The Relationship between Creativity and the Socio-Cultural Context of the Creative Person: A Study of Creative People in the Arts in Bahrain

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Currently, we cannot think of creative work as being a result only of intellectual abilities or personal characteristics that relate to the creative individual, a view held by previous studies on creativity such as those by Guilford or Freud. Conversely, there are external factors that may influence the growth of creativity. Therefore, researchers now recommend a "multidimensional" approach to the study of creativity. Such "multidimensional" or "confluence" approaches are based on the idea that creativity requires the convergence of multiple components. It is for this reason that my study focused on the multiplicity of and interaction between several factors. Some of these factors relate to the creative individual, some others have to do with the domain of specialization in which the creative individual works, and others relate to the field to which the creative individual belongs. My current study aims at identifying the extent to which external factors, whether those related to the family, school, or society, may influence the personal and creative growth of creative individuals The study sample consists of 20 creative practitioners of visual arts in the Kingdom of Bahrain. They are divided into two groups: professional painters and professional sculptors. The scope of my study imposed on me the choice of a qualitative approach. The main research tool was a semi-structured interview, which explored the personal development of the creative practitioners and the factors perceived to be influential in encouraging their creativity. As for the method of analysis, I opted for grounded theory. First, this theory integrates well with the semi-structured interview. Second, grounded theory methods are suitable for studying individual processes, interpersonal relations and their reciprocal effects between individuals and larger social processes. I identified five defined main categories that may be divided into subcategories. The first category is "the background of the artists." I found that support played a vital role in the development of their talents, whether from parents, friends, colleagues, or teachers. I also found that each artist has one or more craft models, whether the father, mother, or teacher. The second category is "relationship to art." I have realized that each artist had a certain level of motivation. There are two major types of motivation: internal and external. I have also come to the conclusion that each of these artists experienced abundance, some in art and others in more than one field. I have also noted in these artists the characteristic of commitment to the work of art. The third is “relationship to culture.” The artists resisted various types of pressures. Some of them had to fight economic pressures. Other artists, especially sculptors, had to fight cultural pressures, and others, specifically females, had to resist pressures within their communities. What is more important is that some of these artists were marginalized, whether at art exhibitions or in their careers. The fourth category is “success.” This category consists of the series of successful experiences witnessed by the artist. The fifth category is “accumulations,” where I have reached the conclusion that any work of art dates back to a series of previous accumulations that stem both from the artist’s life and career.