Book - Arte Despertar: the first decade by Arte Despertar

ARTE DESPERTAR: the first decade

OUR ART IS AWAKENING THE BEST IN HUMAN BEINGS

0 Indispensable Utopians

Eduardo Montechi Valladares

4 A word about us

Maria Angela de Souza Lima Rizzi Maria Helena da Cruz Sponton

1 The notion of social responsibility from early modernity to the context in which Associação Arte Despertar emerged

5 The view from outside

Rui Luis Rodrigues

timeline

2 The individual and the art of self-creation

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

Awakening with and for art Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi

Regina Vidigal Guarita

Our partners

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

SPONSORS

Felipe de Souza Tarábola

0 Indispensable Utopians Eduardo Montechi Valladares in me i see the other and other and other dozens trains passing carriages full of people hundreds the other who is me is you you

event the publication of a book that recounts ten years of activities of an organization that shows us day after day that solidarity is possible and that the perspectives proposed are achievable is always encouraging news. The raison d’être of Associação Arte Despertar is to awaken (despertar) – to wake people up, to try to make sure every individual has the opportunity to access his or her creative potential. Perhaps its most important role is to remind us all the time of something of which everyone should already have been convinced: the Other should never be treated as an inanimate object that can be manipulated at will. The wishes and needs of others should always be taken into consideration, along with their characteristics and peculiarities.

This is an invitation. Dear reader, read this book attentively. Its chapters, written by different people, tell the ten-year story of Associação Arte Despertar. A story that certainly deserves to be known.

The fundamental ethical question for each of us is : How should I live? In a late interview, French philosopher Michel Foucault said this: “What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is related only to objects and not to individuals, or to life. (...) But couldn’t everyone’s life become a work of art? Why should a lamp or a house be an art object, but not our life?” The answers to the questions posed by Foucault may point the way to all those who wonder how they should live their lives.

Decades are arbitrary milestones, of course, but they have symbolic significance for most people. In the history of mankind, this predilection for the number ten has not been fortuitous. In antiquity some primitive peoples used base-ten numbering systems because ten symbolized the idea of an ending, of consummation. This idea is probably linked to the fact that counting on your fingers can get you no farther than ten. Even today, when we pretend we are already civilized, we remain imprisoned in the ancient beliefs of our ancestors. But in any

Foucault’s “aesthetics of existence” is an invitation to us to take responsibility for the beauty of our own lives. This is achievable by anyone capable of asking themselves ethical questions and creating a lifestyle based on values such as generosity, solidarity and courage. The idea that we should see ourselves as subjects undergoing constant self-fashioning also demands large doses of creativity. Accepting this openness to the new means not recognizing labeling, stereotyping or compartmentalization of any kind, rejecting all attempts at normalization.

Paulo Leminski – Contranarciso (1980)

Caring for or about oneself does not mean one cannot look at others. On the contrary, it is only from and with others that we become what we are from birth onward: social human beings. For Jean-Paul Sartre, another French philosopher, man is condemned to be free, meaning each of us is alone responsible for choosing our goals and the way to achieve them. Because we are absolutely free to make our own choices, we can modify an initial project at any time. We are whatever we decide to be. We all continuously experience problematical or absurd situations. Our finitude makes it important that we choose our own pathways. The discovery that we are free is inevitably disturbing because it means we are responsible for all the consequences of our choices. Trying to escape freedom means accepting that someone else is responsible for our lives. Attributing our successes and failures to others may make us feel comfortable or secure, but it shows we have chosen to live the life of a slave. By choosing freedom and facing up to the anguish of being free, we assume the risk of living an adventure in unmapped territory. In sum, risk is synonymous with freedom. Perhaps nothing is more contemptible than a person who is “always a cautious little take-your-time” (Mário de Andrade). So we can choose to make our lives a work of art. Suffice it to dare. Producing art involves the use of the real and the imaginary, the subjective and the objective, the nonutilitarian and the practical. Works of art, like people who dare make the break with conformism, always have several layers of meaning. They not only portray a world but enable a variety of readings as wide as the imagination of those who produce them. It is precisely this possibility of the emergence of such an immense diversity of gazes that can make art an agent that facilitates relations among human beings.

Another key point is that art can produce moments of catharsis (from the Greek katharsis; translatable as purging, cleansing or purification) – a powerful discharge of emotion that gives us relief from tension through communal experience. It is also important to recall that for Aristotle, an Athenian philosopher in the fourth century B.C., catharsis had a clear moral and political connotation. Its significance for the moral enhancement of the polis, the city-state of ancient Greece, resided in its potential to allow citizens to find solutions to conflicts of interest and opinion. An active citizenry is one where the citizens actively participate in the political decisions that affect them. There are two preconditions for this: equality before the law (isonomia), and genuine freedom of speech (isegoria, freedom of public address, i.e. equality of the right to address the sovereign assembly of the people on public policy, on what the city should or should not do). In the twenty-first century blatant inequality still exists despite a series of victories that have extended individual rights. Everyone living in poverty or precarious conditions suffers relative but perceptible loss of citizenship. This is like being deprived of memory, reason, voice. The tutelage to which these people are subjected may be intended to protect them but nevertheless weakens their subjectivity. Hence the importance of a consistently attentive stance on the part of professionals who work in programs for the poor and underprivileged. It is vitally important to ensure that the silenced can speak. The silenced are all those who are not heard even when they scream in pain and suffering. This often happens because their cries fall on deaf ears that are incapable of awakening to hear the voice of the other. Treated like puppets whose strings can be manipulated arbitrarily, they are not seen as human beings but as mere animated objects in the production process. It is everyone’s job to give them their voices back.

