Abstracts
Abstract
This paper considers how creative research mediated by mobile devices might contribute to upending inherited notions of refugee powerlessness and passivity in galleries and museums. A collaborative project, undertaken in 2019, explored the significance of SIM cards in forging a sense of security, identity, and belonging for Syrian refugees on a resettlement program in the U.K. This “opening up” the “body” of the smartphone in the process of creating artworks reveals the urgent need for deeper appreciation of the meaning and materiality of personal digital ecosystems (Blanke & Pybus 2020) for refugees negotiating a sense of home.
Résumé
Cet article examine la manière dont une recherche créatrice réalisée à l’aide de smartphones peut contribuer à renverser dans les galeries d’art et les musées les notions d’impuissance et de passivité ressenties par les réfugiés. Un projet collaboratif, entrepris en 2019, a exploré le rôle des cartes SIM pour forger un sentiment de sécurité, d’identité, et d’appartenance parmi des réfugiés syriens participant à un programme de relocalisation au Royaume-Uni. Cette “ouverture” du “corps” du smartphone au cours du processus de création artistique révèle le besoin urgent d’une appréciation plus profonde de la signification et de la matérialité des écosystèmes digitaux personnels (Blanke & Pybus 2020) pour les réfugiés qui tentent de reconstruire un sentiment d’appartenance.
Appendices
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