This exhibition contains 17 experimental films that were created by Master students in anthropology, during the course “Ethnographic Media Practices: The Politics of (In)visibility” at the University of Vienna. The films were produced in May/June 2020, during the pandemic. The assignment was to “express theory through film”, and to take theoretical inspiration from the course’s readings in visibility studies.

This exhibition was opened on June 30^th 2020 at the garden and courtyard of the Volkskundemuseum. The films were made accessible through posters with QR codes, so that audiences could watch them on their own smartphones while maintaining social distance during this open air event.

#Distribute is the first event of the Vienna Visual Anthropology Lab, organised in collaboration with ethnocineca (International Documentary Film Festival Vienna) and the #Distribute 2020 conference (organised by the Society for Cultural Anthropology and the Society for Visual Anthropology). In this online discussion, guided by the conference theme “distribute”, six anthropologists will discuss the enduring as well as changing role of ethnographic films and film festivals in the distribution of anthropological knowledge.