Christian Vium

‘Revisioning Nouakchott’ is a collaborative, youth-driven research project that investigates how young people living in the urban peripheries of Nouakchott, Mauritania, imagine, move through, and articulate their city. In a context of rapid urbanization, limited infrastructure, and widespread marginalization, the project explores how youth use creative practices—film, photography, sound, writing, and archives—to claim space, narrate their histories, and envision more inclusive urban futures. Developed through longstanding partnerships between local artists, scholars, institutions, and youth, the project will unfold across five phases: participatory workshops, multimodal mapping, public exhibitions, synthesis of findings, and widespread dissemination. Research methods include sensory ethnography, oral histories, and collaborative media production, generating empirical insight into youth experiences while equipping participants with critical and technical skills. The project will culminate in an immersive VR film, a free newsprint publication, local exhibitions, a public seminar, and an open-access mobile platform. These outputs will be shared with schools, policymakers, NGOs, and the broader public. By combining anthropological theory with grassroots engagement, ‘Revisioning Nouakchott’ advances new ways of doing anthropology—grounded in mutual learning, co-authorship, and public accountability—and aims to shift how youth, scholars, and city leaders understand and shape the future of Nouakchott.