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At Dalits’ Feet: Archival Resources of Counteraction
Author(s) -
Laine Anna
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
visual anthropology review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.346
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 1548-7458
pISSN - 1058-7187
DOI - 10.1111/var.12198
Subject(s) - exhibition , tamil , caste , social justice , sociology , process (computing) , visual arts , history , media studies , political science , law , art , criminology , literature , computer science , operating system
Dalits’ bodies are archives of structural violence and discrimination based on caste. Through a process‐based notion of the archive, and close attention to Dalit counterforces, the current artistic–anthropological project addresses potentials for increased epistemic and social justice. This article reflects upon collaborative photographic inquiries of casteism during fieldwork within Tamil communities, analyzed through the concept “body as archive” and curated into the exhibition At Dalits’ Feet . This article demonstrates how a critical and multisensorial approach, in front of the camera and in the gallery, can challenge and refigure Dalit experiences and memories of casteism archived in both collective and individual bodies.