Our identity can often be diminished by the performance of repetitive and monotonous work. Activities that leave no room for the expression of desires and individuality are stultifying and corrode our self-esteem. Daily life can be either a space and time of tedious repetition or an essential condition for creating the bonds of solidarity needed for a more enjoyable life. It is up to each person to choose what he or she wants in the knowledge that this choice can contribute to the creation of collective ventures. The struggle for recognition of each person’s uniqueness is a hallmark of Associação Arte Despertar. In ten years of existence it has developed countless projects in poor communities. The tens of thousands of children and adults who have benefited throughout this period have always been treated as individuals endowed with original qualities and specific needs. Thus its greatest merit may be the way it strives to bring about the cultural inclusion of the poor and underprivileged while respecting each and every individual. This means that at the same time as it strives to transform an environment characterized by several lacks, it recognizes and valorizes the identity, roots and sociocultural context of every single beneficiary. The activities its projects bring into play are artistic as well as educational, involving the visual and performing arts, music and literature. Storytellers encourage reading, while enchanting and extending the cultural repertoire of all the participants. Visits to exhibitions and museums, plays, musicals, lectures and so on are organized to broaden the participants’ mental horizons and enable them to experience new ways of seeing and thinking.

Another important activity is the education and training of young people who live in the communities where the programs and projects are located. This is not limited to vocational or multiplier training, but also aims to enable them to exercise their citizenship more completely. Meetings include discussion of issues and situations involving interpersonal relationships, limits, self-discipline, teamwork, belonging, identity, inclusion-exclusion, and other motivations for the development of life projects. This concern with continuing education is not limited to the people involved in the programs and projects. It is also obsessively shared by the technical staff and board of governors. Associação Arte Despertar has also devoted itself to working in hospitals, using art as a component of the healing process to benefit not only the patients but also the medical staff and other health workers. In these interventions it uses artistic and humanization-related activities to awaken people’s capacity for reflection, to help them experience situations far removed from the stress of day-to-day life in a hospital, from pain and suffering, and from strictly professional relationships, motivating them to turn their attention to the establishment of human dignity. By valorizing the uniqueness of each patient through art, it is possible to revitalize an exercise of imagination and freedom denied by a hospital culture in which super-specialization reigns supreme. Art, especially in this context, is a form of perception and human expression capable of bringing out the best in people while helping them see external reality differently. It fosters different readings of the world, creates opportunities for questioning, and can help humanize relationships so that everyone realizes that sickness does not deprive patients of their rights and that the patient is a person rather than one more case to be resolved as quickly

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as possible. In addition, a dialogue about art and art appreciation can be established, potentially complementing the medical treatment provided. Illness is not just biology. Sometimes the most excruciating pain is that which even the most powerful sedatives cannot ease. Hospital patients are not always treated as subjects with desires, apprehensions and uncertainties. More often they are treated as passive observers of their own lives. In these situations the stimulus of art can help construct a new mode of existing in the world that encompasses expressions of solicitude as a way of trying to relate to the sick person as a complete human being. Some words are used so often they become meaningless, like jargon. This is a shame, since many such terms that have become empty represent the best of mankind’s dreams. Liberty, equality and fraternity, for example, inaugurated the program of modernity and have not yet been achieved, but their realization remains a pressing need. How often have those who try to organize activities in which caring about and for oneself entails caring for others been treated as utopian dreamers? The so-called realists love to label utopian those who have not relinquished the possibility of dreaming and implementing transformational projects. People who claim to have their “feet on the ground” say we should stick to whatever is possible. The problem is that their “possible” is too little. The apologists of a rationalized society driven by consumption and the most selfish form of individualism renounce the life drives and see themselves as modern. They are neither more nor less than conservatives. It is worth recalling that the word utopia means literally “nowhere” or “a place that does not exist”. But the fact that it does not exist does not mean it cannot be cre-

ated. Therefore it can also be understood as relating to any generous dream of social renewal. To call the people who work at Associação Arte Despertar dreamers or utopians is not at all to accuse them of having an ingenuous vision of the role of art. It is not a matter of confusing the encouragement of creative processes with some lunatic search for an impossible ideal or panacea. Art is obviously not a cure for all ills. What is more, we cannot forget the utilitarian and manipulative vision of art adopted by totalitarian regimes in the twentieth century. In totalitarianism, the law was indistinguishable from the will of the Führer (Nazism) or the “genial guide” of the world proletariat (Stalinism), identified with the will of party and state. The final goal was complete abolition of individual wills, the end of the distinction between public and private life. Like all forms of dogmatism, Nazism and Stalinism were essentially manicheistic. Good and evil were very clear-cut. Nuances were not taken into consideration. Neither criticism nor questioning were tolerated in any form. Both regimes had lists of artists who were to be politically and ideologically execrated. The only art was the art approved by the regime. Official artists were mere pamphleteers for an ideology established by the leaders. By banning debate of any kind, imposing rigid recipes to be followed by everyone, they imposed a repugnant tutelage on literary and artistic creation. The goals of Associação Arte Despertar have nothing to do with all this. I would even go so far as to say that in various ways the people who work there are the heirs to several generations of generous idealists. In the turbulent year of 1968, Paris was taken over by dreamers who filled the streets and squares of the city with their desire-laden slogans. Some of their

demands have not lost their freshness even all these years later. For example: “All power to the imagination” and “Be realistic: demand the impossible”. In any event, a utopian is a realist who pursues the impossible, because intuitively he knows there is no such thing as the true or final solution. This is a goal that cannot be achieved because mankind is always on the move and constantly creating new needs. But the utopian, the realist who dreams of the impossible, also knows that conspiring is breathing together or playing music in unison, and that happiness is possible only if it is a collective project. Liberty, equality and fraternity have not yet been won, but it is still vital to pursue them. Utopia has not been reached but at least it can be glimpsed from afar. And it is incredibly beautiful. Meanwhile, the grave and sober realists, eternally with their feet on the ground, have lost the elegance they thought they had and have become bureaucrats who hide behind their desks (real or metaphorical). Their apparent pragmatism is merely a means of disseminating cynicism. The grayer the sky becomes, the more important it is to have dreamers in the world. Fundamental change can arise only from passionate hearts and minds. After all, only people who are imbued with passion are capable of changing their lives radically, giving up projects they have planned for a long time, and risking all for the new and unknown. Only they, the utopian dreamers, can truly awaken us from slumber. For all these reasons, they are more and more indispensable. Common sense says you are useful only if you create wealth, prestige and power. If we remain imprisoned by this meaning of the world alone, the activities of Associação Arte Despertar have no utility. But if we translate utility into whatever can benefit human beings, the “useless” men and women who work there are indispensable.

