Fish Factory

Eva Jörgensen is a medical anthropologist and in June she spent her time at the Factory working on a PhD on the impact of Covid-19 on adolescents in Iceland.

I work with all kinds of data but am currently working on transcribing and analysing interviews with adolescents and professionals working with them. My approach is identifying the cultural idioms in how we express both distress and resilience and I use a right-based lens when it comes to the position of minors in the pandemic to see how their rights have been upheld. I just published my first article during my stay at the Fish Factory, entitled The voices of children and adolescents during COVID-19: a critical review of methods. So, I’m actually not an artist but an academic but I believe the two overlap as academic writing, especially in the social sciences, entails quite a bit of creativity: analysis, theme building, and of course putting the text together to present your work is a creative process in itself.

My time here as an academic has been well spent: I have a sizeable desk to work from in an open space where I can get inspired through conversations with the artists and draw up my analysis on the board by my desk. I also have a good working station in the house I’m staying in when I want a quiet work day with a nice view of the mountain. Una and Vinny, and their team members Nika and Franklin, have been most helpful and the local people have been generous with their time to give me an insight into the pandemic’s impact on the Eastfjords. Coming here has felt like having a little tight-nit co-op where we work, and support each other, but don’t forget to have some fun!

Thank you, Eva :)