Conflicted Arts+Politics

Conflicted Arts+Politics follows on from the outcomes of the European cooperation project, 4C's: from Conflict to Conviviality through Creativity and Culture. It was designed in the scientific areas of Cultural Studies and Visual Arts in light of the contemporary political reality, namely its human, social and economic dimensions. Our world is shaped by countless challenges and conflicts of various kinds, namely wars, crises, fake news, and oppressive regimes, all of which demand urgent action. Visual artists, particularly since Modernism, have responded to the world around them through their research and production practices. But what can they do in a contemporary world in which political participation is equated with apathy? Essentially, the goal of this research is to go further and to critically ponder some of the main results of the 4C’s initiative: (i) the work created by contemporary activist artists is being progressively inscribed in the political domain; (ii) there seems to be a relationship between government support of the Arts and the transformational power of the Arts in the political realm. Following on from these statements, a major reflection regarding the artists' responses and actions towards political systems. In particular, the analysis is expected to contribute to the acknowledgement of how research and artistic production about and under censorship, post-censorship and oppression, post-oppression, colonial and post-colonial political regimes, are conducted.

This research project is being developped by CECC researcher Luísa Santos in light of the FCT's funding programme CEEC Institucional 2018, for an Auxiliar Researcher.