Dr Caroline Gatt is an anthropologist and performer whose work bridges social anthropology and laboratory theatre. She currently holds positions across two European universities: as Senior Research Fellow at the University of Graz and Co-Investigator on an Austrian Science Fund project, while also serving as Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, where she completed her PhD.
Her research is grounded in collaborative and experimental approaches to anthropology, with a particular focus on performance anthropology. This area of inquiry has been central to her long-term collaboration with Ang Gey Pin, whose doctoral research (2013–2016) developed in close dialogue with Gatt within the framework of the University of Aberdeen’s Knowing from the Inside project.
Together, Gatt and Ang have explored the intersections of anthropology and theatrical practice through a shared interest in the “care of the self.” Their collaboration embodies what Gatt describes as “affinitive or associative relations…without necessarily threatening the disciplinary, rigorous character of [our respective fields], making space for a genuine collaboration…and mutual learning” (Gatt 2016: 3). It also contributes to her broader proposition of “an anthropology otherwise,” one that experiments with performance anthropology as a means of engaging in dialogue with subaltern forms of knowledge (Gatt 2015: 2–3).
This ongoing exchange has taken shape through numerous workshops, work sessions, conferences, and symposia across Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Notable among these were Crafting Anthropology Otherwise, organised by Gatt in Aberdeen in 2016 and 2017. Their collaboration has also resulted in a number of jointly authored publications. Gatt and Ang are currently preparing a collected volume bringing together their co-research and writings in book form.
Beyond her work in performance anthropology, Gatt’s research engages with global environmentalism, activist networks, ontological politics, and decolonisation. She is particularly interested in how performance-based practices and training can expand the possibilities of academic knowledge production. Her major publications include Breathing Beyond Embodiment (2020), An Ethnography of Global Environmentalism, and the co-edited volume Beyond Perception: Essays in Honour of Tim Ingold. She has also served as editor and guest editor for several collaborative anthropology journals and publications.
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Bibliography
Gatt, C. (2015). The Anthropologist as Member of the Ensemble: Anthropological Experiments with Theatre Makers. In: Flynn, A. and Tinius, J. eds. Anthropology, Theatre, and Development: The Transformative Potential of Performance. Palgrave Macmillan.
Gatt, C. and Ang, G.P. (2016). Crafting anthropology otherwise: Alterity and performance. In: Chua, L and Mathur, N.(eds). Who are “We”? in Reimagining Alterity and Affinity in Anthropology. Berghahn.
photo credits: Caroline Gatt, Sourcing Within