What If We All Appear? Audiovisual Workshop in Schools Located in the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires

Abstract

The outcomes of research conducted through audiovisual workshops in two public state schools located in urban poverty contexts of the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires reveal the manner in which students “appear” as protagonists and narrators of lives that are typically portrayed by others. The authors’ hypothesis is that this methodological approach facilitates the inclusion of students living in impoverished contexts, providing alternative perspectives on contemporary ways of life. In this context, the authors understand inclusion as the possibility of their bodies to “appear” and the creation of an alternative narrative regarding precarious circumstances. Their bodies and narratives are often silenced, and they are usually portrayed as symbols of resilience, danger or sensationalism. Their narratives are useful to discomfort the audience about social inequalities. Within this framework, the authors demonstrate how the audiovisuals by the students offer different avenues for making a presence in the political landscape, distinct from the conventional ways in which individuals experiencing poverty and precarity are conventionally depicted.