Making feminist meaning with Portuguese media art education during dictatorship

Mapping state-dictated Portuguese art education in the 20th century is inseparable from consideration of state curriculum and politics. During the “Estado Novo” Salazar regime (1933-1974), educational approaches in Portugal were limited according to rigid state protocols. Despite these authoritarian constraints, Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra [CAPC], founded in 1958, fostered a different discourse and learning practice, transforming pedagogy and shaping the future of Portuguese art education. Their socio-cultural contribution influenced contemporary dilemmas facing Portuguese women artists and educators and their narratives. During the dictatorship, Portuguese society and politics restricted thinking, practice and discourse. Through analyses of interviews with educators and students regarding the Salazar years, this critique touches upon the implications of arts education in Portugal and CAPC’s educational thinking during the dictatorship. In stark contrast with restrictive curriculums of the dictatorship which prohibited critical/reflective thinking or experimentation, one small city in Portugal promised the opportunity for students to learn and experiment at CAPC. Students were presented with an open curriculum rather than a state-mandated curriculum, exposed to stimuli to build critical thinking and inquiry, problem-solving, research through practice, and learning while doing. In order to understand how the past contributes to the present and forge new connections and alignments for global art education, this analysis of Portuguese art education during the dictatorship is contextualized in light of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for the 21st century: to provide for quality and inclusive education, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.