Today, various visual tools are increasingly used not only to document information or illustrate academic texts in the social sciences and humanities, but also as independent forms of presenting research findings — making them more accessible and engaging for a broader audience. One such form of visualization is the exhibition. This paper analyzes several exhibitions created by Gonzo: Research&Art Studio (Saint Petersburg). Addressing themes such as spiritual practices and religious experience, family memory, intercultural dialogue, relationships with the Other, and life in closed mental health institutions, the team deliberately transcends the boundaries of traditional exhibition spaces by moving into the urban environment. By placing exhibitions in unexpected locations such as shopping malls or city markets, they aim to make the invisible visible, give voice to those typically silenced, and build bridges between worlds that rarely intersect in everyday life. In a conversation with Gonzo co-founder Ksenia Diodorova, we explored a wide range of topics, including the emergence of the exhibition concept itself, field research design and the interpretation of collected material, the artistic embodiment of these interpretations, and interactions with visitors and their feedback. This case study offers an opportunity to examine the exhibition as a distinct medium of anthropological knowledge — situated at the intersection of visual and urban anthropology, art and science, multicultural studies, the social turn in art, and participatory aesthetics. The main conclusion highlights the heuristic and humanistic potential of the exhibition format in addressing complex and often contentious aspects of social interaction, and its promise as a medium for synthesizing scientific and artistic approaches to knowledge production. 

This article presents a methodological reflection on the use of documentary film as a standalone method of visual sociological research. Using the example of the film On the Way Home, created by the authors in collaboration with the charitable organization Nochlezhka, the articl e explores the possibilities and limitations of employing a video camera as a research tool in the field. The camera is not merely a tool for recording empirical material, but also serves as a mediator that shapes fieldwork dynamics and influences the interpretation of data. In this context, documentary film is regarded not as a means of illustrating research results, but as a fully-fledged method of sociological inquiry that can offer a more nuanced understanding of social processes. The article further engages with questions of visual representation of marginality in the urban environment, the analysis of visual language, ethical dilemmas, and working with vulnerable research participants. The authors argue that the strengths of documentary film lie in its capacity to convey context, emotion, interactional dynamics, and multiple perspectives — dimensions often lost in conventional textbased sociological methods. Filming enables the documentation of complex social phenomena while also acting as a catalyst for reflection — on the part of researchers, participants, and viewers alike. At the same time, this method entails certain limitations, including the potential distortion of observed reality, the fragmentation of empirical material, and the risk of oversimplifying complex realities through narrative reduction. 

Traditionally, Delhi’s markets are oversaturated spaces for sensory perception: a cacophony of sounds, contrasting smells, and a vivid visual cascade. This study adopts a sensitive ethnographic lens to examine how bodily sensations relate to sociality, offering insight into the social order of the marketplace and an individual’s position within it. What markers evoke comfort and security, and which provoke a sense of vulnerability or alienation? Where are the boundaries of social labeling that are commonly recognized by both locals and visitors, and where do such boundaries exist only in the perception of outsiders?

The research is based on reflective observation diaries, documentary video and photo materials, and audio recordings of market sounds captured via dictaphone. The article incorporates the author’s digital materials — photographs (b/w prints with QR codes), video (QR codes), and audio (QR codes) — directly into the body of the text.

The study reveals that experiencing Delhi’s markets is not solely a matter of visual perception, but a dynamic interplay of multiple sensory modalities that respond to fundamental physical and social needs. The article explores how visitors perceive the spatial and social boundaries of Delhi’s markets through sensory engagement and how this shapes their sense of self. It further examines the integration of visual imagery from the markets into India’s cultural fabric, as well as the sounds and smells of these areas as sensory indicators and boundaries of the socio-geographic space inhabited by the local population.

Local history zines (self-published, primarily print-based publications focused on local history and culture) are a unique medium for the visual representation of local identity. They enable residents to research, document, and share materials about their city, contributing to the formation.

The central thesis of this article is that contemporary local history zines function as a hybrid method within visual anthropology, merging subjective experience with visual strategies to explore urban identity and selfhood in the city through highly personalized forms of creativity.

The article examines how zines operate as a visual medium that shapes citizens’ perceptions of urban space. Particular attention is given to the role of zines in fostering connections between residents and their urban surroundings, and in articulating microhistories and marginal narratives often absent from official urban accounts.

The methodological approach includes visual and textual analysis of zines, field observations, and interviews with their creators. The author analyzes how visual elements (illustrations, photographs, collages) interact with textual components (short essays, poems, personal stories) to convey urban experience and contribute to the construction of the city’s image. 

Nikita Petrov is a Candidate of Philological Sciences, Head of the Centre for Theoretical Folklore Studies, School for Advanced Studies in Humanities at Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (SASH RANEPA), Associate Professor at Centre for Typological and Semiotic Folklore Studies, Russian State University for the Humanities (Russia, Moscow). In 2020, Uryupinsk (Volgograd Region) hosted a large-scale celebration of the 400th anniversary of the city, which included the 3rd Artemoff urban culture festival. Nikita V. Petrov took part in the festival as the curator of the anthropological section and also gave a lecture entitled “Urban Text and Storytelling”. Participants of the anthropological section demonstrated presentations of their projects for further implementation (for example, the project “Uryupinsk Goats” by Ekaterina Lapina or the concept of the exhibition at the museum “What Crafts Smell Like” by Natalia Yakovenko). Nikita also visited the local Art and Local History Museum, where he met the “Silver” volunteers, an association of retired women who actively participate in the life of the city. Together with Natalia Yakovenko, the museum director, the “Silver” volunteers wanted to change the format of city excursions so that the walks would be fascinating immersions into the urban environment of Uryupinsk rather than simply a set of facts about buildings, monuments, and streets. During the discussion, it became clear that the easiest way to do this would be to learn the basics of urban anthropology, collect oral interviews about the city, and apply to the Presidential Grants Fund to implement everything planned. The “Silver” volunteers submitted the application, won the grant, and invited a city anthropologist to give a course of lectures and conduct practical classes. In the interview, Nikita explained how he trained the “Silver” volunteers in field research methods and what results were ultimately achieved.