There are no guarantees of a happy ending. Nor will there ever be. But it is worth betting on human reasonableness, on the possibility of joint elaboration of an ethical responsibility that aims to make a personal and communitarian world with less suffering and hence more happiness. Initiatives like Associação Arte Despertar may not have enough strength to change the course of history. But if they can at least help more and more people to realize the fundamental importance of seeing the Other, that in itself is significant and deserves to be celebrated.

1 The notion of social responsibility from early modernity to the context in which Associação Arte Despertar emerged Rui Luis Rodrigues

So let me repeat my invitation to read this book with care. I hope it helps more people find out about the work of these dreamers and realize it is still possible to make some utopias come true. May this reality inspire new dreams, fresh utopias. And may this sharing of dreams enable each one of us readers to become yet another companion in this venture. After all, who said the word accomplice applies only to people who join others in performing malicious or illegal acts? Associação Arte Despertar, which is made up of a band of incorrigible idealists, is showing us exactly the reverse. Welcome to this adventure.

A slow awakening Human beings constantly reinvent the way they live together in society. In an always complex process, because it includes negotiating not only with the concrete givens of reality but also with the mental structures and imaginary of each age, we humans seek out ways of conferring meaning on the world around us. Nothing could be more inadequate, therefore, than to judge the actions and proceedings of another age by our own values. When we think about social responsibility, we find a perfect illustration of this fact. The phrase “social responsibility” refers to the pursuit and valorization of human dignity, the mission of caring completely for other members of society and tending to people’s multiple dimensions. This is achieved through an awareness that society as a whole is responsible for the solutions to social problems. Eliminating inequality, humanizing social relations, valorizing the individual and his or her autonomy – all these concerns are recent, typical of our own age, and expressed in a vocabulary that would not have made sense a hundred years ago. This does not mean, however, that other historical periods cared nothing

for the human being. The idea of caring for our fellows has always been part of human history in one form or another, but how this idea is elaborated changes from age to age, as does how we conceive of society, the theater for these concerns. For a long time a concern with the well-being of other people, especially the vulnerable, went handin-hand with a static vision of society. To stay within the confines of western civilization, we might take as an example the typical medieval attitude toward what are called social problems today. Lacking a genuine understanding of the real causes of poverty, the medieval mind had no alternative but to consider it an expression of God’s will – divine grace was believed to save the poor through poverty, just as the rich could be saved by giving alms. This perspective was more or less constant throughout the first millennium of Christian civilization. By the sixteenth century, however, Calvin was teaching his followers that poverty was not the road to salvation, although it continued to be an expression of divine sovereignty. For Franciscan mysticism, on the other hand, the poor were the image of Christ. Poverty took on a new theological and moral value, becoming a model and a source of inspiration. To a large extent, conceiving of society as dynamic is one of the salient features of modernity. The way people thought about the most vulnerable members of society changed decisively in the sixteenth century: poverty in itself was no longer considered an evangelical virtue. The Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives (1492-1540) even suggested in his De subventione pauperum (“Concerning Assistance for the Poor”, 1526) that Christ would not “recognize such people as poor, who are so foreign to his principles of morality and prescription”, i.e. the customs and holiness of the good life according to His teachings. In Catholic as well as Protestant environments, severe

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measures began to be taken to repress mendicancy in an attempt to rid society of what had long been considered necessary to the practice of Christian piety. This was a time, however, in which new ways of addressing issues relating to poverty were found. The great rural exodus that took place in the first two decades of the sixteenth century in the Low Countries and German territories led to the implementation of measures designed to optimize poor relief. Vives’s book is a product of this period, representing emblematically the solutions developed at the time. For Vives, man becomes effectively human by learning: thus Vives considers technical education and training fundamental to the elimination of poverty. His book displays a thorough familiarity with the textile industry of his time and even remarks on the need for a balance between the supply of labor and the manufacturer’s need for workers. But Vives’s contribution proved decisive less for the practical details of his program of poor relief than for a contribution that would now be called ideological. He showed how wrong was the traditional interpretation of the words of Christ in Mark 14:7 (“For ye have the poor with you always”, in the King James Version), in taking them to suggest resignation or acceptance, as if poverty were a natural part of the social order. Vives also disparaged the deeply entrenched habit of considering the poor to be sacred objects, sancti pauperes, who by their poverty contributed to their own salvation and that of other members of the social body. At the same time, Vives was very humane toward those who were really in need. We can summarize Vives’s position by saying that it represents an acknowledgment, albeit embryonic, of the complex nature of social relations. Poverty has real causes, grounded not in God’s will but in concrete social dynamics. Of course, Vives does not

analyze things objectively in this manner. His recommendations on the elimination of poverty, however, reflect a clear perception of its causes. He sees idleness as one of the key roots of poverty, for example, and argues that laws imposed by the civil authorities are not sufficient to stamp it out. It may be necessary to train the poor to practice a trade or relocate them to areas where there is demand for their skills. In reflecting on the benefits of combating poverty in this way, Vives also displays a refined understanding of social dynamics, intuitively sensing that one of the positive results of poor relief will be to reduce the crime rate, for example. Human beings are more capable of bringing new technology into being than changing the longstanding and deeply rooted conceptions that make up their mental universe. The slow transition from a static idea of society to a different, more dynamic conception, in which society responds to material causes and therefore is susceptible to change, is a good example of this complex process of transforming the imaginary. As far as social responsibility is concerned, the advent of modernity was a key turning-point in the construction of such conceptions.

