Decolonising Art and Media in Madrid and Sydney. the Articulation of Political Identities in the (In)Formal Resistance
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Decolonising Art and Media in Madrid and Sydney. The Articulation of Political Identities in the (in)formal Resistance by Ángeles Montalvo Chaves Departamento de Antropología Social, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) Department of Anthropology, Macquarie University (MQ) This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, August 2016 Supervisors: Liliana Suárez Navaz (UAM) Álvaro Pazos Garciandía (UAM) Eve Vincent (MQ) Kalpana Ram (MQ) ABSTRACT This thesis is based on fieldwork conducted in two different urban contexts. I explore the cultural and media practices of Latin American people in Madrid, Spain and Aboriginal people in Sydney, Australia. I argue that both case studies constitute attempts to decolonise the dominant and homogeneous representations of these peoples within mediatised industries. Utilising a range of research methods that include multi-located ethnography, participant observation, interviews and analysis of the creative works of two radio and theatre groups in each location, I evoke different social worlds where political identities of resistance are articulated. Attention to daily practices reveals both groups’ difficulties in accessing commodified media markets, in part because of their physical characteristics. Further, I show how these groups find their own ways to expose their subjectivities and disseminate their creative works, voices and responses, including dialogues with institutions and funding bodies. The analysis of these groups presents different results yet overall shows commonalities in how these collectives use similar tools to counteract the residues of colonialism in the present. Throughout this thesis, colonialism appears as an unfinished power relation between dominant groups and minority groups in Spanish and Australian societies. RESUMEN Esta tesis se basa en el trabajo de campo realizado en dos contextos urbanos distintos. Exploro las prácticas culturales y mediáticas de latinoamericanos en Madrid, España y aborígenes en Sídney, Australia. Argumento que estos casos de estudio constituyen intentos por parte de estos dos grupos por descolonizar representaciones dominantes y homogéneas en las industrias mediáticas. Utilizando una metodología variada que incluye etnografía multi-local, observación participante, entrevistas y el análisis de los trabajos creativos de los dos grupos de radio y teatro en cada localidad, señalo los distintos mundos sociales donde los sujetos de estudio articulan identidades políticas de resistencia. Prestando atención a sus prácticas diarias se revelan las dificultades de los dos grupos para acceder a los mercados mediáticos, en parte debido a sus características físicas. Además, muestro cómo estos grupos encuentran sus propias maneras de exponer sus subjetividades y difundir sus trabajos creativos, voces y respuestas, incluyendo diálogos con instituciones y organismos que conceden ayudas económicas. El análisis de estos grupos presenta distintos resultados pero sobre todo muestra comunalidades en cómo estos colectivos usan similares herramientas para contrarrestar los residuos del colonialismo en el presente. A lo largo de la tesis el colonialismo aparece como una relación de poder inacabada entre grupos dominantes y grupos minoritarios en las sociedades española y australiana. ii Acknowledgments I feel very fortunate for having met the people who have formed part of this investigation: the members of Entrecalles, Las Radiantes, Koori Radio and Moogahlin Performing Arts; as well as their colleagues, relatives and friends. It is hard to find the words to express my acknowledgement to you for having shared your time with me, for letting me to form part of your projects, for so many good conversations and for participating in this investigation, also by lending me your resources when I needed them and teaching me to use radio and other devices. Yet specially, thanks for the moments of happiness in which I almost forgot that I was doing research. Thanks to my supervisors; at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Álvaro Pazos and Liliana Suárez; at Macquarie University, Eve Vincent and Kalpana Ram. This investigation has been done under a cotutelle agreement between the UAM and MQ. At MQ I thank Jason Ray for his work and endeavour to get the agreement. Thanks also to Daniel Fisher for his support. At UAM I thank to Paloma Gómez Crespo for her help to get the agreement. During the time I did the fieldwork in Madrid I enjoyed a Collaboration Grant at the Escuela Politécnica Superior at UAM, supervised by Pablo Varona. I thank him, the administrators, cleaners, ITs and the professorate of the EPS for their support and affection which facilitated my stay in Madrid and the research. Many thanks also for your help in the hard moments and your great companionship atmosphere. I have had the great chance to form part of diverse anthropology