Vignette as a way of seeing

A vignette can be considered a snapshot of a situation, or a moment in time that in its framing and composition might offer insights into more complex relations. In many ways, a vignette is a construction, a way of giving prominence to that which is precious or of significance. In this article, the authors consider the vignette as a form of ethical mediation and an intervention into conversations that are never fully whole. Their reflections have emerged in the context of the exhibition, Undocumented? – Paidal which gathered together narratives on displacement. The authors ask: What kind of memory work and documentation do vignettes perform within traumatic contexts such as those of undocumented migration? And how does this differ from witnessing as a form of evidentiary knowing and documenting of difficult events? These questions have ethical implications for how we might address forms of violence within academic and cultural work.