Project

(In)Visible Violence: Researching Visual Archives for Lost Histories

Program

African Humanities Program Postdoctoral Fellowships

Department

Centre for Humanities Research

Abstract

This project analyses the relation between violence during and after apartheid and culminates in a book and an exhibition of archival photographs. The premise of the study is that there is much that remains unspoken about the violence of the past and there is a great deal of critical work to be done in understanding the violence of the present. This research employs an interdisciplinary approach working across the bounds of anthropology, history, and visual studies. The project focuses on photographs that engage with three aspects of violence in the past and present: violence against children, gender-based violence, and vigilantism and mob justice.