Drawing in Anthropology: History and Practice in Research and Teaching
Drawing in Anthropology: History and Practice in Research and Teaching
Thursday, 10 July 2025: 01:30
Location: FSE013 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
Oral Presentation
This paper explores the role of drawing in contemporary social science research, from the dual perspective of a draughtswoman and anthropologist. It offers a historical overview of drawing in anthropology and highlights concrete examples from the author’s own work, combining visual methodologies with extensive experience teaching drawing to anthropologists. The aim is to demonstrate the value of integrating drawing into research as a powerful tool within the broader spectrum of visual methods.
The paper brings into dialogue historical drawings from early explorers, field notes of 20th-century anthropologists, and illustrations from classic anthropological works by figures such as Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, and Levi-Strauss. These are compared with contemporary drawings by the author and her students, emphasizing the plurality of styles, the omnipresence of drawing throughout anthropology's history, and its ongoing relevance.
In addition to its historical significance, the paper highlights the heuristic potential of drawing to document and comprehend worlds beyond the human. Drawing is approached as both a descriptive and world-making tool, rooted in bodily practice. Classical observational drawing is examined for its ability to foster knowledge production, emphasizing its phenomenological dimension—how drawing aids in constructing vision and progressively discovering the visible.
Finally, the paper explores how drawing in contemporary anthropology can help researchers better see or understand the visible and the “invisibilized” aspects of daily life (Causey 2016), as well as reveal or preserve what cannot easily be made visible.
The paper brings into dialogue historical drawings from early explorers, field notes of 20th-century anthropologists, and illustrations from classic anthropological works by figures such as Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, and Levi-Strauss. These are compared with contemporary drawings by the author and her students, emphasizing the plurality of styles, the omnipresence of drawing throughout anthropology's history, and its ongoing relevance.
In addition to its historical significance, the paper highlights the heuristic potential of drawing to document and comprehend worlds beyond the human. Drawing is approached as both a descriptive and world-making tool, rooted in bodily practice. Classical observational drawing is examined for its ability to foster knowledge production, emphasizing its phenomenological dimension—how drawing aids in constructing vision and progressively discovering the visible.
Finally, the paper explores how drawing in contemporary anthropology can help researchers better see or understand the visible and the “invisibilized” aspects of daily life (Causey 2016), as well as reveal or preserve what cannot easily be made visible.