Artistic Practices and the Constitution of Public Sphere: An Explorative Inquiry

Socially and politically engaged artistic practices constitute a broad and interdisciplinary field of study and a multifaceted field of practices. This contribution has an exploratory purpose, and aims to identify key “semantic shifts”, proposing an interpretative framework for the link between socially and politically engaged artistic practices and the processes involved in the constitution of public sphere. In particular, we will examine some basic questions, namely: how artistic practices can be interpreted in the perspective of the public sphere; which dimensions can help to trace a terrain of action that is capable of activating a public-political dimension; and how these practices can open up possibilities for social change. The reflections presented here are part of a wider research regarding the creation of the public sphere, in the context of the spread of a participatory-collaborative paradigm, as revealed by various institutional devices established by public administrations, as well as by commons-oriented practices, strongly focused on sharing and collaboration. This contribution is also the result of a long-term involvement in the Theater of the Oppressed artistic-activist practice which in this work will be referred to as an “heuristic device” in the exploration of the processes investigated here.