with Deborah A. Thomas (University of Pennsylvania)
Join us as we collectively consider the research and other affordances of film through an encounter with two films by anthropologist Deborah Thomas. Both are part of the Tivoli Stories project, “a collaborative multi-media installation, book, and film project focused on the state of emergency that began in Jamaica on 24 May 2010 when police and military forces entered Tivoli Gardens and other West Kingston communities. The security forces were to apprehend Christopher “Dudus” Coke, leader of the Shower Posse and “don” of the community, who had been ordered for extradition to the United States to stand trial for gun- and drug-related charges. By the end of the week, Dudus had not yet been found and at least 73 civilians had been killed. Tivoli Stories was designed to provide a platform through which participating West Kingston community members could narrate their experiences during those weeks, and name and publicly memorialize loved ones they lost. It is meant to contribute to a healing process in which historical silences are broken through audio and visual forms of storytelling (generated ethnographically and artistically); to align with the efforts of human rights activists locally and internationally working on issues related to state violence and extrajudicial killing; and to position this instance of extrajudicial violence in Jamaica within a broader context of the development of political nationalism in Jamaica, the history of US intervention into the region, especially during the Cold War, and the international trades in drugs and arms.”
As with many Stadtlabor events, this gathering will include something experimental – in this case, a prototype protocol designed to attune participants to the values of audio/visual works.
