Sociopolitical, protest, and activist art share a common aim: to facilitate social justice. They manifest as bold political statements that position, provoke insight, and raise awareness among audiences. Such works function as communicative acts—expressions of the artist’s stance—whether situated in galleries or inscribed as graffiti in public spaces. They are responsive to lived realities of troubled contexts and serve as interventions within these spaces. By contrast, Transformative Art Practice (TAP) integrates process, product, and outcome across three interconnected modalities: curatorial strategies, artmaking processes, and audience educational engagements. Rather than focusing solely on the articulation of political positions, TAP emphasises the conditions through which transformation occurs, situating art as both method and practice in the pursuit of sustained social justice.

I first encountered the concept of Transformative Art Practice (TAP) through the contributions of LeBaron, Sarra, and Berman in Changing Our Worlds (2017), where TAP was articulated as art practices oriented towards facilitating social justice. Building on this foundation, my PhD research examined how transformation occurs during TAP. More specifically, how, when enhanced by Freirean conscientização, it can address repressed internalised oppression, manifest as racial neurosis .  To confront this, I examined my sociopolitical art practices within the TAP framework to identify the recurring conditions under which they emerge. This paper reflects on those conditions within the context of my postdoctoral artistic practice, “Musee de La Bete” (Museum of the Beast), with the aim of developing a methodological toolkit.

To advance this inquiry, I draw on Linda Candy’s practice-based research and Bagele Chilisa’s Indigenous research methodology within a transformative research paradigm. These perspectives offer critical insights into the research process I employed in my case study at “Musée de la Bête”, while also foregrounding the importance of tangible, transformative outcomes. Together, this dual emphasis—on methodological process and social change—enables a nuanced exploration of how TAP can be mobilised as both method and practice in the pursuit of social justice transformation.