LEGIT: Media Works for Open Governance, vol.1

Devereaux, Emile (2013) LEGIT: Media Works for Open Governance, vol.1. UNSPECIFIED.

Abstract

This timely research interrogates the relationship between new media forms and social justice policies. The first volume of LEGIT, like an edited collection of essays, combines short video and animation works, articulating in visual form the legislative process in India and how pending and recent Bills affect aspects of society such as violence against women, food security and disabled rights. Since the highly publicized killing of a 23-year old physiotherapy intern in South Delhi in December 2012, India has received widespread international press coverage about violence against women. Nationwide, public protests have called into question the role of the government and public services in providing safe living environments for its populations. The current climate in India calls for better understandings of the role of government, its representatives, and the work they conduct on behalf of its citizens. It also calls for creating new channels for discussion of social issues by government officials and local communities. This project touches audiences in social, cultural and academic environments. Displayed at two major international exhibitions in Delhi and London, this work reaches audiences in India and abroad. The Southbank Centre is Europe’s largest centre for the arts, attracting more than three million visitors annually. At least eight reviews have been published to date, including an online article for the Guardian’s Culture Professionals Network and a video documentary. Dr Emile Devereaux was interviewed by the India-based publication The Viewspaper. Workshops alongside the installations invite participants to generate playful visual responses and discourse around pressing social issues from their own societies. The project has received funding from the AHRC, the British Council and the UK’s Science and Innovation Network. The AHRC fellowship unites leading academic researchers in the UK (Lancaster, Newcastle, Falmouth, Stirling and Surrey) with practitioners and companies from India and the UK.