AnthroArt

The article examines how women in different socio-political contexts in Romania have engaged in football and how they negotiated their path in spite of the systematic and systemic disregard of their participation. For over five decades thousands of women have practiced organized football, however their place as athletes remains marginal not only in a male dominated sport but also in the collective imagination. The Romanian Football Federation has no official records of women’s football before 2014. Current initiatives of development are many times met with reluctance from the actors involved in the world of football and the public. Based on data collected over a period of one year through life stories interviews with former players and other actors involved in women’s football, archival media analysis and ethnographic research carried at a local team, the analysis brings forth women’s experience and the mechanisms developed to overcome misogynistic and discriminatory attitudes from state-socialism to the market-driven economy. The aim of this endeavor is to recognize the neglected and ignored realities of women football players and to see how this attitude has interfered with of the development of the game.

Article by Ileana Gabriela Szasz, illustrated by Maria Cucu, read by Katia Pascariu

https://theanthro.art/disregarding-womens-football-marginalized-experiences-of-a-sport-phenomenon-ileana-szasz/

The intersections of anthropology, inclusion, and accessibility in urban public spaces is the focus of this article, by delving into the Spaces4All project implemented in Lisbon, Portugal. It begins by emphasizing the importance of inclusion and addressing inequality in modern society, highlighting the role of anthropology in understanding, and tackling social issues.

The article discusses the significance of ethnographic fieldwork in uncovering barriers faced by marginalized groups, particularly those with reduced mobility, in accessing public spaces. It outlines the methodology employed in the Spaces4All project, including fieldwork, mapping of accessible routes, and collaboration with disability support organizations.

Through its process, the project developed a digital solution aimed at enhancing accessibility and cultural engagement for individuals with disabilities. The conclusion underscores the vital role of anthropology in advocating for inclusive urban spaces, emphasizing collaboration with local communities and policymakers to foster equitable environments for all citizens.

A text by Augusto Ferreira llustrated by Lídia Belchior.

https://theanthro.art/spaces4all-applying-anthropology-to-the-accessibility-and-inclusion-of-reduced-mobility-communities-in-public-urban-spaces/

The “Same Same – A Capacity Building and Empowerment e-mentorship Program for People with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (IDD)” is a Program with the objective to test the reliability and effectiveness of a Training and Empowerment Program for Mentors and to provide people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to lead their peers, with or without IDD.

An ethnographic research and report was carried out, with a focus group created to answer and investigate these problematics and questions, a survey of the specific needs and support that individuals with IDD need to develop new skills, knowledge and access new job opportunities. The session included a total of eight participants, considering four distinct profiles, and was divided into five phases.

This article describes the field work done, the data analysis and the results of this study in Portugal.

A text by Daniel Alves llustrated by Lídia Belchior.

https://theanthro.art/empowering-and-capacity-building-for-individuals-with-intellectual-and-developmental-disabilities-needs-hindrances-and-promotion-on-the-learning-and-developing-of-new-skills/

Ethnotheatre is a critical world-making practice that combines ethnography, social knowledge and the performing arts. As an art-based methodology, it aims to research a common ground with a group of people to adapt these observations and knowledge to an aesthetic performance as the practice of participant observation, and the anthropology toolkit methodology.

In the transition to the 21st century and the disciplinary areas of theatre, education, health, and oral history, ethnotheatre begins to be thought and conceptualised as practice and methodology.

As a case study, an ethnotheatre project in prison wants to understand how inmates relate to and act about the problematic human conditions they experience. The research riddle was deciphering the mechanisms of resistance and control underlying inmates’ relationships in their confined lives. Using ethnotheatre as a performance of participant observation, we explore the perception and experience that young inmates have of the living conditions inside a prison to perform a theatrical performance about this passage in their lives.

A text by Ricardo Seiça Salgado

https://theanthro.art/ethnotheatre-in-a-prison-context-the-performative-interview/

The project called “Workshop on Anthropology and Photography” (WAF) is related the work done during 8 months, from March to September 2023, in a small town near Lisbon (Portugal) in a public primary and secondary school, with a particular characteristic: being a multicultural school, attended by children of many nationalities other than Portuguese, with a high number of immigrants and refugees (migrants).

It uses the scientific line of Applied Anthropology (AA), not just a branch or specialization of anthropology, but the epistemological principles, methodologies, and objectives through which the anthropologist deals with his or her subject of interest, whether it’s in the field of medical anthropology, visual anthropology, or the anthropology of human rights, for example.

