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Paper short abstract

Based on significant cases and referring to the “critique of representation”, the paper discusses the paradoxes of picturing minorized city dwellers – both in art and anthropology.

Paper long abstract

Since the 1990s, the representation of minorized city dwellers has become popular in the field of art. Although the aesthetic interest in picturing urban poverty traces back to the 19th century, new concepts and modes have been developed in recent times. They range from strategies of visualized acknowledgment (Johanna Schaffer) to the idea of “reverse participation” (Peter Arlt) up to the claim for radical collaborations serving emancipation and empowerment (Kristina Leko). Based on significant cases and referring to the “critique of representation”, the paper analyzes modes and paradoxes of visualizing minorized city dwellers in the field of art. In order to cope with the multilayered entanglements of such artistic projects with broader transurban processes, a side glance to comparable efforts in the field of urban anthropology is provided.