Salle AS1_23 (1^er sous-sol), 54 boulevard Raspail 75006 Paris

Dans le cadre de l'atelier thématique L'Amour entre norme et transgression art, histoire, fiction

This presentation centers on several visual ethnographic engagements which took place over the course of six years within and around the transgender and hijra (‘third gender’) community in Mumbai, India. In dealing reflexively on my own position as a “foreign photo chela” (student or daughter), I share how ethnographic filmmaking engaged dynamically within the social organization and cultural practices of hijra gharanas (families or houses) while shedding light on—and participating alongside—the larger community’s efforts to advance their rights across changing political, economic, and cultural landscapes in India. Referring to clips from new and previous works, I examine how perspectives offered by western ethnographers of the queer transnational identity trade, such as myself, are tied to the creation and contestation of identities that are articulated through multiple parameters of difference. What aspects of “truth” are left behind when western LGBTIQ+ identified researchers enter and attempt to represent India’s ethnically, religiously, and linguistically multifaceted transgender and hijra communities? How can queer filmmaking and other ethnographic methodologies offer critical insights into cultural processes while honoring the diversity and multiplicity of identity expressions constituted within them? In balancing the line between art and documentation, I attempt to reveal the ways in which queer filmmaking-as-ethnographic methodology can critically and productively participate alongside other LGBTIQ+ community-based media to produce publicly-accessible materials by, for, and about ourselves.