Art, ethnography and practice-led research

Abstract

Based on the ongoing and growing body of work that can be situated at the intersection of art and ethnography, Critical Arts has decided to host an annual themed issue that explores the ‘ethnographic turn’ in art. The aim of this thematic strand is to continue exploring the questions that are being raised by artists’ engagement with anthropological and ethnographic perspectives (and vice versa). In these annual thematic issues, the aim is to further the critical work on ethnography in relation to contemporary art by specifically looking at art practices and processes, and offer a bottom-up perspective from artists, critics and theorists to explore the question if, why and how an ethnographic perspective is at work. This connects with ongoing discussions around practice-led research in the arts. This introductory article introduces and frames the questions, topics and perspectives that are explored throughout the contributions in this edition of the annual themed issue.

Keywords:

• art
• ethnography
• practice-led research