Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Robert Balfour. Image: SuppliedTo mark the 30th anniversary of the Department of Women and Gender Studies, a Photovoice exhibition was unveiled in the atrium of the Library.
The exhibition, which showcases the experiences of the department’s third-year students on and around campus, specifically focusing on those who identify as LGBTQIA+, aims to challenge stereotypes.
Many of the students expressed their fears of bullying and the lack of safe spaces for those who identify as transgender or are openly gay and lesbian.
Speaking at the launch, University of the Western Cape Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Robert Balfour, said the "Manifestation, Memory and Metamorphosis” exhibition was a fitting tribute to those gathered in a particular space and time.
He said the exhibition highlights the transformative importance of feminist research methodologies as one way to understand the body and space from a particular focal point. “The exhibition is a fitting part to the anniversary because it shows how teaching and research come together…it is also fitting that our students have used Photovoice in this exhibition, a methodology I have also used in the past in my research which gives a visual dimension to the intellectual project, allowing it to take a tangible and visible form,” said Prof Balfour.
Apart from teaching students important research skills, Photovoice also focuses on agency and why it's an integral part of “who we are as researchers”, according to Prof Balfour.
“Researchers are not invisible behind methodology, and are not displaced third-person in the narrative. Photovoice is very much about positioning the self in a way that invites engagement, dialogue, reflection and scrutiny on the positionality of the research.
“The positionality of the research as a co-creator of meaning, not only the authorial voice behind the method, behind the chapter, behind the thesis,” said Prof Balfour.
He said based on the research from the students it is clear that safety should not be taken for granted and that belonging has to be intentionally nurtured, adding that transformation is never just a once-off achievement.
Department head, Prof Desiree Lewis, said that both students and staff hoped the exhibition would not only showcase academic excellence but also create lively and critical discussions, raising awareness on campus. “And therefore also prompt transformation and action,” said Prof Lewis.
She said that since the department’s establishment, the focus has been on the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. “Staff publications, international collaborative projects, postgraduate theses, undergraduate coursework and student essays consistently challenge historically dominant ways of excluding some voices or authorising and elevating others. The student exhibition today clearly demonstrates this,” said Prof Lewis.
