At Dalits’ Feet: Archival Resources of Counteraction

TitleAt Dalits’ Feet: Archival Resources of Counteraction
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsLaine, Anna
JournalVisual Anthropology Review
Volume36
Issue1
Pagination17-39
ISSN1548-7458
AbstractDalits’ 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.
URLhttps://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/var.12198
DOI10.1111/var.12198
Short TitleAt Dalits’ Feet