From philanthropy to transforming action The transition to the modern era also involved the emergence of two highly important factors in the changes that gave rise to the perspective of social responsibility. They were the modern state and modern market relations. The modern state came into being through political and administrative centralization, which entailed the necessity of creating a bureaucratic apparatus capable of absorbing the many functions taken over by the

state (such as taxation, a monopoly of violence via a standing army, or the subordination of a broad array of forums to a central authority). Roughly speaking, this process was irreversibly established in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, after which it continued to develop until fully consolidated nationstates emerged in the nineteenth century. On the other hand, European expansion to other continents, made possible by the technological developments of the fifteenth century, gradually shaped a world economy characterized by the relations between center and periphery. As part of this process, the establishment of capitalism produced new meanings for the notion of the “market” during the course of a long and complex history that unfolded in stages (mercantile, industrial and financial capitalism) and was punctuated by crises. It is worth noting, however, that all the great ideological clashes of the modern era revolved around these two magnitudes, from classical economic liberalism with Adam Smith (for whom the state should be overshadowed by the “invisible hand” of the market) to socialism with its objective of controlling and eliminating the market, which was eventually to lead to the withering away of the state. In the nineteenth century, the triumph of liberal ideology enshrined as a “fact” the ideological notion of an absolute separation between three distinct spheres: the political, the economic, and a sphere considered socio-cultural in nature. It is not hard to see in this tripartite division the presence of the state and market relations, augmented by another sphere that was then emerging – that of civil society. The compartmentalization of academic disciplines that became predominant in the late nineteenth century represented the officialization of this perspective, to the extent that it incorporated the idea that social, political and economic phenomena could be studied in isolation from each other.

Both this compartmentalization and its matrix, the tripartite division, were sharply criticized by the social sciences throughout the twentieth century. These spheres are not and have never been autonomous. From their inception, capitalist market relations were interwoven with the political, while social life cannot be lived outside the economy or political relations. What interests us here, however, is to recognize the extent to which these magnitudes – especially the state and the market – were crucial for western society to understand itself and the key role they have played in the development of thinking about social responsibility.

gigantic proportions, and to the pressure for social change fueled by socialists. Whereas in the United States the main motivation, at least as far as ideological discourse was concerned, continued to be the revitalization of capitalism, in Europe social democracy used the concept to foster income distribution and go some way toward meeting demands for social change. It is important to note that the welfare state represented a significant change in the way social problems were addressed compared with the previous emphasis on philanthropy: its key innovation was the recognition of the state’s responsibility in resolving these problems.

While industrial capitalism was in full flood, especially during the nineteenth century, social problems were either ignored or treated via philanthropy, with some big capitalists coming to the fore in this regard alongside institutions that had traditionally carried out philanthropic activities, such as the churches. The state was minimally involved, in accordance with liberal ideology. The situation changed radically in the 1920s as a result of the global crisis of financial capitalism. The social chaos triggered by this crisis had to be addressed using the instruments of the state. The theoretical foundations for state action had been laid not long before by the British economist John Maynard Keynes, for whom the functions of the state included the establishment of public policies for the social sphere. Indeed, their creation legitimated the state’s direct intervention in the economy. The logic pursued by Keynes was that such policies, including the adoption of measures to promote full employment and the introduction of a safety net (social security, a minimum wage etc.), would stimulate consumption by boosting the population’s purchasing power.

The crisis of the welfare state is a complex phenomenon that is made even harder to analyze by ideological passions. Nevertheless, it can be argued that the financial crisis of the 1970s, combined with the excessive weight of state bureaucratic structures, profoundly impaired the state’s ability to intervene in a regulatory manner in the social sphere. To this combination of factors must be added the colossal differences between economic center and periphery so characteristic of today’s global economy. In this sense, it is legitimate to ask whether and to what extent peripheral countries such as Brazil have effectively experienced the welfare state.

The Third Sector: genesis of a concept

However, the second half of the twentieth century prepared the necessary conditions for some important changes in the way social problems were addressed, especially in the idea of social responsibility. The dissemination of widely shared ideals of social justice; developments in philosophy, such as the valorization of human freedom and autonomy; the perception not only of the predatory nature of capitalism, but above all of the damage done to nature and social relations by indiscriminate application of “instrumental reason”, i.e. reason understood merely as a means to technical progress; the emer-

In the late twentieth century, the process of formation of the global economy, which the great navigations of the fifteenth century can be emblematically considered to have begun, reached its apogee with absolute world domination by the west. At the same time, our societies became especially complex, to such an extent that it became difficult to explain the new social reality in terms of the two typical magnitudes of the modern era, state and market, or even in terms of the old tripartite structure advocated by liberalism. On the other hand, critical thought on the part of many western intellectuals appeared to be seeking an alternative route

The doctrine of the welfare state, as it became known, responded both to capitalism’s specific need to overcome a cyclical crisis, albeit one destined to reach

gence of social movements on the periphery of the global economy, especially in the context of decolonization in Africa and Asia and insurgencies in Latin America: all these factors forced a reconfiguration of the terms of the debate, which had centered too simplistically on the roles of state and market. Whereas philanthropy had always been motivated by the urge to provide assistance to the poor and needy, the consciousness that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century was moving closer to a recognition of the need for action to bring about social change. It was not enough to mitigate the evils of inequality. What really mattered was to eliminate these problems on several fronts. On the other hand, even the state’s actions to address structural issues was no longer considered sufficient. Instead of being passive objects, whether of philanthropic initiatives governed by capital to a greater or lesser extent, or of the state in its efforts to provide welfare for society, human beings should be active subjects and agents of change in a world that was theirs by rights. This was the melting-pot from which the concept of the Third Sector emerged in the closing decades of the twentieth century.

