The courage to move

: relationship systems of cultural actors in Medellin, creators and accelerators of cultural policies

Abstract

This study explores the ways in which different actors in the cultural ecosystem mobilize, negotiate, create, activate and accelerate cultural policies and politics of life through their processes and practices, focusing mainly on actors from the city of Medellín, Colombia. A proposal that has as one of its most distinctive characteristics the fact that it was conceived from local notions, thoughts, and forms – the embodied standpoints. The analysis is based on positions, concepts, and theories that are developed within the framework of the Americas of the South: Central America, South America, and the Caribbean; and looks into specific contributions of the neighborhoods and corners of Medellín. This study brings together the main aspects of actor’s relationship tactics and approaches in the cultural sector. It considers their achievements, tensions, mistakes, fears, creations, and desires under the proposed tool and notion of movimiento (movement) as the interplay of subjectivities and ways of relating and a versatile maneuver itself. It argues that the multiple actors and groups participating in the arts and culture ecosystem are formulators, accelerators, transgressors, and disruptors of cultural policies in the city; and in consequence, policies strengthen and challenge actors’ processes and projects. The study pushes for considerations on the possibilities around the many ways of being and relating, thinking-doing through collective creation and movement.

Date of Award	28 Jan 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Luísa Santos (Supervisor)