Collage and Zine-Making: Difference between revisions
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I returned to Coral Harbour for 10 days and then to Gjoa Haven for 14 days in late fall of 2022, to prepare for the upcoming final workshops of the BearWatch project. And, in the case of Coral Harbour set up a connection with the local school as per the research design of the Coral Harbour, Queen's University collaboration. | I returned to Coral Harbour for 10 days and then to Gjoa Haven for 14 days in late fall of 2022, to prepare for the upcoming final workshops of the BearWatch project. And, in the case of Coral Harbour set up a connection with the local school as per the research design of the Coral Harbour, Queen's University collaboration. | ||
I was invited by the teacher who I had met during my previous visits (Lisa Marie Thomas) to spent three consecutive days in her grade 4 class. During those days, I introduced myself, got to know the students and shared information about my homecountry; the Netherlands. BearWatch co-PI Peter van Coeverden de Groot joined for the 3rd day and taught a short lesson on polar bear monitoring. This third day was also used to pilot a "persona" I | I was invited by the teacher who I had met during my previous visits (Lisa Marie Thomas) to spent three consecutive days in her grade 4 class. During those days, I introduced myself, got to know the students and shared information about my homecountry; the Netherlands. BearWatch co-PI Peter van Coeverden de Groot joined for the 3rd day and taught a short lesson on polar bear monitoring. This third day was also used to pilot a "persona" I intended to introduce at the final workshops; A more-than-human, playful fictional character called Mx. Science. To read more on this persona, detour to Cut 2. | ||
This pilot, was conducted with permission of the teacher and the school principle, and was taken up with overwhelming positivity by both the kids, teachers and principle. | This pilot, was conducted with permission of the teacher and the school principle, and was taken up with overwhelming positivity by both the kids, teachers and principle. | ||
Revision as of 22:07, 31 January 2025
After tracing along the BearWatch project for about two years, visiting Gjoa Haven twice and Coral Harbour three times, I had substantial notes, recordings, observations and literature to conduct an explorative exercise of meaning-making with. I decided to employ the creative method of collaging to conduct an initial analysis. My goal of this exercise was to figure out if any emergent themes and new connections and relationships would reveal themselves by employing this methodology.
Collaging is in essence about encounter and about the reconfiguring of meaning and matter when elements are brought together in new and unexpected ways. For me it was a way to see how all the material that had emerged through my responsive encounters in the communities and while thinking from the road in the South, related to the boundaries and the possibilities of ethical research practices (including knowledge conciliation) in accordance with the Ethical Space of Engagement (Ermine, 2007).
I ended up converting my collages into a shareable zine which I scanned and made digitally accessible below. I also printed 60 black and white copies for distribution to project partners and community collaborators. A very small edition of colour copies was kept for personal use.
Zine tactile/text/ure by gingertheworld
Detour Cut 2: Point of Beginning Mx. Science
Fall 2022 Coral Harbour
To prepare for the final workshops the project had scheduled 10 days for me in Coral Harbour and 14 days in Gjoa Haven. Part of this trip was to set up a relationship with the school, as per the original terms of collaboration between Coral Harbour and the BearWatch project.
Detour to Cut 2:Coral Harbour Workshop
School Visits
I returned to Coral Harbour for 10 days and then to Gjoa Haven for 14 days in late fall of 2022, to prepare for the upcoming final workshops of the BearWatch project. And, in the case of Coral Harbour set up a connection with the local school as per the research design of the Coral Harbour, Queen's University collaboration.
I was invited by the teacher who I had met during my previous visits (Lisa Marie Thomas) to spent three consecutive days in her grade 4 class. During those days, I introduced myself, got to know the students and shared information about my homecountry; the Netherlands. BearWatch co-PI Peter van Coeverden de Groot joined for the 3rd day and taught a short lesson on polar bear monitoring. This third day was also used to pilot a "persona" I intended to introduce at the final workshops; A more-than-human, playful fictional character called Mx. Science. To read more on this persona, detour to Cut 2.
This pilot, was conducted with permission of the teacher and the school principle, and was taken up with overwhelming positivity by both the kids, teachers and principle.
The pre-gathering activities with the school principal and teacher led to inclusion of sessions within the final workshop design for school participants only. included Qamutik building and science-based bingo and presentations.
Detour: "Nukatuqag" - "Mx. Science"
Wayfaring Calendar Pilot
Although Leonard was not much available in the 10 days that were meant to prepare the final workshops, he did connect me to three experienced hunters of the community to conduct a participatory mapping exercise, that would feed into the development of a wayfaring method towards knowledge conciliation.
We collaborated on developing a pilot interview guide that engages IQ through a focus on process, values, and land-based ways of doing/being, rather than outcomes or measurable data. The resulting interview guide focusses on understanding the land-based practice of navigating main routes and tracks across Southampton island.
We selected a specific route towards ‘Qakutaap’ to conduct pilot interviews. Four interviews were conducted with experienced hunters and skilled navigators (Jonathan Emiltowik - Innuapik Ell - Harry Gibbons – Leonard Netser) in the week between 24 and 28 october, 2022.
The information that was shared was processed by Saskia into a paper prototype of a seasonal calendar which could potentially be further developed into a future communicative/planning tool for Southampton Island residents and Southern researchers seeking community-based collaborations on polar bear monitoring.
Image calendar prototype
Another Point of Beginning; Wayfaring Method
You have reached "Another Point of Beginning". These are not conclusive endings to my research, but rather perform at the cusp of emergence: They are a story so-far. Some of these points mark the end of funding cycles or project activities. Or they mark the limitations and scope of this particular PhD dissertation. Others are trails, and tracks that have faded out, as they remained un-revisited. They however always mark one moment along an ongoing animate line of correspondence between multiple agencies, and they usually allow for continuing with another cut.
This is where we take account for our journey so far. This journey is always partial, and so are the insights we have built on our way. You can trace the path you have taken through this Knowledge-Land-Scape by clicking the "trace" bar in the upper left corner of your screen. It will allow you to account for some of the insights that your journey has given you. The map below shows you the full extent of wayfaring possibilities of the scape.
As you might see, it looks like cut 3: Wayfaring the BearWatch project, has several ongoing tracks. In this case you have reached a story-so-far when it comes to the collaboration between Leonard Netser and the BearWatch project on the CIRNAC grant. While strong relationships might manage to bridge funding cycles, they are also subject to the im/possibilities of the research landscape and it apparatuses. My collaboration with Leonard has resulted in a prototype wayfaring calendar of the Southampton Island route to Qaquutaap, however we haven't been able to work out its potential to contribute to ethical research relationships in a Southampton Island wise polar bear survey. Up until recently our personal correspondence has fallen silent in the context of relational tensions that emerged between Leonard and Queen's University Bearwatch researchers, some of which are eluded upon in Cut 2.