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quite different from the traditional answers offered by liberal laissez-faire and the statist solutions proposed both by socialism and the welfare state. In the 1920s, 1930s and thereafter, a “critical theory of society” developed by the Frankfurt School, a group of intellectuals who set out to reformulate Marxism with the help of contributions from other social sciences, played a key role in enabling western thought to transcend the polarizations in which it had become trapped (especially the polarizations state/market and capital/labor). One of its merits was to show how instrumental reason, the Enlightenment concept of reason applied to the technical goals of industrial civilization, had established a foothold even in orthodox Marxism. The negative results of this application of instrumental reason, such as utter disregard for the environment in industrial societies and banalization of the human being culminating in totalitarianism, could therefore be found in all societies and not just those aligned with one of the ideological poles characteristic of the twentieth century. Highly efficient and inspiring though it was in its analysis of a society dominated by technical reason, the Critical Theory exemplified by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment nevertheless did not offer the prospect of a way out from the suffocating prison of a society that had reached its limits and was therefore verging on selfdestruction. This work of designing alternatives for the future was to be done later, by thinkers who can be seen as the inheritors of Critical Theory. The most relevant of these to an understanding of how the concept of a Third Sector emerged is undoubtedly Jürgen Habermas. Habermas did not formulate the concept of the Third Sector. The origin of this concept is discussed be-

low. However, there is practically a consensus that Habermas’s theory can be considered its wellspring, especially in two crucial respects: the identification of a third sphere in society with a different logic from both the market and the state; and the idea that contemporary societies are too complex for solutions based on the old polarizations. For Habermas, state and market constitute a “system” grounded in instrumental reason and characterized by the relations typical of capitalism, especially control of the individual in accordance with the requirements of capital. In opposition to the system is the “lifeworld”, the sphere of society and culture, grounded in language and characterized by the pursuit of consensus among individuals through dialogue. The lifeworld is a sphere of autonomy and is always struggling against colonization by the system. The fundamental political clash in contemporary societies is this confrontation between system and lifeworld, according to Habermas. At the same time, contemporary societies are so complex that they can no longer be explained by recourse to Marx’s historical materialism, with its notion of a specific social group as speaking on behalf of all the oppressed. The lifeworld is the world of interaction, marked by a dialogue between individuals who are different in terms of the old idea of class but have become autonomous and capable of opposing state and market through solidarity and shared values. Thus it is a public sphere but one which seeks to transcend the limits imposed by the polarization between the political and the economic, state and market. Alongside the development of this theory, several organizations that emerged in the years following world war two pursued objectives and forms of action, such as the preservation and extension of human rights, cultural diffusion, the fight against hunger, and a concern with education, that did not match the typical configurations of political parties, labor unions and

industry associations. These entities, which were also independent of government structures, began as organs of international cooperation that represented an alternative opposition to dictatorial groups or supporters of colonialist policies in the context of the anti-colonial struggle of the 1960s. The great merit of these initial non-governmental organizations lay precisely in the fact that they offered civil society a way to begin thinking about the most pressing social problems and to address them without the traditional mediation of government, parties and unions. These traditional forms of intervention to address social problems were hypertrophied and incapable of permitting participation by broader segments of society in the transformation of reality. On the other hand, countless social actors were emerging, committed to humanitarian perspectives and imbued with a strong awareness of the need to cement social relations through solidarity. These actors, who came from different social segments, reflected in practice Habermas’s concept of the necessary autonomy of individuals and their ability to interact through dialogue. Joining forces in groups and organizations set up to give shape to their social concerns, these actors were responsible for the emergence of the Third Sector. The term “Third Sector”, which originated in the U.S., synthesizes the specific vision of society whose formation we have been tracing. The “First Sector” refers to government and the public sector generally. The “Second Sector” refers to the private sector and for-profit activities. The Third Sector is a public sphere not to be confused either with government or with the profitseeking that typically drives private enterprise. For anthropologist Rubem César Fernandes, the Third Sector can be considered a complex and unstable combination of opposition and complementarity that operates in a public space independently of the state. Thus it stands between government and the

market, returning us to a triadic world that escapes the dichotomy between the public or state sphere and the market or private sphere. The Third Sector therefore conceives of public life from the perspective of integration: public life is not limited to the state sphere, and private actors do not necessarily have to be bound to the particularistic interests of the market. In this sense, it is possible to draw a parallel between the idea of public life that is central to the Third Sector and the idea of vita activa advocated by civic humanists in Italy in the early fifteenth century. They saw public participation as the only way to avoid tyranny, the worst of all the evils experienced by Italian city-states in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries – hence their concern to address in their writings not just rulers and magistrates but all their fellowcitizens, in an effort to encourage ordinary people to take an interest in public affairs. But the writings of these humanists contained an idea of public life that was not confined to the state and the state apparatus – indeed, these elements were not yet fully formed at that time. The social forces that enabled the centralized state to emerge in the modern era undeniably limited the idea of public life by identifying the public sphere with the state, in an ideological move of key importance in making the new type of social and political system viable. This identification has more recently been contested, as more people and groups become aware of the increasingly evident hypertrophy of the state and of how much has been lost owing to this constraint on participation by broader strata of society in public life. Among the main criticisms addressed to the idea of the Third Sector, two are especially relevant. The first contests the very existence of a third social sphere with autonomy from the state and capital. For these critics, this is an ideological construct designed to discourage effective political participation. They argue that it is

