- Title
- In search of sacredness: visualising place through filmmaking and participatory ethnography in Flanders
- Creator
- Dhert, David Bert Joris
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- After having been away for years, I return to the village where I grew up, Rieme, in Belgium. I encounter the place drastically changed. The rural village surroundings that I remember from my youth have been turned into industrial parks as a result of the expansion of the North Sea Port and the rise of the industrial activity on the nearby canal. Two neighbourhoods have been removed, and the inhabitants relocated elsewhere. There is friction between the village as human habitat and the area as host for industry, with the former being impaired by the latter. Confronted with the disruption, I wondered if I would be able to reconnect with my “home” and the places I once cherished. I was also curious if the villagers still did. And what was it that had connected us to these places in the first place? With industry transforming the village, are these locations becoming meaningless, or is there still something (something sacred perhaps?) to be found that ties us to them? This project is born out of my search for answers to these questions. It is centred around the project of making a film together with the villagers about this place we call home. The exegesis begins with an exploration of the notion of sacredness and its connection to place. It then outlines how the making of the film was put into practice, how the process of filmmaking allowed us to explore our affective and existential connections with the village, and how these connections were articulated in the form of scenes and other audiovisual expressions. Making this film about the village with the villagers allowed us to approach and explore the sacred that exists ‘in’ place, in this landscape invaded by industry. It enabled us to consider its shape and presence. This PhD inspects the extent to which this process was able to invigorate the connection between people and place so that a sense of sacredness could be brought to life.
- Subject
- sacredness; place; film; filmmaking; participatory; ethnography; anthropology; visual arts; Flanders
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1513942
- Identifier
- uon:56790
- Rights
- Copyright 2024 David Bert Joris Dhert
- Language
- eng
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