Cut 2 Abstract

During my time in the communities I went out on the land. I was invited along with caribou hunts, joined in on ice-fishing, rode an ATV, camped out at a fishing weir, collected ice, and took rode in the back of a qamutiq (sled) to hang-out at cabins, or check on breathing-holes and seal dens. I also participated in the organization of workshop activities, from moderation to planning, budgeting and arranging community caterers to prepare country food and other meals. I learnt about prayers as well as igloo building, and I assisted in the ‘marginal’, every-day, logistical practices that are part of land-based monitoring research projects in the Arctic, like car repairs, cargo transport, seasonal travel, and getting stuck for days due to blizzards. Referring to these practices collectively as aesthetic action, I look at the affordances they create for reconciliatory research practices and knowledge conciliating through the tracing of three case studies: i) Community-based participatory filmmaking, ii) the organization of two (pre-workshops), and iii) “Mx. Science”, a performance intervention. What kinds of spaces open up through these aesthetic actions? What possibilities for cross-cultural engagements can we find in those spaces? What terms of engagement emerge? What slippages do they reveal and what can we learn from such moments, when it comes to ethical knowledge conciliation?

Return to Cut 2: "Aesthetic Action"