This paper introduces SensArticulate, an interdisciplinary, affect-centered methodology designed to address critical gaps in conducting trauma research with forcibly displaced persons (FDPs), with particular attention to the most vulnerable among them—children and youth. It foregrounds the ethical complexities inherent in researching displaced minors and invites fellow researchers into a shared dialogue on developing alternative methodological approaches. New piloted approaches include non-verbal, playful, and creative methods that not only deepen our understanding of trauma beyond clinical frameworks, but also foster safer, more culturally sensitive research engagement with traumatized, displaced children and adolescents. Trauma research involving displaced minors is frequently avoided due to strict ethical restrictions, high risks of retraumatization, and pronounced adult–child power imbalances. Consequently, there is a notable absence of evidence-based, child- and youth-centered trauma epistemologies, raising important questions about the appropriateness of applying adult-oriented trauma research methodologies to younger populations. SensArticulateresponds to these challenges by proposing the integration of playful, artistic, and community-anchored practices—including visual storytelling, participatory performance, embodied games, and laughter—as valid forms of knowledge production. Developed within the framework of a Horizon-funded project, the methodology was initially piloted with scholars working alongside recently displaced Ukrainian populations. The framework draws on affect theory (Ahmed 2013; Massumi 2015); arts-based research (Lenette 2019; Leavy 2020), and ethical issues with minors (Gaywood et al. 2020) acknowledging that trauma in children often escapes verbal articulation. It also critically engages with dominant clinical paradigms by foregrounding the emotional and sensory modalities through which displaced youth experience and process war and conflict related trauma. The preliminary application of these methods suggests that co-creative, affect-centered approaches are not only ethically necessary, but essential for accessing the often-silenced dimensions of displacement—particularly those experienced by the most vulnerable.

Play is a biologically rooted resource and a powerful language, especially vital for children. It shapes learning and development and, in times of crisis, becomes a crucial coping mechanism. For refugee children, play offers relief, connection, and a foundation for resilience, agency, and emotional balance. In contexts of displacement, art serves as both container and catalyst for play and imagination. Through art-making, participants connect, take risks, explore possibilities, and express beyond words, opening imaginative realms where difficult experiences can be safely transformed and integrated. This approach is especially valuable for refugee children and youth, helping them adapt inner resources to new contexts and reweave a sense of self. As a holistic, multimodal approach, expressive arts weaves music, movement, visual art, poetry, theatre, and nature-based practices into an embodied experience of presence and connection, enriched by imagination. Grounded in poiesis, it trusts the creative capacities of all humans to navigate change and bring forth the new, regardless of artistic training. Through sensory engagement, expressive arts cultivates resilience and belonging via play, ritual, and art-making, providing nonverbal pathways for exploration and healing. This study explores how expressive arts supports the social-emotional well-being of displaced communities. From January 2024 to June 2025, a biweekly program (43 sessions) engaged 18 adult participants (refugees and asylum seekers, ages 20–65) in two Icelandic community centers, Vitatorg and Andrými. Preliminary insights from session notes, reflections, and participant feedback highlight six contributions to well-being: embodied presence; agency and dignity; shared identity; transformation and hope; nature as a healing space; and gratitude fostering readiness to engage. These insights suggest expressive arts can complement systemic supports such as education, inspiring inclusive curricula and creative activities that empower refugee children and youth, while engaging educators in mixed classrooms to nurture belonging, self-expression, and compassion—supporting greater inclusion in Iceland’s increasingly diverse communities.

This lecture presents the voices of African asylum-seeking artists who arrived in Israel as children. It explores how they express non-belonging in Israel and the intersectionality of ethnicity, nationality, and gender. As individuals who vaguely remember their homelands and the experiences of the refugee journey, who grew up stateless in Israel and were educated within Israeli school systems, these artists articulate a fragmented identity—one that navigates between the cultures of their homelands (past), the culture in which they were raised in Israel (present), and their aspirations for a better future and legal status (future). Situated at the intersection of migration studies and art history, this qualitative research conducts content analysis of the visual data (paintings) and verbal data (semi-structured interviews conducted over six years). The lecture’s theoretical framework focuses on identity and belonging among asylum seekers, particularly the 1.5 generation. Findings highlight intergenerational gaps between the first generation (the generation of the parents who migrated to Israel) and the 1.5 generation (the artists who were born in the Horn of Africa but raised in Israel). First-generation artists often express gratitude for Israel’s temporary protection and safety compared to the hardships of their home countries and the refugee journey. In contrast, 1.5-generation artists adopt a critical, postcolonial perspective, voicing critiques of racism and Israel’s discriminatory policies against non-Jewish migrants. While first-generation artists express a clear identification with their countries of origin, 1.5-generation artists experience identity confusion, balancing their cultural heritage, Israeli identity, and a broader Black Pan-African identity. The presentation argues that Israeli policies toward asylum seekers shape how they construct their identities and sense of belonging to both the local society and the state. However, these policies have distinct impacts on first-generation individuals who arrived in Israel as adults compared to those of the 1.5 generation, who arrived as minors.