Multidisciplinarity ― Projects for Social Change in Art and Culture

While there are a great variety of art projects that are interested in impact, in social and political terms, which present critical points of view, ranging from articulating a message to asking for participation, nevertheless, it seems that still most art projects fail to produce social change. This then begs the question, how can art contribute to effective social change? The author asserts that the combination of art, cultural studies and project management, by means of a multidisciplinary approach will contribute to social change. Grand-narratives attached to each disciplinary discourse are found and presented here, serving to shine the light on the complexity of thinking and implementing projects for social change. Although the field of multidisciplinarity is expanding, there is a lack of a down-to-earth debate but here Santos draws from the eclectic construction of three multidisciplinary projects, serving to bridge the gap between the theoretical debates of disciplinary discourses and the harshness of everyday life in those communities where projects for social change are being implemented. She overcomes the challenge that art, as a discipline, assumes that scientific disciplines, such as project management, take away the creative spark of a project, while scientific disciplines view art as a discipline which is incapable of working towards specific goals and within a structured framework. The innovative character of this volume lies precisely in its panoptical view that places academic research side by side with daily life, unveiling the bigger picture of both projects and interdisciplinary discourses.

LuA-sa Santos trained as a Communication Designer and worked in Advertising and Design Studios between 2003 and 2006. In 2006, she took an MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London, with the support of a Gulbenkian Scholarship (2006-2008). As an independent curator, she collaborates regularly with institutions such as Carpe Diem Arte & Pesquisa, CAM Gulbenkian, and the EDP Foundation. She has collaborated with institutions such as FundaA§A￡o EDP (PT), Tensta Konsthall (SE), Tate Modern (UK), Tate Britain (UK), The Photographer's Gallery (UK) and Fotografisk Centre (DK). She has published extensively in exhibition catalogues, magazines and publications as ArteCapital (PT), L+Arte (PT), Directarts (Canada), Estudio (PT), ContemporA￠nea (PT), among others.