OUR CO-BLIND – An Ethnography of Care among Visually Impaired Communities in Baguio: A film screening and talk by Masato Ushimaru

OUR CO-BLIND – An Ethnography of Care among Visually Impaired Communities in Baguio: A film screening and talk by Masato Ushimaru

"OUR CO-BLIND - An Ethnography of Care among Visually Impaired Communities in Baguio" is an ethnographic film along with a photobook produced based on six months of anthropological fieldwork by Japanese photographer and ethnographic filmmaker Masato Ushimaru.

“Created as part of a research project for the Visual Anthropology master's program at Aarhus University (Denmark), this work focuses on the autonomous communities and social movements formed by visually impaired individuals living in and around the highland city of Baguio in Benguet Province, Northern Philippines. Using an ethnography of care practices within their community as a starting point, the film depicts situational, emergent, and generative care relationships that transcend the binary roles of "caregiver" and "care recipient." Furthermore, it captures how the "bigger voices" gained through collective living and solidarity among people with disabilities are heard in Northern Philippine society, leading to social movements. Here, the reality emerges that "care," often discussed in emotional and humanistic terms, is also a highly logical and strategic practice.”

The film has won awards and been screened at the ABQ Indie Film Festival 2024 (USA) and FICIMAD (Spain), with exhibitions of video and photographic works held in Japan, Denmark, and the Philippines. In May 2024, a public screening and dialogue session took place at the University of the Philippines Baguio.

The photobook OUR CO-BLIND -A Visual Ethnography of the Visually Impaired Community in the Northern Philippines is published by Studio Boukei in January 2025. Available to purchase in the weekend market on July 12-13. 

Film dialogue in English with bilingual subtitles, with audio description and voice over in Cantonese (please kindly select add-on in ticket page) followed by post-screening discussion in English, with live translation to Cantonese.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*This event is exclusively open to CRIP FUTURE (/) QUEER MARKET ticket holders. We kindly ask guests to purchase a market ticket and register for this event in advance to secure their spot.Please note that ticket checks will be conducted at the event reception.