most damaging precisely in assuming that social actors can operate without the influence of class. The other main criticism is that the notion of a Third Sector is a product of neoliberal ideology, and that in accordance with that ideology it is an attack on the structures of the state, which it is designed to demolish, while exempting the state from any responsibility for social problems and at the same time undermining social security and other progressive benefits won by society as a whole by converting them into mere services provided by private enterprise instead of civic entitlements. These criticisms deserve consideration. The problem of neoliberalism and its role in the emergence of the Third Sector will be discussed in a moment. The question of whether the state is or should be responsible for addressing social problems is a serious one and cannot be treated as mere ideological argumentation. However, an important point must be emphasized here: what the Third Sector effectively seeks to bring about is a new paradigm for public action, a paradigm better suited to the complex organization of society in today’s world and less bound up with the structures created during the modern era. Most criticisms of the Third Sector still focus on those structures and ignore the multiplicity of actors that have now been included in the dynamics of social phenomena.

The context in which Associação Arte Despertar emerged When Associação Arte Despertar began operating, in 1997, Brazil was at a particularly complex juncture in its history. The external context was that of globalization, as already mentioned, in which economic relations were making the borders between the national and the transnational increasingly tenuous. In negative terms, this situation caused crises in segments of domestic manufacturing that were unable

to survive without protectionist measures, whereby the state sought to shield them from the competition typical of a globalized economy. These crises in turn had severely adverse social effects, such as an alarming rise in the rate of unemployment. Monetary stabilization had gradually been achieved since the middle of the decade, but in exchange the signs of social destabilization were gathering apace. These were years of vigorous expansion by neoliberal ideology in ample segments of Brazilian society. This ideology appeared to be corroborated by the bankruptcy of the state, asphyxiated as it was by a bureaucratic apparatus that had grown to monstrous proportions during the military dictatorship, which put in place the shadow of a welfare state shored up by foreign loans. The situation was made worse by systemic corruption. The results of this failure of the state were felt especially in the social sphere, including a sharp fall in the quality of essential public services (mainly health and education), a crisis in social security and pensions, a rise in violent crime, and the social effects of deficient infrastructure. The emergence of a great many initiatives aligned with the Third Sector during this period, alongside the growth of non-governmental organizations whose activities were sustained in one way or another by private enterprise in accordance with the concept that became known as “Corporate Social Responsibility”, or CSR, gave many critics an opportunity to conclude that the activities of the Third Sector were a result of straightforward application of neoliberalism. For these critics, neoliberalism sought to restructure production so as to make employment precarious and maximize profit. It also wanted to reform the state so as to exclude it from the treatment of social problems, given the high cost of state-sponsored solutions to such problems. The Third Sector, they argued, served to supply these needs in areas

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Such initiatives are born out of the growing awareness of social responsibility evident in multiple segments of society. Third Sector movements range from institutions that have long been familiar with philanthropy and groups traditionally linked to humanitarian militancy to business organizations that are increasingly concerned about the impossibility of continuing to operate solely with profit in mind. Their activities are developed on the basis of individual competencies. Their valorization of the individual as a subject who can learn to see the social value of a personal talent or passion is highly beneficial. The work done by organizations like Associação Arte Despertar would be truly impossible without this ability to leverage the individual talent formed over time in each specific life story. Passion is also a

The temptation of oversimplified analysis is kept at bay by noting that the neoliberal paradigm began

The overall analysis set out above shows that the state, a superb construct bequeathed to us by modernity, cannot possibly be eliminated in the immediate future. Nor is it feasible to do away with the supremacy of capital in the ways proposed by orthodox Marxism. However, today’s reality in no way reflects the structures and system of the old liberalism. The situation is radically new and suggests a need for new mechanisms of political intervention, new forms of civic participation, and a new approach to teaching and achieving citizenship.

Social responsibility in historical perspective: a timeline

De subventione pauperum (1526): acknowledges social causes of poverty

Franciscan mysticism: poverty as model, form of salvation and source of inspiration

Technological developments and Discoveries Emergence of “world economy”, as preparation for modern concept of “market” Development of mercantile capitalism

John Calvin: poverty no longer seen as form of salvation but still expresses God’s will

Inception of modern centralized and bureaucratic state

19th century

Juan Luis Vives,

16th & 17th centuries

16th century

Regulation of mendicancy; poor relief laws in several European cities

Transition from industrial to financial capitalism Triumph of liberalism Modern state consolidated in form of nation-states Emergence of socialist thought

18th century

Associação Arte Despertar came into being and completed its first decade, therefore, in the context of increasing valorization of dialogue among different social forces with the aim of humanizing relations within society. The indiscriminate application of instrumental reason led to a profound depreciation of human beings, not only in capitalist societies but also in societies that attempted to build socialism. With the advent of the new millennium came a deepening awareness of the need to react against this devaluation, reaffirm human dignity, and invest in ways of helping people to become autonomous. Today it can clearly be seen that the market economy must be socially and environmentally domesticated: economic values and the goals of political parties should be subordinated to the common interest, so as to include not just unlimited respect for human beings, but also respect for their hearth and home, the environment in which they live.

Poverty as expression of God’s will

15th century

Networking through partnerships and alliances brings more satisfactory results within reach, while avoiding a waste of resources. Experience in recent years has shown these organizations the importance of developing “social” or “appropriate” technology, characterized by simplicity, low cost, ease of understanding and the propensity to be disseminated, as crucial tools for achieving their goals.

to display signs of exhaustion in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Some of its limitations had already been exposed by Habermas, for whom late capitalism requires frequent state intervention in order to improve the conditions for capital accumulation, despite its ideological preference for “small government”, which seems to mean no government at all in many situations. The ideological nature of the neoliberal paradigm (its being much more a legitimating discourse than a practical reality) was evidenced by two major crises: the emergence of fundamentalist violence, exemplified above all by 9/11, which reinforced the state’s role in guaranteeing public safety, reversing the tendency to eliminate borders (and hence the national basis of the modern state) that had predominated in the previous decade; and the 2008 financial crisis, which brought to mind the need for the state to focus periodically on economic reality.

