In this talk, the speakers speculated upon the anti-assimilationist politics of crip cultural practices within the disability arts sector in northern Turtle Island (Canada). We discussed the ethical and practical complexities of “cripping” our research methodologies and gesturing towards decolonization while collaborating with disability community members.

This talk draws on the speakers’ ongoing participation in Deaf, disability, and mad arts, specifically in North America (Turtle Island), while referring to their conference paper entitled “Misfits in the World: Responding to Cultural Breaks Through Disability Arts” (Chandler, Rice, East, and El Kadi) presented at the Society for Disability Studies 2022 conference.

Speaker(s):Dr. Eliza Chandler, Dr. Carla Rice, Lisa East

Discussant(s):Dr. Rana El Kadi

Read the talk insights here - https://www.urgentemergent.org/talking-uncertainty/misfitsintheworld

How might multimodal anthropology reconcile the use of iconic images that reinforce racist stereotypes? As a visual anthropologist, when you create a multimodal output such as a film, you often have to balance your desire to attract the stakeholders’ attention with your attempt to challenge and avoid reproducing iconic stereotypes that are perpetuated through the media. Interestingly, the medium of film itself often inherently reproduces many stereotypes.

Therefore, it is both difficult and interesting to think within the media industry. For instance, participants of the ARTlife Film Collective state that there is something “with the iconic” that they always have to negotiate and work in friction with. This is often one of the most productive frictions in these kinds of collaborative multimodal projects. Working multimodally and with images allows them to think differently about collaborative filmmaking. At the same time, such films often cut across various genres - including documentary, docu-fiction, hybrid, ethno-fiction, etc. - allowing them to forge new connections and reach a broader audience. Read all the insights here - https://www.urgentemergent.org/talking-uncertainty/artlifefilm

How might collaborative multimodal ethnography begin to challenge neoliberal and xenophobic media ecologies? Collaborative, multimodal ethnography can provide under/mis-represented community members with a platform to conduct open-ended, collaborative, self-reflexive, and therapeutic explorations. For example, participants of the ARTlife Film Collective use such multimodal projects to challenge the reductionist representations of Muslim women in the Danish media. Such explorations may include the flow of images through direct messages and social media, auto-ethnography, and co-directing the film. These platforms facilitate the process of representing themselves on their own terms, in ways that challenge stereotypical portrayals of their communities within xenophobic media ecologies. The collective is critical about using iconic images that reinforce sensationalist portrayals of Muslim women. Read all the insights here - https://www.urgentemergent.org/talking-uncertainty/artlifefilm