For over a century, ethnography has been foundational for the discipline of anthropology. As has long been recognised, the real strength of ethnography is that it is both a set of research methods, and a set of strategies for representing social and cultural worlds.
The Ethnography Lab of Western Australia is developing innovative, co-designed ethnographic methods, and is forging new, co-produced ethnographic representations, for the century ahead, using the very latest digital technologies.
Whereas once, we thought that ethnography - as both method and representation - revolved primarily around writing, today we recognise that it includes everything from art, to photography, film, comic books and even theatrical performance.
For those working in the heritage sector, ethnography also requires knowledge of GIS, aerial mapping (via drones), and other technical and digital competencies.
The Lab is using digital technologies to support co-designed, multi-modal, ethnographic research. Its projects are looking at: the digitisation and activation of culturally sensitive archives; digital storytelling and truth-telling, and; the use digital technologies within traditional fieldwork settings.
