Here is our latest roundup of projects, publications and other open access scholarly items at the REFRAME digital publishing platform, hosted by the Faculty of Media, Arts and Humanities, University of Sussex. Thanks so much to all the colleagues (at Sussex and far beyond) who contribute to REFRAME in order to bring all this material into the public domain.
New Site: Sites of Cultural Analysis
We are very pleased to announce a new project, STATES OF CULTURAL ANALYSIS. This pubic intervention from Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies is a website that showcases innovative approaches to culture and cultural analysis and asserts the ongoing urgency of such work.
Stemming from the need to redefine cultural studies tools and approaches for the challenges of the contemporary moment, the intervention has four strands.
- The State of Cultural Analysis evaluates and re-defines the role of cultural studies in the contemporary moment.
- Sites of Cultural Analysis highlights the depth and vibrancy of cultural studies in museums, curation art, youth clubs, schools, photography, and other vernacular settings.
- Textures of Cultural Analysis engages with rich and divergent empirical explorations using cultural studies approaches.
- Times of Cultural Analysis learns through history and historical approaches.
The ultimate aim of the website is to provide a home and archive for the most innovative approaches to cultural analysis and cultural studies, and therein contribute to the ongoing renewal and vitality of the discipline.
The site features essays, event recordings and reports.
New Site: REFUGE: Codifying Refugee Participation
REFRAME are delighted to announce the launch of a new project from Rob Sharp, Cara Courage and Georgia Walters. REFUGE draws together participatory approaches to forced displacement in UK Galleries, Museums, Academia and Activism.
Stemming from AHRC-funded research from the University of Sussex, it explores how civic and cultural institutions can foster meaningful participation, voice, and recognition in a context where official support is shrinking. The work includes best practice guidelines, case studies, and resources developed through two national workshops in Manchester and London with cultural professionals, academics, and individuals with lived experience of displacement, project managers, curators, and community engagement teams.
The ultimate aim of this project is to synthesise experiences, recommendations and reflections from cultural organisations across the UK, and to codify best practices for cultural institutions engaging in participatory work.”
NEW CONTENT AT MEDIÁTICO
Editors: Catherine Grant and Dolores Tierney
Subtitling ¡Vámonos, Bárbara! (Bárbara, Let’s Go!, Bartolomé 1978): Film History and Feminism
A post by Sally Faulkner and Eliana Maestri which characterizes the process of subtitling Cecilia Bartolomé’s ¡Vámonos, Bárbara! as a “feminist act of recovery” and enumerates the challenges they faced as part of a team (from the universities of Exeter, Cambridge and Kent including Núria Triana-Toribio, Jara Fernández-Meneses and Rachel Beaney) translating the 1978 Spanish film into 2023 British English subtitles.
Cencerros (En recuerdo de Tatjana Pavlovic)
A collection of pieces introduced by Roberto Carlos Ortiz in memory of Tatjana Pavlovic, Professor at Tulane University:
“Felipe Victoriano evokes Tatjana during her early years at Tulane until the year of Hurricane Katrina and Maureen Shea takes us from her job interview to her love of dogs up until her dealings with cancer. Rosana Blanco-Cano remembers Tatjana’s guidance during important moments in her life and Gabriela Aleman highlights her way of looking at the world. Camilo Gomides also singles out Tatjana’s gaze while evoking a trip to Croatia and Alejandra Sánchez addresses her directly through epistolary form. The collages by Alejandra Osorio Olave that accompany some of the pieces ingeniously reference historical and pop icons associated with Tatjana’s tastes and scholarship.”
In Case You Missed It: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Podcast About All Things Documentary
Launched 2024, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral is a series of four audio episodes, co-hosted by Alisa Lebow and Samuael Topiary Landberg that delve into some of the current themes and debates in the field of documentary studies. We offer this series as a tool for research at all levels—a living breathing scholarship that brings makers and scholars together to discuss ideas, trends, and creative approaches to nonfiction filmmaking from across the globe.
As always, a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to REFRAME or REFRAME-affiliated projects over the past few months.
REFRAME Managing Editors: Katherine Farrimond and Tanya Kant.
ROUNDUP image credits: Sora on Pexels