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Publication Detailed Description
Unidos venceremos!: A transdisciplinary approach to participatory public sculpture in Canal Caveira, Portugal
Book Title
Cross media arts: Creative assemblages for social impact
Year (definitive publication)
2025
Language
English
Country
Portugal
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Abstract
This article explores a transdisciplinary approach to participatory public sculpture,
focusing on the project Unidos Venceremos! – Arte e Comunidade em Debate
as a case study. This project was developed in the village of Canal Caveira, in the
municipality of Grândola, Portugal, in 2024, and it started as a proposal from
the municipality to engage the local population in a participatory process, with
the purpose of creating a monument to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
Portuguese 25th of April Revolution. A multidisciplinary team - composed by
artists, anthropologists, architects - built the mediation process and invited the
local population for a ‘collective construction’ project. The current case study
explores the citizen’s involvement in public space reconfiguration through a
process where the co-creation of a public artwork transcends its aesthetic and
symbolic purpose, integrating functionality and the endogenous flora of the
territory, ultimately nurturing an ecological intervention into the shared space.
The article focuses on concrete examples how transdisciplinary collaboration
among mediators allowed the project to evolve beyond its initial premises. By
dissolving rather than reinforcing disciplinary boundaries - and thus avoiding
the confinement of the artwork within a specific disciplinary category - this
transdisciplinary process placed citizen agency at the core of decision-making,
shaping a more inclusive transformation of public space.
Acknowledgements
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Keywords
Public sculpture,Transdisciplinarity,Participatory art,Co-creation,Citizens agency
Português