journeys, but that connection never came at the cost of anyone’s wellbeing. The creative process gave space for nuance, authenticity and cultural richness, while safeguarding the people whose experiences inspired the stories. As one attendee put it, it was, “A creative experience which was innovative and informative when dealing with a very sensitive topic using real life experience.”

Even the music created on the day was rooted in lived experience, woven from themes and emotional motifs that emerged from co-production processes with delegates. Yet again, the expression belonged to the attendees, while the emotional labour of performing and delivering it rested with professional musicians and facilitators.

This approach prevents tokenism and reduces the risk of exploitation, and also allows survivors to share their ideas and use their imaginations throughout the creative process. Survivors decide what is shared, shape the meaning behind it, and stay in control of the process throughout. Delegates told us that this approach helped them connect more deeply, understand complexity with fresh clarity and reflect more honestly on their own practice in a new way.