about

#artsmethods was initially funded by the British Academy Newton Trust, and involved a partnership between the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at Wits University and the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) at Coventry University .

With funding from the Wellcome Trust and support from the Migration and Health Project (maHp) Southern Africa and the MoVE: method:visual:explore project of the ACMS, #artsmethods continues to create spaces for ongoing dialogue between the multiple stakeholders involved in developing, undertaking and sharing visual, arts-based research projects.

#arstmethods also contributes to the Security at the Margins (SeaM) project, a three-year partnership between the University of Edinburgh and the University of Witwatersrand. SeaM aims to use innovative methods to explore (in)security on the urban margins in South Africa. The partnership is funded by the ESRC and NRF.

Through a range of public exhibitions, symposiums and engagement with visual materials produced by different migrant groups, including migrant LGBTI people and migrants who sell sex, we hope to explore the opportunities – and challenges – that arts-based research can provide.

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#artsmethods 3: Johannesburg

10th – 11th November 2016

This is the third in a series of linked events exploring different arts-based approaches to research and activism. Taking place over two days, the symposium will bring together researchers, creatives, social justice campaigners and community members to reflect on the ethical and methodological opportunities and challenges of arts-based practices. Experiences from South Africa, Chile, New Zealand and the United Kingdom will be shared and discussed through facilitated dialogues.

Space is limited and RSVPs are essential.

Workers’ Museum, Newtown, Johannesburg

For more information or to RSVP, please email john.marnell@wits.ac.za.

Key themes:

• Ethical dilemmas and practice (power dynamics, consent, ownership, dissemination, etc.)
• Knowledge politics (interpretation, attribution, navigating the academy, etc.)
• Linking research and activism (possibilities, conflicts of interest, forms of support, etc.)
• Collaboration (opportunities, tensions, expectations, meaningful partnerships, etc.)
• Methods (why and how we do what we do, benefits/limitations, best practices, etc.)

Symposium questions:

• What are the benefits and challenges of participatory research methods?
• What does it mean to coproduce knowledge?
• Whose interests do these methods serve?
• What does it mean to both represent and be represented?
• How can we better navigate the ethical dimensions of participatory research

Speakers include:

– John Fleetwood, Photo:
– Katia Guiloff, University of Wellington
– Debbie Jack Heustice of info4africa
– Susann Huschke, ACMS, Wits and Know My Story
– Gabriel Hoosain Khan, Hivos
– Sara Kindon, University of Wellington
– Peace Kiguwa, Wits
– Haley McEwen, Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS)
– EJ Milne, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University
– Molemo Moiloa, Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA)
– Marcela Palomino-Schalscha, University of Wellington
– Jabu Pereira, Iranti-Org
– Members of the Sisonke National Sex Worker Movement
– Ntokozo Sibahle Yingwana, Migration and health project Southern Africa: maHp, ACMS

Symposium proceedings will be made available on the #artsmethods blog.

The symposium is co-hosted by Move: Methods.Visual.Explore and the Migration and health project Southern Africa: maHp of the African Centre for Migration & Society, Wits University.

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#artsmethods 2: Coventry

Coventry, 18^th-19^th May 2016

Using arts-based methods in participatory research with migrant sex worker and LGBTQ people from migrant and refugee backgrounds

This symposium was held in collaboration with The Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre and The International Sociological Association Visual Sociology Working Group (ISA WG03).

This event provided a space for conversations about arts based methods and participatory research with migrant sex workers and LGBTQ people from migrant ad refugee backgrounds. It brought together bring together activists, academics, arts practitioners, research gatekeepers and people from migrant and refugee sex worker and LGBTQ backgrounds.

Image (C) Katlego 2015, Sex Worker Zine Project 

 

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#artsmethods 1: Johannesburg

The Workers Museum in Johannesburg hosted a symposium from the 9th – 11th March 2016 on #artsmethods.

Starting with the opening of a public exhibition and publication launch, the 2-day symposium brought together researchers, activists, artists, photographers, civil society groups, migrants, sex workers and representatives from the LGBT community.

An overview of the Johannesburg symposium can be found here.