14 FEV 2020, 15h00 - 19h00 | EA 008

Several artistic projects are focused on their social and political relevance reclaiming an engagement act – between art and society – to be at the centre of the artwork. At stake is the ability of explicitly dealing and discussing conflictual aspects of the human experience in a deliberate and politized way. However, it is relevant to consider in what ways that “engagement” can lead to renunciation, or loss, or even sacrifice of the material aspects of the artwork in favour of its political content. That is, can the commitment between art and its political efficacy compromise the aesthetic dimension? Can an artwork be validated only by its political agenda and its discursive efficiency? In a world of political extremes, is art becoming only a “tool” of political activism [artivism]? Are there possibilities beyond the polarization of aesthetic autonomy and political activism: forms of positioned art practice that knows how to articulate the social also in and through formal and material qualities?

This seminar proposes an open and fearless discussion on the contemporary (dis)tensions between politics and the aesthetics of art. A reflection that takes into consideration how these questions face the founding assumption of autonomy of art. A reflection that can also emerge from a necessary change from the ethnographic, documental, political, and socially engaged art practices to a conciliation with its aesthetics.

Speakers
Alexandra Balona
Francisco Vidal
Luiz Camillo Osorio
Pedro Duarte de Andrade
Sabeth Buchmann

Organizing Committee
Daniel Ribas
Maria Coutinho
Nuno Crespo

Joint Organization
Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien
PUC – Rio
Universidade Católica Portuguesa – Escola das Artes / CITAR