Theoretical References
Dear all,
We bring you below a previous text we wrote on the theoretical references for the Brasilia/Sao Paulo working group. It is still written in Portuguese, but we ho pe to be able to translate it soon. It is done since September 1st but only recently we realized that it should and how we could publish it here.
Best
Cayo and Luiza
Political-Imaginary Dimensions of Public Engagements
This project intends to identify, describe, frame and share in which ways the different audiences make ‘use’ of art museums and exhibitions, focus-ing on the Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo (MASP) and the Museu Nacional de Brasilia (MuN), both in Brazil. Special attention will be given to the ‘uses’ that––in their gestures, expressions and narratives––demonstrate what we call a ‘political-imaginary dimension’, since they can suggest other uses and meanings for those spaces. Moreover, it will question in which way the investigations are influenced by the fact that the investigators are situated inside (in the case of MASP) or outside (in the case of MuN) the museums. A variety of methodological strategies can be used as tools (observation, interviews, ethnographies, etc.), according to various theoretical references: studies of everyday life (Certeau, 2014), the sociology of the rejections to contemporary art (Heinich, 2010), studies in culture and communication (Martin-Barbero, 2009), concepts of counternarratives (Giroux et al., 1996), counterpublics (Warner, 2010) and perspectivism (Viveiros de Castros, 2015), amongst the researches in the field of post-critical museology (Dewdney, Dibosa & Walsh, 2013), considering its approach to the conflicts between cultural authorities and distributed cultures in the setting of cultural institutions.