Images are not merely a research tool for ethnographers. Visuality has come to play a significant part in the everyday lives of our interlocutors. On the one hand, through the performance and display of self and collective identities, youths convey their agency, be it in virtual or physical space. On the other hand, visibility may put one at risk in more authoritarian contexts. In this sense, the selection in this exhibition also reflects the researchers’ responsibility towards those they work with. This reminds us that behind the taxonomies assigned through scholarly work (“Asian youth”) are flesh-and-blood, singular individuals embedded in complex webs of social relations.

Curated by Van Minh Nguyen and Lisa Richaud

All videos are available on the MSH YouTube channel (EASt playlist)