Using drawings in anthropology: Epistemological insights and ethical dilemmas from three research projects

The growing interest in visual methods in the social sciences has been particularly influential in research on and with children. While the need to use specific methodologies with children
remains a controversial issue, drawing holds a distinctive place among visual methods that is
rarely emphasized in the literature. Over the centuries in the West, drawing has become both the preferred medium for educating children and communicating with them, but above all, it has become a specialized activity for a specific period of the life cycle. In this way, it contributes actively to the social and cultural production and reproduction of childhood. Recognizing the need to deconstruct Western representations of childhood, which are partly globalized, in the implementation of any anthropological research, I propose to examine several dimensions of the use of drawing based on the following question: how does the use of drawing, a seemingly methodological question, raise key epistemological and ethical questions that anthropology can shed light on? Using the example of the ChildHerit project, I will address the issue of the materials made available to children to express their personal vision of heritage during “heritage workshops” (Mexico) (1) (see Appendix 1). I will examine the effects of the diversity of materials and their use by children, as a result in their own right, beyond the production of the drawings themselves. The example of the Food2Gather project will provide an opportunity to examine the aesthetic criteria of children's drawings in the context of publicized productions (Belgium) (2), a multimodal encyclopedia co-produced with children, L'alimenpédie enfantique (Children's Food Encyclopedia). Finally, the question of how to present the research results to children (Belgium) (3) will be addressed in the context of the project “Early childhood through the lens of gender in an intercultural context” to examine the question of the visual translation of research results and the role of multimodal evocation with young children (Annex 2). This presentation will conclude by highlighting the need for collective reflection, experience sharing, and experimentation (Giving research feedback to children. Connecting arts and social sciences)