Mechanisms of Exclusion: a collective engagement

Altenburger, Pascale; Vionnet, Claire (17 June 2022). Mechanisms of Exclusion: a collective engagement (Unpublished). In: Tanzkongress 2022 Sharing Potential. Mainz. 16-19.06. 2022.

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This talk questions creative modalities for raising anthropological knowledge within artistic contexts, addressing racism in public space. Drawing on a project involving Senegalese artists using dance to question mechanisms of exclusion in choreography and society, the speakers advocate for dance as an epistemological tool to raise anthropological knowledge, meanwhile engaging within society. We will show how the trusting space of dance generates the conditions for an authentic experience of otherness, revealing proximities and divergences. As an invitation for encounters beyond language, dance creates the opportunity for intimate encounters between cultures, reaching the depth of human experience. In doing so, dance becomes an entrance door to exchange on the condition of life, reaching a space inaccessible through words.
Our projet Kunda – which means “house” in African language Mandinka- triggers a reflection on togetherness. Switzerland becomes culturally more diverse, raising the question of community building and the expression of marginal voices. Through the project, we reveal asymmetrical hierarchies and politics of exclusion, for example the invisibility of black dancing bodies within the Swiss dance scene, and colonialist residues in North/South encounters. How can we prevent epistemic violence and power asymmetry in encounters between privileged and unprivileged people? Kunda raises these questions through choreography and workshops in schools, youth centers, festivals and academia.
Our project not only engages within public space, but also highlights the potential of phenomenological engagement for anthropological theory on the body, senses and affects. Our collaborative talk-performance between a dancer, an anthropologist and an activist will show one possible way of creatively raising anthropological knowledge, while ethically engage within society.

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