Paper short abstract:

Co-creation is a knowledge production process. This paper analyses the painting performance held by an artist and an ethnographer in Congo in 2015 as an act of co-creation. It forces us to question the hierarchy between different types of knowledge production.

Paper long abstract:

Co-creation is the act of creating knowledge together. Art and anthropology are different ways to understand and interpret the world. They both entail processes of knowledge production/creation. Focusing on method, this paper describes the collaboration between a Congolese painter, Sapin, and a Belgian ethnographer in academic research. Inspired by the personal narrative of Mr. Henri, the painter and ethnographer decide to document Mr. Henri's life and through it, reconstruct a small chapter of the history of his town. Adding to previous ethnographic research, the painter and the ethnographer hold a painting performance in order to collect (other type of) data. A painting performance consists of one or more painting sessions in a public place that attract passers-by. Through his brushstrokes, Sapin tells a story and elicits reactions from the public. The canvas becomes, as such, a tool of communication and exchange. It is a method for data collection. Meanwhile the ethnographer observes, participates, interviews, converses and helps to organize the painting sessions. Through co-creation, art contributes to the arsenal of methods in ethnographic research. Co-creation also forces us to question and rethink the value of and hierarchy between different types of knowledge production. Finally, while underlining the importance of the process, co-creation leads to different types of research output (in this case academic, artistic, written and painted) and is able to disseminate knowledge beyond the walls of academia.