Between There and There: Anatomy of Temporary Migrations

Interdisciplinary research cultural, anthropological, and art project

Irena Bekić, Duga Mavrinac

IPAK – Research Projects and Authorial Concepts, NGO Zagreb

irena.ipak@gmail.com; duga.ipak@gmail.com

Anatomy of Temporary Migrations explores temporary migrations as a vital link in intercultural dialogues. By taking up an active position in relation to their twofold affiliation and living on two addresses, temporary migrants are potential activators of the practice of resistance, adaptation and possible societal change. Processes activated at the personal and collective level were examined, and recourse to the ‘country of departure’ was often neglected or omitted due to the predominating emphasis on different migrant integration policies and methods.

In its methodology, the project builds upon the the interference of cultural anthropology and contemporary art, questioning the practices and methods of both disciplines and thus paving the way to the building of practical knowledge that can become a medium/activator of changes and action, i.e. direct intervention.

The presentation will address the issue of the potential for a collaborative method between cultural anthropology and art.

Key words: temporary migrations, cultural anthropology, contemporary art, socially engaged art, multi-locality, feminization of migration, methodology

Irena Bekić

Irena Bekić graduated in art history and comparative literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb. Through the curatorial projects she produces, Irena Bekić subverts the standard, everyday ways of observing phenomena and social patterns, exploring different forms of mediation between the author and the audience. She publishes art reviews and essays. She is member of the Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts (ULUPUH).

Duga Mavrinac

Duga Mavrinac is a curator and a junior researcher. She is a PhD student of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her current research interests are domestic work, gender and migration, and the practices, ideas and models of care. She is member of the international doctoral programme “Transformations in European Societies”, a joint project of seven European ethnological, cultural and social-anthropological institutes and departments.