Narratives in a Time of Crisis is a MoVE (method.visual.explore) project that uses citizen journalism as a participatory (arts-based) research strategy to prioritize the perspectives, needs and concerns of international and domestic migrants involved in sex work in South Africa. The project invited a small group of individuals to share their stories of love, hope and hardship following one of the world’s harshest Covid-19 lockdowns.

Find out more about the Moving Words Project, which is a two-year collaboration between the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Edinburgh.

maHp intern Elena Olivieri blogs about the launch of the Mwangaza Mama project book.

Bua Modiri is Setswana for “speak out worker”. The name was chosen by a group of sex workers during a Sisonke meeting. Participants in this project were asked to focus on messages specific to their occupation.

MoVE focuses on the development of visual and other involved methodologies to research the lived experiences of migrants in southern Africa.

Limpopo Crossings is a research project centred around a series of trips taken by doctoral researcher, Greta Schuler, with migrant sex workers from South Africa to Zimbabwe.

This arts-based research project aims to throw light on the world of oceanic mobilities and subaltern populations who get contained in states of suspension or drown in order to find a better life.

Narratives in a Time of Crisis is a MoVE (method.visual.explore) project that uses citizen journalism as a participatory (arts-based) research strategy to prioritize the perspectives, needs and concerns of international and domestic migrants involved in sex work in South Africa. The project invited a small group of individuals to share their stories of love, hope and hardship following one of the world’s harshest Covid-19 lockdowns.

The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) is excited to launch The Endless Journey, a photojournalism project documenting the experiences of migrants with disabilities in South Africa.

Find out more about the Moving Words Project, which is a two-year collaboration between the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Edinburgh.

In this dispatch ACMS/maHp postdoctoral researchers Rebecca Walker and Elsa Oliveira reflect on ‘Mwangaza Mama’, an arts-based storytelling project that they undertook in collaboration with a group of seven migrant women from across the African continent, who are now living in Johannesburg.

maHp/ACMS postdoctoral researcher Elsa Oliveira offers a personal reflection of their journey into participatory arts-based research with sex work migrants in South Africa.

In this blog post, maHp/ACMS artist and visual researcher Quinten Williams reflects on the recent Bua Modiri workshop encounter through the notions of combinations, expanded knowledge practices, and place-making.

Bua Modiri is Setswana for “speak out worker”. The name was chosen by a group of sex workers during a Sisonke meeting. Participants in this project were asked to focus on messages specific to their occupation.

maHp artist fellow Carlos Amato reflects on his positionality as a political cartoonist documenting the lived experiences of zama-zamas.

Security at the Margins (SeaM) is a three-year collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) that uses interdisciplinary research to understand (in)security in marginalised communities in urban South Africa.

Read and download for free the Mwangaza Mama project e-book.

Izwi Lethu: Our Voice is a newsletter by sex workers for sex workers. Here you can read an excerpt of Issue 17 which will be published online soon.

Street Photographer and maHp artist fellow Madoda Mkhobeni in conversation with MA student Esther V. Kraler about documenting the daily life struggles of ‘Trolley Pullers’ who reside in inner-city Johannesburg and Soweto.

Directed by Simon Wood and Meghna Singh, “Container” takes a hybrid approach to documenting the experiences of migrants risking everything in search of a better life, presenting their stories through a unique combination of virtual reality and installation art.

Today is World Poetry Day, and in South Africa, where I live and work it is Human Rights Day, a national public holiday commemorating the 1960 Sharpeville massacre. Is there way poetry and human rights can come together? And is there a way that poetry can be used as part of research on rights-based issues?

maHp is looking to award up to five Artist Fellowships. The fellowships aim to support work that explores the role of art in promoting migration and health related research, and new knowledge uptake through public engagement. Closing date 31 March 2018.

VIDEO: On 21 November 2017 the ”Two Arts-based Research Projects’ exhibition was launched at the Workers’ Museum (Newtown).

The Izwi Lethu team reflects on the recent launch of the MoVE: Methods: Visual: Explore exhibition at the Workers’ Museum.

The MoVE method:visual:explore project of the African Centre for Migration & Society (at Wits University) is holding an exhibition that showcases two visual and narrative research projects conducted in 2016 and 2017.

In a world and especially in a country where women’s bodies are systematically oppressed and violated – and where poor, black, foreign bodies are easily treated as disposable and unimportant – being a mother adds layers of fear, threat and physical and emotional burden.

This blog post reflects on the “Gender, violence and sexuality: Collaborations for social justice at the intersection of academia, activism and art” symposium that took place earlier this year.

A consistent aspect of method:visual:explore projects (MoVE) has been the partnerships that create the conditions necessary for various projects to occur. Most MoVE projects usually occur in some partnership with a specialist social organisation, and sometimes, with another research body. This post takes stock of some of these connections.

Postdoctoral fellow Becky Walker reflects on the “Life in the City” arts-based research project, which explores the experiences of women who are migrants and mothers living in inner-city Johannesburg.

Visual researcher Quinten Williams provides some thoughts on the partnership that underpins the research and social activism of the Sex Worker Poster Project.

This blog entry offers a facilitator’s glance into the day to day activities that comprise a participatory arts-based workshop conducted in partnership with a grassroots activist organisation.

Postdoctoral researcher Duduzile Ndlovu blogs about presenting her PhD thesis back to the research participants she had worked with, using poetry.

The zines from the Sex Worker Zine Project are powerful visual and narrative accounts of personal struggles and successes, everyday realities, beliefs, hopes and dreams. These visual stories are crafted around aspects of participants’ lives that they wanted a public to know about.

Today is the ‘International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers’. Participants of The Sex Worker Zine Project have been adding their voices to the #Decrim Blog Carnival. This project challenged stereotypes of migrant sex workers, calling for a move away from a single, rehearsed story. Here is Kagee‘s introduction to his zine, followed by its link.

In commemoration of tomorrow’s ‘International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers’ (17 December) the maHp is taking part in the #Decrim Blog Carnival. Below is Doe-Doe’s introduction to her zine, which was produced as part of The Sex Worker Zine Project. This project challenged stereotypes of migrant sex workers, calling for a move away from a single, rehearsed story.