departments, which has permitted expansion of my point of view. At UAM and MQ, in addition to learning from their professorate I have worked with department mates from many diverse countries, sharing good moments, chats, doubts and hopelessness; learning from our differences and similitudes; all of which, in one way or another, have enriched this thesis. I thank all of them for their help, tips, opinions and listenings, very specially to Flávio H. Sousa, Duhindu Kati (Jimmy Gómez), Timothy Lynch and Gillian Bowan. And of course to the administrator of the Anthropology department at MQ, Payel Ray, who I guess will be in every acknowledgments section of this department’s theses. Since my arrival in Sydney I have been lucky to receive the support of the ‘International Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship” (iMQRES), as part of the cotutelle agreement. Without this scholarship I could not have stayed in Australia. With this, I’m remembering of very valuable department mates who with great effort do their investigations without financial support. And also to those who for this reason have had to abandon Ph.D studies. I have learnt a lot also from them; and I hope that you can soon find a way to expose your works and ideas. During my stay in Australia I have assisted at the colloquiums of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Sydney, which have been of great inspiration and where I could meet people who selflessly have provided valuable feedbacks and tips. Between them, Carolina Quesada, Luis Fernando iii Angosto and Gil Hizi. Thanks very much to them. And also to Gillian Cowlishaw, for giving me some books when I arrived in Australia to start my ‘Australian library’ and her advice during my stay there. My thanks also go to the members of the ‘Spanish and Latin American Studies’ and of the ‘Indigenous Studies’ at Macquarie University for their help when I arrived to Australia. I also want to thank my friends in Mérida and Extremadura, who have supported me during all these years of investigation, even though I was so immersed in ‘researching the society’ that I did not have time left to socialise with them. A special mention for Lara Suárez, who selflessly has made the design of this thesis cover. In Madrid and Barcelona, I also thank friends who have supported me, specially to Judit Parra in Barcelona; and in Madrid, Laura Moles and Jose Luis de la Flor, Ph.D candidates from other departments and comrades on this academic journey. In Sydney, thanks to the very interesting people I met, specially to Cecilia Guerra and Darío Vilardo for offering me a ‘Latin-Uruguayan shelter’ in their home and their family. And to Tichaona, for making me laugh in the last months while showing me Africa from Sydney. Lastly, I would like to say that all my academic studies would have been impossible without two main supports: my family and the public education system. My parents, Paqui Chaves Sánchez and Tomás Montalvo Tena, and my brother, Tomás Montalvo Chaves, have been the most important and my main support. I deeply thank my parents for the efforts they have made so my brother and I could receive a university education. And to my brother for being with them when this research took me far away. Thank you for supporting me in each decision I have taken. My mum also, from a very early age has been patient to read my writings and later to listen to its translation from English into Spanish, providing her opinions and advice. Thanks for being always my best example to follow and main source of inspiration. Many people from Extremadura who, as my parents and my grandparents, have worked hard from inside and outside of Extremadura, have made possible for us, the following generations to have the chances they never had. My generation is one of the first ones who could study in an university in Extremadura and we will always thank you for your efforts. My parents have always believed that my brother and I would have the best experiences and opportunities if we studied in public universities. Luckily, I have been able to study in three public universities, and in each one I have learnt much: the Universidad de Extremadura (my first university), the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Macquarie University. Due to the help I got from scholarships during various years I have studied in them and I have been able to get here. Without a scholarship system that fosters equality and without a public and free system of education, education would be available only to a few people. Only a good scholarship system can guarantee equal access for all social classes, genders and ethnic groups. In my case it has permitted me to receive a varied academic knowledge, but especially also great personal experiences around the world. iv Agradecimientos Me siento muy afortunada por haber conocido a las personas que han formado parte de esta investigación: a las/los miembros de Entrecalles, Las Radiantes, Koori Radio y Moogahlin Performing Arts, así como de sus compañeros de profesión, familiares y amigos.