Working with Stories:
Methodological Notes
Methodological Notes
This exhibition is based on the artistic reinterpretation of three independent research projects, each developed by a different group of scholars. Over the course of many months, the curators conducted extensive interviews and collaborative sessions with the researchers, tracing the intellectual, affective, and biographical threads of their work. These conversations helped us identify key narrative lines, personal angles, and recurring tensions — both in the lives of those being studied and in the lives of the researchers themselves.
As the work progressed, the researchers came to occupy multiple roles within the exhibition: they are co-authors of the stories we tell, informants who have shared their knowledge, and also subjects in their own right — people shaped by the histories they study and the relationships they form in the process. This layering became central to the exhibition’s structure and conceptual framework.
Personal stories formed the foundation of our approach. These narratives operate on two levels: the stories of our subjects (the researchers), and the stories of the subjects of our subjects — the individuals and communities they have engaged with. We sought to bring these layers into conversation, allowing overlaps, resonances, and dissonances to emerge.
This method resonates with approaches in the field of conflict resolution—particularly with the practice of narrative mediation developed by John Winslade and Gerald Monk. Rather than focusing solely on interest-based negotiation, narrative mediation emphasizes the importance of personal storytelling in transforming conflict. It invites participants to share the context and meaning behind their experiences, allowing space for recognition, empathy, and co-authorship of new narratives.
While our exhibition does not aim to "resolve" the conflicts it touches upon, it is deeply informed by this logic: that storytelling — when approached with care — can open up space for complexity, transformation, and the possibility of speaking across painful divides.
As the work progressed, the researchers came to occupy multiple roles within the exhibition: they are co-authors of the stories we tell, informants who have shared their knowledge, and also subjects in their own right — people shaped by the histories they study and the relationships they form in the process. This layering became central to the exhibition’s structure and conceptual framework.
Personal stories formed the foundation of our approach. These narratives operate on two levels: the stories of our subjects (the researchers), and the stories of the subjects of our subjects — the individuals and communities they have engaged with. We sought to bring these layers into conversation, allowing overlaps, resonances, and dissonances to emerge.
This method resonates with approaches in the field of conflict resolution—particularly with the practice of narrative mediation developed by John Winslade and Gerald Monk. Rather than focusing solely on interest-based negotiation, narrative mediation emphasizes the importance of personal storytelling in transforming conflict. It invites participants to share the context and meaning behind their experiences, allowing space for recognition, empathy, and co-authorship of new narratives.
While our exhibition does not aim to "resolve" the conflicts it touches upon, it is deeply informed by this logic: that storytelling — when approached with care — can open up space for complexity, transformation, and the possibility of speaking across painful divides.
for full immersion, please use a computer with the sound turned on