‘We Are Here to Stay’: Hosting an Art Exhibition as an Action Initiative With Unauthorised People

Participatory Action Research (PAR) with unauthorised people entails distinct ethical and methodological challenges in contexts shaped by criminalisation and precarious legal status. This article examines a PAR project conducted in collaboration with a Brussels-based self-organised collective, which culminated in a collaboratively curated art exhibition. Drawing on fieldnotes and project documents, the analysis first describes the complexities of gaining access, establishing trust, consolidating partnerships and fostering ownership. It then focuses on two key tensions that emerged in practice: between participation and autonomy, and between anonymity and recognition. While PAR often aspires to extensive participation, the findings suggest that collaborators’ autonomy in determining the scope and form of their involvement must take precedence. Similarly, decisions about anonymity and recognition require careful contextual judgement, as ‘being visible’ may entail both risks of control and opportunities for recognition, including implications for regularisation procedures. By analysing the exhibition as an action initiative, the article contributes to debates on visibility, recognition, ownership, and power in participatory methodologies. It argues that, despite ongoing ethical negotiations, PAR remains a valuable approach for democratising the production and circulation of knowledge in migration research.