Images can show people in dignified and undignified ways. They play a role in processes of dehumanization but can also be used to humanize individuals and groups who have been stripped of their dignity. In an era where images shape our experience of the world, it is worth reflecting on how they influence the way we see one another, and how they can counteract or contribute to dehumanization.
The concept of dignity has been of vital importance and urgency since World War II and the Holocaust. This is reflected in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts that human dignity must be protected. For the philosopher Immanuel Kant, dignity was a matter of respect – of treating others (and oneself) as ends in themselves rather than as means to an end. With this in mind, we might ask: What roles, responsibilities, and potential do visual images and animation have in representing people with dignity? How can animated images preserve, give, or strip away dignity in their depiction of humans and other living beings?
This symposium explores these questions. Drawing on the work of the Syrian film collective Abounaddara, associate professor Endre Eidsaa Larsen introduces the concept of dignified images. Then, the focus shifts to two visual artists and how questions of dignity figure in their work. First, character designer Celia Kaspar discusses how dignity is often an under-addressed theme in character development. Next, experimental stop motion animator Claudia Munksgaard Palmquist reflects on the process of working with documentary footage of acutal, living people. At the end, the speakers and the audience come together for a dialogue on dignfied images.
Symposium - Dignified Images
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