The art and culture of a desired-territory

In these territories, in an expectant state, there is a potential product that needs to be worked very well.

Farol dos Ventos, project by Experimenta.paisagem (DR)

Territories need to be converted into objects of desire, into desired-territories. Let's think, for a moment, about the motivations that can mobilize our emotional intelligence towards a certain territory, making it become an object of desire, a desired territory. Let's make some inroads by the way.

Let us think, for example, of the Plano Nacional das Artes and the Portuguese Network of Contemporary Art and the itinerancy of art collections through the numerous centers of contemporary art that already exist in Portugal.

Let's think, for example, of the National Program for Aesthetic and Artistic Education and the itinerancy of Portuguese plastic artists through the country's municipalities and schools, directing and guiding the production of public art works by young artists from our towns and cities, without forgetting, in time of climate change, the special relationship of public art with the good practices of the circular economy.

Let us think, for example, of the association of the Historical Villages of Portugal with aesthetic and artistic education programs and the itinerancy of a national program of artistic and cultural installations that celebrate the natural beauty of these villages.

Let's think, for example, of the school library program and the National Reading Plan and the itinerancy of many Portuguese writers, not only explaining their literary works, but also describing and revisiting some literary landscapes of our greatest writers.

Let's think, for example, of the National Cinema Plan and the itinerancy of a program to divulge major cinematographic works, but also of explanatory sessions on the production of small documentaries about the art and culture of the territories.

Let us think, for example, of the Portuguese Network of Museums and the organization of guided tours of archaeological remains and national monuments as privileged ways of explaining Portuguese history and culture to the youngest.

Let us think, for example, of the Living Science Centers and interpretive centers and the itinerancy associated with them, which our scientists can play a leading role in, in everything that concerns local endemism, geological occurrences, good environmental and forestry practices, with a view to protecting existing habitats and ecosystems.

Let us think, for example, of sacred art and the countless places of worship and pilgrimage spread across the country and the itinerancy associated with it, whether in celebrations or guided tours.

Let's think, for example, about the terroirs Portuguese that feed tourism in rural areas and in some Unesco brands such as the Mediterranean diet, and we will have one more reason to visit the territories of the so-called inland country.

In the information and knowledge society, where networks are the main agent of the territories' wealth, what is the importance of all these artistic and cultural references? I use the arguments of the National Arts Plan.

"What would life be without music and literature, architecture and design, cinema and painting, dance and theater? We understand the arts as part of life and not a parallel world, outside of existence or in an isolated sphere of culture. As Sophia de Mello Breyner Andersen stated, in her speech to the Constituent Assembly on September 2, 1975: «(...) culture is not a luxury of the privileged, but a fundamental need of all men and all communities. Culture does not exist to decorate life, but to transform it, so that man can build and build himself in conscience, in truth and freedom and in justice (…)». In this sense, aesthetics is not far from ethics or politics. With this certainty, we will recover the purpose and effort of many artists since the 60s and 70s of the XNUMXth century: to cross art and life, to reveal them as a unity. Thus, we will not only value the artistic object, but the creative process and free attitude.

The arts can teach us the priceless lesson of gratuity. That of freed time, for no reason or for what, that of disinterested pleasure in the face of beauty. In an era marked by utilitarianism and the desire for efficiency and productivity, this subversion is decisive. It is the same that we can value in play, games, parties. Thus, in society and in learning communities, due to the proximity of the arts and artistic expressions, education associated with pleasure, play and creativity will also be promoted. Being emotional and having fun cannot be in opposition to learning and getting to know. Artistic practices can renew pedagogical processes, avoiding an instrumental logic in the use of the arts and their domestication. In this way, articulating education and culture, we will be able to enhance the experience of a frank space, where contemplation, playfulness, discovery, gratuity and freedom are valued. A way to assert the plastic force of life without the weight of fear of making mistakes.

There are multiple languages ​​and different modes of personal expression and understanding of the world that we must help to develop. We have too rationalized education, not sufficiently promoting the formation of affections, the relationship with the body, the valuing of autonomy, the capacity to take on challenges and failures, the pleasure of learning, interpreting and intervening in the world. It is necessary to educate and train for different languages, intelligences and ways of communicating. Not all fit the language of logical-verbal rationality. These feel excluded – and may find their means and their element in artistic expressions, a path to their personal fulfillment and participation in the common good.

In a society that faces challenges arising from globalization and accelerated technological development, where artificial intelligence already plays a decisive role, the emotional, social, creative and critical skills that the arts provide may be an essential instrument for adapting to this world to come.

The intimacy with the arts, in their diversity, allows for the formation of these apparently distant skills. The education of aesthetic sensibility and critical and creative thinking will thus allow for greater personal autonomy. A permanent relationship with the arts and heritage of different cultures, also teaches to respect the experience of the other, to be more receptive to their culture, to their interpretation of the world, promoting sharing, argumentation, knowledge of criteria of judgment of taste and its historical evolution.

Knowledge of heritage and the arts allows us to have a historical awareness and inscribes us as part of an infinite task that we have received as a legacy and that we must renew for the future. We are part of a community and a common effort that precedes and surpasses us. In this way, promoting education that values ​​heritage and the arts will reinforce citizens' sense of belonging and help rebuild historically rooted communities, aware of the multiple cultural influences to which we are indebted.

What is said here, regarding the National Plan for the Arts, is equally valid for the National Reading Plan, the National Film Plan, the Aesthetic and Artistic Education Program, the School Libraries Program, the Portuguese Network of Museums and the Portuguese Contemporary Art Network. All these programming and planning instruments can be linked to the territory and its expansion, whether through the itinerancy of art collections, guided tours, nature trails and literary landscapes, artistic residencies and street arts, sacred art and places of worship and pilgrimage, museums and archaeological remains, living science centers and local endemism, among many other distinctive territorial signs.

As mentioned in the Portuguese Contemporary Art Network, it is about “bringing the different communities of the national territory closer to contemporary art and culture, contributing to the increase of audiences and their loyalty, to promoting the mobility of artists, curators and other actors in the field of contemporary arts, to promote programs to support network programming and to foster dynamics of interrelationship between artistic practices and research in these areas, to stimulate national and international multidisciplinary projects, namely through exhibitions, performances, seminars and conferences , to encourage cultural programs that can be co-produced online and on the roadto ".

 

Final Notes

Heritage, landscape, science and technology, arts and culture, we have not yet been able to mobilize these three sets of resources in an orderly fashion and with sufficient network-intensity.

They form a value chain of priceless wealth that lies dormant in many territories that remain, say, on the waiting list. In these territories, in an expectant state, there is a potential product that needs to be worked on very well.

Art and culture, like science and technology, can tear apart this horizon of possibilities and open up to the world our small world of such limited reach.

Sometimes we got there through absurdity and nonsense, luck or chance, but participatory art, cultural democracy and community commitment can direct our attention and energy in the right direction, that is, towards the appreciation of the territory's value chain and for the transformation of its potential product into goods and services, both material and immaterial, which expand the territory's economy, but also our horizon of life and daily citizenship.

And why not look at the territory as if it were an unfinished work of art, just like ourselves?

At the beginning of the year 2022, I invite you in the areas of art and culture in the territories. Visit three initiatives that are noteworthy: a Experience the landscape, on the production of public art and the communication of landscape values, the hammock and its artistic and cultural programming, finally, the spiral and its itineraries and guided tours on natural and cultural heritage.

I wish you all a Happy Year 2022.

 

 

 
 



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