Art and democracy. Exploring new ways to work creatively with citizens

For democracy to work as it should, three fundamental elements are needed: engaged citizens, communities that act together, and institutions with legitimacy that empower citizens. But when this does not happen, it is necessary to look for new ways to introduce citizens to the exercise of democratic practices. To that effect, this article seeks to explore the potential of art to motivate and empower citizens, as well as entire communities, through techniques ranging from Theatre of the Oppressed to Participatory Public Art.

Forum theatre as a tool for unveiling gender issues in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) working environments

Gender affects all aspects of life, and the working and learning environments of science, technology, engineering and geosciences present no exception. Gender issues concerning the access, permanence and ascension of women in exact sciences and Earth sciences careers in general are related to a variety of causes. The underrepresentation of women in science communications, sexual or moral harassment caused by professors and colleagues during undergraduate and graduate ages or the overloading of girls, when compared to boys, with housework during early school ages are some examples mentioned in the literature. In other words, the gender imbalance in science and technology careers may be seen as the result of a series of structured oppression suffered by women of all ages. In this context, we propose the development of an education package that is designed to understand these processes at different levels. One of the tools of this package is known as the “Theatre of the Oppressed”. Elaborated on by Augusto Boal in the 1970s, the Theatre of the Oppressed uses theatre techniques as a means of promoting social and political changes. Usually, a scene takes place that reveals a situation of oppression. The audience become what is called “spect-actors”, where they become active by exploring, showing and transforming the reality in which they are living. In the context of gender issues in exact sciences careers, the students can stage situations that reveal the subtle actions of power relations that usually put women in subservient positions. Our experience showed that, even though the acting is based on fiction, the spectators learn a great deal from the enactment because the simulation of real-life situations, problems and solutions stimulates the practice of resisting oppression in reality from within a setting that offers a safe space to practise making a change.

Teatro do Oprimido como método para a práxis da Psicologia Social Comunitária e Educação Popular no meio rural

This goal of this article is to reflect on the contributions of the method of the Theatre of the Oppressed used by a university extension experiment at a rural settlement in the city of Campina Grande (Paraíba/Brazil). This experiment was based both on Social Community Psychology and on Popular Education addressed to physical education and affectivity, envisaging stimulating and strengthening listening opportunities and the problematization of reality, supporting the autonomy and social leadership. The psycho-pedagogical workshops carried out with a group of children and a group of adolescents was one of the methodological instruments used. The workshops intended to stimulate the taste for reading, creativity, and the critical reflection and autonomy by using reading and social strategies, recreational games and different artistic languages, such as the method of the Theatre of the Oppressed. This method was also used through the presentation of a play for the community, which was assembled according to the forum-theatre technique based on information obtained in the settlement. Starting from the report after three workshops and after the forum-theatre experiment they concluded that the method of the Theatre of the Oppressed aligns to the theoretical perspectives adopted and contributes to the development of more participative, critical and solidarity postures envisaging social changes.

When a Teacher’s Love for the World Gets Rejected. A Post-Critical Invitation to Become an Edifying Educator

This article aims at dialoguing with the Arendtian 5th principle of the Manifesto for a Post-Critical Pedagogy: From education for citizenship to love for the world, where the authors state that this is the time “to acknowledge and to affirm that there is good in the world that is worth preserving” (Hodgson et al., 2017, p. 19), as a hopeful acknowledgment of the world. This particular dialogue is opened by means of an edifying philosophical theatre piece (based on a pedagogical reading of Alice Munro’s short story Comfort) that reflects on/with Rorty’s pragmatism. It is an attempt at advancing the post-critical approach to education via a twofold strategy that might best be described as edifyingly discomforting. First, by intentionally choosing an uncomforting story as the basis for a theatre piece depicting an unsettling pedagogical situation. Second by developing a post-critical educational artefact under the premise that if critical pedagogy had Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, then a post-critical pedagogy may benefit as well from what I would like to call an “edifying theatre”.

Where is My Sweet Potato? Creating Change through Forum Theatre with Street Children in Burundi

ABSTRACT This paper examines the innovative use of Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed (Forum Theatre) with a group of 30 street children and young people in East Africa. Drawing upon a project in Burundi, this paper reveals how participants utilized the process of performance making through Forum Theatre as a platform to make visible problems in their lives, and a vehicle to challenge inequalities, abuse and violence. The authors demonstrate how the adoption of this methodology raised questions about interactive theatre as creative activism and a tool for opening up possibilities for dialogue with a community-based audience. This paper illuminates ways in which street children, explored, examined and problematized their lived experience, through the creative lens of Forum Theatre. It argues that this methodology generated a sense of collective consciousness, through which the children and young people created personal and social change, which extended beyond the life of the project.