Strategies of Belonging - A Social Art Practice

Abstract

As what have been called “art- ist-citizens,” Paula and Antonio work with disenfranchised Por- tuguese communities, both urban and rural, addressing issues like displacement, habitat disintegra- tion and cultural deterioration. They subscribe to a notion of art that crosses diverse disciplines, as they push to create new models of community life, or ways of living, that support long-term, sustaina- ble communities, worldviews, and practices. Collectivity and collab- oration are important features of their process. They believe that empathy, dialog and imagination - artistic strategies, essentially - can give voice to the outsider, connect people to each other, and support the socially signiicant values that underlie economic and cultural sustainability.