“Witness”: Coalitionally Bearing Witness to Envision Educational Futurities

• In Event: Archiving Art as a Legacy to Preserve Pasts/Futures

Abstract

Witness (Work in Progress)
For my contribution, I (a South Asian American woman educator, scholar, and artist) will share a piece of visual art entitled “Witness.” This composition is a portrait of and tribute to Bisan Owda, a Palestinian journalist, activist, and filmmaker who has been covering the Israeli genocide of Gaza. While mainstream schools and educational institutions are erasing Palestinian
histories in realtime, Bisan is using her voice and camera to unforget the realities of the occupation and Palestinian resistance. I will share how creating “Witness” enabled me to
coalitionally bear witness to Bisan’s witnessing – and to honor, subsequently, her pedagogical
work of uplifting Palestinian narratives in the public consciousness. I will first discuss how arts-based coalitional witnessing entailed a slow and self-reflexive process of engaging with Bisan’s story and teachings, and of considering my own identity, power, and limits as a viewer and learner. I will conclude by inviting the audience to consider the role of arts-based coalitional witnessing as a tool for uplifting the storytelling practices and histories of globally marginalized peoples in our educational research and praxis, and as a path to envisioning educational futurities in which their archiving practices, teachings, and narratives are honored in our scholarship and classrooms.

Author

• Ankhi Guha Thakurta, Boston College