Agata Lulkowska

Staffordshire University, School of Computing and Digital Sciences, Faculty Member

Birkbeck College, University of London, Centre for Iberian and Latin American Visual Studies, Alumna

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Senior Lecturer in Film Production at the Staffordshire University, Co-Founder and Director of the Communities and Communication Conference and Art/Film Festival, Managing Editor at The International Journal of Creative Media Research, Guest Editor At Contribution to Humanities Journal, academic consultant, interdisciplinary researcher, filmmaker, photographer, and global lead and coach. Former Artistic Director of the Discovering Latin America Film Festival in London. Recipient of the International Award for Excellence for The Journal of Communication and Media Studies, Award of Excellence in Research Category at the Docs Without Borders Film Festival, Premio Bertelli, and other international grants and awards.
I hold a practice-based (film) PhD From Birkbeck, University of London. I specialise in Arts/Practice-based research, especially in intercultural and postcolonial contexts. My most recent research focuses on the politics of visual representations among the indigenous communities of Colombia. I used collaborative filmmaking as a way to conduct my study. I also hold a Master Degree in Film and Media Studies (Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland), an unfinished MA in Film Direction (Silesian University, Katowice, Poland), and a First Class Honours degree in Digital Media Arts (London South Bank University).
Alongside my research work, I actively exhibit my visual work in wide international circles.
I specialise in film and media-based art/practice research focused on decolonizing local knowledge, transcultural communication, politics of representation, indigenous cinema, and creative methods.
I have living and working experience from four different continents, and I am fluently multilingual.

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Agata Lulkowska Short Fiction Showreel

Transcending the borders of ‘indigenous’ filmmaking in Colombia’

A plethora of films and other audiovisual forms is presented annually in various parts of the glo... more A plethora of films and other audiovisual forms is presented annually in various parts of the globe. Film festivals, regular screenings, academic presentations, and broadcast media channels, not even mentioning the omnipresent Internet sources, offer an ever-increasing number of films of various genre and origin. This abundance of productions requires some system of categorisation for the audiences in order to help them find a way in this profusion of choices. One of the most commonly used methods to help navigate in this chaos is by categorising the films by their types, genres, directors, or countries of origin. These ‘labels’ often relate to set of commonly shared preconceptions. As a result, they create expectations, influencing potential audiences not only in the choice of what they will watch or not but often also in the perception of the film. Additionally, the venue and the type of the event where these films get to be presented might profoundly affect their reception, i.e. ‘ethnographic’ film festival will have a different kind of audiences and expectations to an ‘artistic’ one. This paper explores the mainstream ambitions of indigenous filmmakers from Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Using the example of the Arhuaco filmmaking collectives, Zhigoneshi and Yokosowi, and their supporters, I analyse the aims to transcend the boundaries of what is labelled as ‘indigenous cinema’. In the contexts of the historical misinterpretations of the Arhuaco culture by the Western filmmakers and the violence of the region, they reached for the audiovisual media to communicate, promote, and rediscover the indigenous values of their community. This resulted in far-reaching initiatives which not only rediscovered the Arhuaco history but also redefined indigenous filmmaking in the region

Indigenous Filmmaking with Mainstream Ambitions: Intercultural Communication transcending Established Order

This paper analyses the emerging trend of transcending the limitations of so-called indigenous ci... more This paper analyses the emerging trend of transcending the limitations of so-called indigenous cinema in the attempt to reach much wider audiences within mainstream circles. Using the case study of the Arhuaco filmmakers from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, this paper demonstrates how filmmaking practice which was initiated to give evidence of violence and repression in the region, become a handy tool to reach intercultural communication. Ethnographic methods applied in this research draw on my extensive fieldwork with the Arhuacos, which resulted in the production of a collaborative documentary focusing on their filmmaking. This investigation demonstrates that film can successfully function as a form of intercultural communication. Finally, this paper considers the possibility of breaking the long-established boundaries between mainstream and indigenous cinema. It concludes with an optimistic suggestion that the film's universal values make it a potentially very eff...

Editorial: Black sheep of academia? -Recontextualising Creative Practice-based Research

Practice-based research, under may names and sub-categories, has been present and increasingly vi... more Practice-based research, under may names and sub-categories, has been present and increasingly vibrant (although mostly limited in its recognition to the UK and Australia) for several decades now. A number of rich, insightful texts have been written about the phenomenon, and some significant work has been done towards academia's recognition of practice-based research as a legitimate and valuable form of new contribution to knowledge. Not to mention some fantastic and innovative creative practice work that keeps appearing and inspiring myself and others alike. For someone who has struggled with her professional identity for a very long time (keeping my creative and intellectual hungers separate, not knowing how to reconcile both in one coherent action-after all, who would be the target audience for that!?), the realisation that there IS a legitimate space on the crossroads between creative world and academia was a very joyful one. It would be too optimistic, however, to claim that there are no struggles for those engaged in creative practice research. There are still numerous challenges with the identity of many such works, difficulties to manage disciplinary rules, which, in turn, lead to often confused expectations of supervisors, examiners, funding bodies, publishers, and HE institution, let alone the audiences. With great examples of practice-based work comes a question: not only what this kind of research means, but how do we go about it, nurture it, train and support new creative practitioners, and, why do we do in in the first place. This Special Issue and all the widespread work surrounding it, comes from a genuine passion. What keeps me happy and motivated every day are the vast possibilities of practicebased research, the joy of creativity is promises, it's rebellious potential (who doesn't appreciate that!), but also the amazing opportunities it brings. I truly believe that creative An interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed and open access academic journal devoted to pushing forward the approaches to and possibilities for publishing creative media-based research.

Agata Lulkowska

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