El paisaje urbano informal interpelado desde el arte

Abstract

The current urban art not only intends to engage in a dialogue with society, it also proposes to transform the city. A model case on the use of art as an auditor of the urban landscape, which is presented in this writing, is the Favela-painting project, experience which has strengthened and expanded the powers of urban art, linking methods and expressions of the artistic field with urban improvement objectives. Motivated by social inequality, two Dutch artists decide to reinterpret the canvas, finding in the precarious facades of popular housing that possible means of expression. The analysis of this experience, from the urban planning approach, claims the informal space through art, because the improvements achieved on the urban landscape and the constructive quality of the popular housing are remarkable. Social conflict is addressed in an alternative way, empowering the population with art as a vehicle for appropriation, cooperation, training and self-management. This initiative has coincided with other actions on urban informality promoted by the state. Neighborhood improvement programs are overlap with the case in question, proposing in the mixture of these fields new forms of relationship between art and politics.