Paper short abstract:

The paper presents two experiences of collaborative artistic practices in Portugal, focusing on the methodological approach to each case and on the role of the anthropologist in the context of a multidisciplinary team working with local communities.

Paper long abstract:

The multiple social transformations witnessed by the Portuguese society in the last decades - driven by processes of democratization, decolonization, urbanization, Europeanization, globalization and population mobility – result in an eclectic territory, where practices and policies promoting communities’ participation, once inexistent, are increasing.

In this context, artistic practices are one of the most common strategies in local interventions regarding the strengthening or the creation of identity ties between the community and its territory. However, regardless the quality of the artistic work and the communities’ fulfilment with the processes, most practices don’t follow a clear methodological school of practice. In spite recognising that the inherent diversity of each territory, community and team imply unique approaches, it is important to contribute to the construction of a methodological and theoretical field on collaborative artistic practices.

This paper presents experiences of artistic co-production in two different contexts (social housing neighbourhood in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and an ancient mining village, in the South region of Alentejo). In both cases, the main goals were to promote processes of active citizenship and reinforce territorial based identities.

Having as a starting point the teams’ backgrounds (anthropology, sculpture, spatial planning), the first project designed a methodological approach, developed together with the community, for the construction of a three-piece sculpture. The success of the first project led to the second one, which is now being implemented. We will specify the methodological approach to each case and focus on the role of anthropologists within a multidisciplinary team, working with local communities.