Uncommon Senses V: Sensing the Social, the Environmental, and Across the Arts and Sciences

During the four-day Uncommon Senses conference, between the 7th and the 11th of May, the event brought together a wide variety of sessions focused on sensory studies and contemporary ethnographic methodologies. Through roundtables and workshops, researchers from different disciplines reflected on new ways of investigating and sharing sensory experiences, fostering a collaborative and international space for academic exchange. During this event, Anna had the opportunity to participate and give a paper.

She presented the sensory potential of materials in the hospital context anddiscussed how hospitals are often perceived today as spaces marked by the accumulation of clinical waste, due to the big use of disposable materials and single-use plastics. However, within these hospital environments many people, often unnoticed, develop alternative ways of using materials: reusing objects, adapting them to new contexts, or repairing them to avoid discarding them. These repurposing practices often remain invisible, as they frequently occur outside of official protocols.

Based on this reflection, she presented an overview of the team's vethnographic approach focused on the study of reused materials in hospitals and shared some observations from another international sensory ethnography project investigating material practices in different contexts around the world. She also explained some of the creative methodologies that will be used by the team, including working with open datasets on material improvisations.