DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/ZHJE-YR95
Defense Date
2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
Design
First Advisor
Law Alsobrook
Second Advisor
Diane Derr
Third Advisor
Michael Wirtz
Abstract
In Sudan, 110 babies are abandoned in the streets of Khartoum every month. The majority of abandoned children are born out of wedlock. Young women with illegitimate pregnancies are often ostracized by their families and society, and the lack of emotional, financial and legal support has led many to take desperate measures, including the abandonment of their children. Relinquishing mothers exist like ghosts in Sudanese society. The only evidence of the mother’s experience is her anonymous, abandoned child. In order to understand and examine this phenomenon, I used ethnographic performance art informed by design research practice (Performative Research Design). I performed various acts of abandonment to examine the mechanism and psychology of the act of abandonment. I endeavored through concrete, lived experiences to better empathize with the relinquishing mother and create awareness of the wider psychological and social complexities of child abandonment.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-8-2015
Included in
Art Practice Commons, Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons, Other Theatre and Performance Studies Commons, Performance Studies Commons