Citation:
Abstract:
My interdisciplinary thesis, a creative ethnography of South African homeless women traversing Cape Town during the water shortage, examines the legacy of spatial apartheid as it affects their access to spaces and places, both real and imagined, and the resources available in these locations. Through the examination of homeless women’s experiences of exclusion from urban public space, this thesis denaturalizes the modern cityscape by highlighting their social, embodied, imagined landscapes.
My collaborative research has found that the women reclaim spaces beyond the bounds of typical urban usage, which I call “unmappable places.” These places allow a new avenue for existence. The effects of apartheid, racism, and sexism are still very much present in these reclaimed spaces; however, my interlocutors have found an alternate urban reality—one in which they can defy, reject, or manipulate societal norms. Depicting the “unmappable” pathways these women navigate on their quest for clean water, my interlocutors and I have created “mapped artifacts” via processes of walking and drawing. Counter-cartography is a useful method to visually critique the current spatial inequalities in a politically and racially tense city, as well as provide a platform for homeless women to reclaim space and assert their presence in Cape Town.
My project strives to adopt practices and methodology from artists, researchers, ethnographers, and homeless women. Together, the merging of both fields of art and anthropology offers a thick description of female homelessness in Cape Town. This interdisciplinary approach interrogates the multifaceted problem of gendered access to public space and inspects the interrelatedness of identity, social relationships, environment (both built and natural), and resources.