Kunlaboro
As an extension of the participatory project, Include Us In, Kunlaboro uses participatory methodologies to explore the impact of Covid on countries in the Global South, led by Dr Meg Peterson and Dr Matias Muñoz Hernandez. The research aimed to democratise the research process, giving a voice to both cultural leaders and artists from three case study countries- Uganda, Morocco and Chile. In order to do this, the photovoice methodology was employed to create a fusion of images and words to deepen understanding of an issue or concern and explain their own experiences though critical reflection and dialogue. In this case, an arts-based approach was also a 'language' that each artist spoke, particularly when language was a barrier to communication.
The study began by working with cultural leaders from Uganda, Chile and Morocco who then acted as intermediaries to engage 2 artists in each country- one visual artist and one musician. With research collected in May 2021 where much of the world was still under restrictions from the pandemic, artists were then given the provocation to use photographs to symbolically represent their lives before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and their vision for their lives when the pandemic was 'over'. There was a focus group also held with the 3 cultural leaders to give more of a big picture perspective of the cultural landscape in each country.
The images from the artists are as follows in order of BEFORE, DURING and POST- PANDEMIC. The images are accompanied by descriptions in their own words which describes their decisions behind the images and what they mean to them.
Photo credit: Sandra Suubi