Decolonising Urban Citizenship (DUC) through street art: co-producing a documentary with African street artist in Athens

DUC is is an exciting three-part impact activity that includes (a) the co-production of a research-based participatory documentary film by Dr Papoutsi, Dr Travlou, Dr Vradis; (b) an ethnographic film-making workshop based on this collaboration, using filmmaking as a tool for generating impact; (c) disseminating the documentary in Athens and Birmingham.

The project is openly geared towards Athens’ marginalised African migrant communities (AMCs) and aims to generate additional impact and user engagement with research produced in the framework of Decolonising the City (DtC). The focus of the research is on Athens because it exemplifies how colonial imaginaries and legacies intertwine with urban marginalisation in the context of the Global North. DtC was a Knowledge Mobilisation Award funded by the Urban Studies Foundation (USF £4,260 - March-September 2022) to develop a participatory arts-based (PARB) methodology in order to explore the artistic interventions of AMCs in the city. DtC itself followed on from our 2019 USF-funded seminar series (Copenhagen, Barcelona, Athens), which brought together academics and practitioners to examine migrant welcoming practices and reached two findings. First: academic knowledge needs to be co-produced with the communities it addresses, in ways that are inclusive, relevant and useful to them. Second: urban belonging is often practised by marginalised migrants often through art and culture. DtC was further seed-funded by the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF £4,530 - January-June 2023) to test our PARB approach by piloting the co-production with AMCs of a cultural festival in Athens.

The Aims of the project are to amplify the impact of DtC’s reciprocal and actionable research, solidifying in that way our horizontal and sustainable knowledge-sharing network with AMCs. Our objectives, co-created with our community partner, Youmame Africa, in order to ensure reciprocity and equity throughout the research process, are to: (a) co-produce a research-based ethnographic documentary film; (b) capture the documentary process to teach and learn together with our community partner; and (c) present the documentary and its process to film festivals including Ethnofest (Athens), the British Documentary Film Festival and through screenings in selected venues (e.g., Centrala in Birmingham).