12th century

It must be said that although these criticisms may be valid inasmuch as they point to potential risks of ideological instrumentalization, they fail to reflect either the real intentions of the movements that belong to the Third Sector or the democratic conception of society that informs its perspective. Such intentions include neither the dismantling of the state nor contributing to its abandonment of responsibility for meeting the needs of the socially deprived, much less any desire to undermine the population’s entitlements or acquired rights. On the contrary, the Third Sector aims to create multiple forums for political participation and disseminate initiatives that assemble autonomous, conscious individuals in projects of a social nature so as to enable dialogue, interaction, and more comprehensive action by society to address its own problems.

fundamental ingredient, insofar as it determines the subject’s involvement with the goals of the organization. At the same time as it enhances the efficiency of the work offered, this leveraging of individual talent prevents the people involved from developing the bureaucratic attitude so frequent in state initiatives where the individual practically disappears into a forest of rules, regulations and procedures.

First millennium of Christian civilization:

abandoned by the state, through localized activities involving direct assistance or projects designed to awaken the social creativity of the needy. Ultimately the Third Sector collaborated with the endeavor of taking social responsibility from the shoulders of the state and depoliticizing society, they concluded.

Industrial capitalism

Social problems treated via philanthropy

In such a context, organizations like Associação Arte Despertar have a fundamental role to play – a role that transcends the results obtained directly by their activities; a role that consists of their contribution to the formation and autonomization of individuals who, through initiatives like this, will discover their own way to exercise the oldest and most human of rights: the right to intervene positively in the world we inhabit. KEY World & Brazil: political and economic context

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Third Sector in Brazil Associação Arte Despertar

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Doctrine of “welfare state”

2010 2008

USA and allies invade Iraq

President George W. Bush re-elected

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva re-elected

Euro adopted by 15 members of EU

Promulgation of Federal Public Utility Law (Law 91/35) Creation of Legião Brasileira de Assistência (LBA)

Promulgation of Child & Adolescent Statute (ECA, Law 8069/90)

NGOs engage in struggle for redemocratization

Municipal Social Assistance Councils established (Law 2469/96)

Creation of Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Rainforest) NGO network

Instituto Ayrton Senna established

Creation of Unified Health System (SUS) Establishment of Fundação Abrinq

Amcham launches ECO Awards for Corporate Citizenship

Concept of Arte Despertar created

Brazilian Association of Non-Governmentail Organizations (ABONG) established National Council for Children’s Rights (CONANDA) established by Law 8242/91 Promulgation of Federal Law on Incentives for Culture, known as “Rouanet Law” (Law 8313/91)

Promulgation of Organic Social Assistance Law (LOAS, Law 8742/93) Campaign Against Hunger launched by Herbert José de Souza, known as Betinho

Incorporation of GIFE (Group of Institutes, Foundations and Enterprises) Comunidade Solidária program established Catholic Church establishes Children’s Pastoral

Information Network for the Third Sector (RITS) founded

Promulgation of Voluntary Service Law (Law 9608)

Center for Social Entrepreneurship & Third Sector Administration (CEATS) established

Instituto Ethos founded

São Paulo Center for Voluntary Service (CVSP) established

Incorporation of Associação Arte Despertar

Associação Arte Despertar begins activities

First project approved by Ministry of Culture (MinC) via Rouanet Law

Partnership with Centro Infantil da Aldeia SOS Rio Bonito begins with pilot project Partnership with Heart Institute (InCor) at Hospital das Clínicas begins with pilot project

Partnership begins with Einstein in Paraisópolis Community Program (PECP)

Promulgation of Law on Civil Society Organizations of Public Interest (Law 9790/99)

Municipal Public Utility Certificate granted Registration with Municipal Council for Children’s Rights (CMDCA) Partnership begins with Institute of Pediatric Oncology (IOP) - Support Group for Children with Cancer (GRAACC) Website created

Ministry of Health launches National Hospital Care Humanization Program (PNHAH)

Launch of project approved under Rouanet Law to expand activities by 40%

Launch of Zero Hunger Program, replacing Comunidade Solidária

Federal Public Utility Certificate granted

State Public Utility Certificate granted

Registration with São Paulo State Council for Social Assistance

Partnership begins with Institute of Orthopedics & Trauma at Hospital das Clínicas (IOT) and Institute of Infectology at Hospital Emílio Ribas

Project approved by São Paulo City Department of Culture (Mendonça Law)

Growing awareness of need for sustainability in Third Sector projects

Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) established

Proliferation of projects in Third Sector due to monetary stability and economic growth

Training project for student volunteers Corporate volunteering project begins

Registration with Municipal Council for Social Assistance (COMAS) Registration with National Council for Social Assistance (CNAS) Social Assistance Charity Certificate (CEBAS) granted First project approved in public selection by Petrobras Social Program

National Social Assistance Policy (PNAS) established

Start of pro bono legal aid provided by De Goeye Advogados Associados law firm Production of art education material begins Instituto Fonte retained as consultant on sustainability

PriceWaterhouseCoopers begins external auditing

Associação Arte Despertar completes first decade

First project approved in public selection by Petrobras Zero Hunger Program

Partnership begins with Santa Casa Charity Hospital in São Paulo City

Teacher training projects begin Partnership begins with Projeto Viver in Jardim Colombo community

Creation of slogan “Our art is awakening the best in human beings/in you”

Partnership begins with Nossa Senhora de Lourdes Children’s Hospital

CD recorded by children and youth in Paraisópolis community project

Third Sector understood as viable locus for participation by individuals in transformation of society Dilma Rousseff elected President of Brazil

