Abstract

CASTRO, Ana Luísa  and  CAMPOS, Ricardo. Mediation for Urban Art: The Case of Meu Bairro, Minha Rua. RLEC/LJCS [online]. 2023, vol.10, n.1, pp.49-69.  Epub June 30, 2023. ISSN 2184-0458.  https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.4423.

Urban art is increasingly used as a means of urban regeneration by the municipalities of several Portuguese cities, noting, however, that sometimes urban art projects are developed with the simple purpose of “beautifying” the urban landscape, disregarding the communities that use or live in the targeted spaces. This type of intervention raises questions about the role of urban art as a form of public art developed in certain urban territories. This expression has often been used in territorially and socially deprived and peripheral urban territories. In this sense, it plays a role that is not exclusively artistic but also communitarian and social, aiming at certain neighbourhoods’ territorial, symbolic and identity rehabilitation. Through this article, we intend to raise awareness about the importance of using participatory processes in developing urban art projects in the public space, encouraging the involvement of communities. Assuming that in the public space, art mediation must play a greater role, we decided to focus on a case study - the project Meu Bairro, Minha Rua (My Neighbourhood, My Street) - that invited the community to participate in the decision-making process of a set of micro-interventions in public space in 10 locations in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Keywords : mediation; urban art; public space; participation.

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