The aim of this school project was to directly respond to newly arrived children and youth’s needs, regarding enabling them to integrate into the school environment, in terms of autonomy, trust in the school institutions and wellbeing, trust in other colleagues and support for building multicultural and pro-diversity contexts.

A text by Cristina Santinho

https://theanthro.art/applying-anthropology-with-young-migrants-workshop-of-anthropology-and-photography-case-study/

The history of the Portuguese presence in Asia has been the subject of study of numerous analysts from various perspectives. It is well known that during just a few years Portuguese had managed to create several commercial, political, and administrative establishments. This was only possible through the displacement of people to fill in the administrative positions, but also to guarantee the safety of the establishment

This paper focuses on how the rise of these posts and trading centers resulted in the birth of Creole communities, namely one residing in Tugu, in Indonesia, characterized by a unique culture embedded from a linguistic point of view in songs, poems, proverbs and legends, which point to a Portuguese linkage, although without chronological precision. To understand this, we must bear in mind that language is the offset for the structures of imagination and that it strengthens socio-cultural ties knit inside a restricted social space, and it settles simultaneous traits indicative of cultural uniqueness, but also signs of “difference” between human groups.

https://theanthro.art/e-canta-contigo-moresco-portuguese-songs-are-still-sung-in-java/

The article tackles physical activity inequalities, both socio-economical and gender, in preschool and school age children. The undisputed benefits of physical activity on physical and mental health are well documented. So why is it that most children in industrialized countries are failing to meet weekly physical activity guidelines? The answer is complex and nuanced, but may lay in the ever pervasive and entrenched issue of health inequality. Families are often presented with “simple steps” (that promote the simplicity of individual behavior) to reinforce the ease of participating in daily physical activity, such as taking public transport or walking in nature. However, those behavior are often driven by gender (and sex), and socioeconomic conditions, and can only be solved (or approached) by multi-sector collaborations.

A text by Daniela Rodrigues lllustrated by Patrícia Palma

https://theanthro.art/fit-for-all-tracing-inequalities-in-childrens-physical-activity/

This article is the result of ten years of work as a social interventionist with women in situations of social vulnerability, based on the premise: Which of my experiences as a social interventionist in the last ten years can contribute today to empower other individuals to also become social interventionists and develop actions aimed at women in situations of social vulnerability?

The aim of this intellectual effort was, through my autoethnographic account, to construct material that could inspire others to also become social intervenors, focusing on the development of actions for marginalized women.

I’ll firstly present an autoethnography as an analytical model from the field of Anthropology. Next, I’ll outline some of the social exclusions experienced by the women I have work with. I’ll share how interventions based on the Arts can be a fertile field for promoting the social inclusion of these women.

Finally, I’ll discuss the steps for developing Social Projects that can be useful for their implementation.

A text by Priscila Dias llustrated by Noa M.

https://theanthro.art/development-of-arts-based-social-projects-aimed-at-the-inclusion-of-women-in-situations-of-social-vulnerability/

This article examines the potential benefits of creating a virtual gallery as a response to health crises, remote areas, and the elderly population, with a focus on addressing inequality and promoting social inclusion. The study explores how virtual reality technology can effectively break down physical and geographical barriers, facilitating access to diverse artistic expressions and encouraging participation within communities.

Also problematizes the significance of the virtual gallery in providing access to the arts for marginalized populations, promoting interest and curiosity in various artistic forms, and fostering community engagement.

A text by Silvia Raposo llustrated by Lídia Belchior.

https://theanthro.art/artbox-vr-the-gallery-reimagined-a-world-of-inclusion-beyond-the-frame/

Anthropology is the discipline of counterintuition. It seeks to find the strange in the familiar and the familiar in the incomprehensible. When finished, the process starts again, this time in reverse. In the hope that a synthesis will manifest itself. In this article we propose to look at participatory art, changing the turns. What kind of art is this, the ‘non-participatory’? What does dissent flee from? For this purpose, we will use our work in participatory art projects in the last two years (Wame l Anthropology Public) as fieldwork. In a contemporary era during colonial deconstruction, grappling with identity movements, issues of representativeness, in a present where political extremism goes hand in hand with horizontal experiences of governance, what fate will remain for what is not participated in, only exercised? This article transforms into fieldwork the daily life of Wamãe I Public Anthropology. Starting from a participatory art project that lasted two years, in a school in the Ajuda neighborhood, in Lisbon, we try to talk about the process of discovery that is to do non-academic anthropology.

A text by Filipe Ferraz llustrated by Wamãe (Filipe Ferraz).

https://theanthro.art/the-first-day-at-work/