Barack Obama elected President of USA

New philanthropy in USA: billions donated by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett

U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq

2009

George W. Bush elected President of USA

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva elected President of Brazil

Global financial crisis reinforces perception that neoliberal paradigm is exhausted

2007

2006

National Humanization Policy (PNH) established

Growing environmental awareness United Nations establishes Millennium Goals

Kyoto protocol

2003

Second Intifada begins

2004

2001 1998

21st century - 2000

1993 Agenda 21 for sustainable development and environment launched at Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro)

European Union exemplifies tendency to relativize national borders

USA invades Afghanistan

2002

Monetary stabilization in Brazil, combined with social crises and exhaustion of public services

End of apartheid in South Africa

9/11/2001: attack on WTC in NY inaugurates preoccupation with Terror and signals weaknesses of neoliberal paradigm

2005

Third Sector seen as space for dialogue to transform reality

Reunification of Germany

1992

1990

1980s-1990s: proliferation of NGOs and Third Sector initiatives

1996

Fernando Henrique Cardoso elected President of Brazil

Idea of Third Sector emerges USA: emergence of black civil rights movements and leadership of Martin Luther King Jr.

Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso re-elected

1999

Development of neoliberal ideology

Fall of Berlin Wall

Real Plan begins monetary stabilization

1997

1989

1970s: crisis of “welfare state”

Collapse of Soviet Union Maastricht Treaty, also known as Treaty on European Union (TEU)

Passage of National Education Guidelines & Foundations Law (LDB)

1995

1960s: decolonization and emergence of social movements on periphery of “world economy”

Promulgation of new Brazilian Constitution

Outbreak of Gulf War

1994

1988

Frankfurt School: critique of instrumental reason, present in both capitalism and socialism

1991

Situation following WWII: creation of United Nations and development of first NGOs

1982

20th century

1920s: major crisis in financial capitalism

Partnership begins with Guarulhos City Department of Health, involving interaction with five hospitals

ICU activities at Santa Casa Charity Hospital in São Paulo City Partnership begins with SocioEducational Groups in Paraisópolis community

Promulgation of new Philanthropy Law (Law 12101/09)

Implementation of social technology: Tecnologia Arte Despertar Ministries of Culture and Health award Culture & Health Prize Partnership begins with São Paulo State Cancer Institute (ICESP)

First set of multimedia materials for hospitals produced

Partnership begins with Education Unit of Santa Casa Charity Hospital in Diadema

First project approved by São Paulo State Department of Culture’s Cultural Action Program (ProAC)

Start of pro bono legal aid in intellectual property provided by Gusmão & Labrunie law firm

Systematization of Tecnologia Arte Despertar Renewal of partnership with Guarulhos City Department of Health Implementation of Tecnologia Arte Despertar for health workers in Guarulhos Children’s Hospital and Emergency Hospital Implementation of Tecnologia Arte Despertar for health workers at Nossa Senhora de Lourdes Hospital Start of nursing training activities at Nossa Senhora de Lourdes School Partnership begins with São Lucas Hospital in Diadema

First project approved by São Paulo City Fund for Children & Adolescents (FUMCAD) 15 I 15

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2 The individual and the art of self-creation

process of specialization and division of labor, we can say that both activities nevertheless involve unique ways of seeing and forms of expression that dispense neither with beauty, on one hand, nor effort, on the other.

Felipe de Souza Tarábola

In his seminal work Sociology as an Art Form, first published in 1976, American sociologist Robert A. Nisbet says imagination is the element responsible for this closeness of the links between science and art, spheres of human life that are equally motivated by the desire to understand, and to interpret and communicate this understanding to others. It is always assumed that science should be neutral, but many now believe neutrality is impossible to achieve in practice because scientists are also subjectively guided, at the very least, by the conditions prevailing in their own times and influenced by the problems of their societies, in some cases even taking the values of the group to which they belong as a compass. Similarly, art forms such as novels, poems, plays, music, paintings and so on are ways of casting light on reality, regardless of whatever language and medium they use. For example, can there be any doubt that Machado de Assis is an inexhaustible source of information and points of view on social reality in nineteenth-century Brazil?

What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is related only to objects and not to individuals, or to life. That art is something which is specialized or which is done by experts who are artists. But couldn’t everyone’s life become a work of art? Why should a lamp or a house be an art object, but not our life? Michel Foucault 1 At first glance is anything more different from our idea of what a scientist is than our image of an artist? Comparing the scientific method, based on logical reasoning and rigor in pursuit of truth, with an activity driven by creativity and the expression of feelings may seem somewhat bizarre. Indeed, it is – although once upon a time it wasn’t: after all, what about Leonardo da Vinci, who engaged as intensely with art as with science? What about the importance for his creations of his methodical research into the dimensions and laws of proportion of the human body? Science is often taught today using ready-made formulas, and even more frequently artistic creation is superficially interpreted as an activity freely inspired by the artist’s emotions. Looking beyond these stereotypes constructed since the nineteenth century and intensified by the continuous 1

Michel Foucault. (1991) [1984]. ‘On the genealogy of ethics: An overview of work in progress’. In Paul Rabinow (ed.), The Foucault Reader. New York, Pantheon Books: p. 350.

Thus science and art are both authorial forms of communication and expression, both of which are necessary to mental and social subsistence. As Aristotle pointed out, “man is a political animal”, meaning that human beings cannot develop their abilities to the full unless they live collectively, which is possible only thanks to another human characteristic: language and logical reasoning. There is no shortage of examples in literature, psychology and linguistics of people said to have been found in complete isolation from society, without human contact, sometimes supposedly reared or cared for by animals, or simply surviving on their own. These people had no chance to learn to speak and in attempting to adapt to community life proved

unable to adjust to the requirements of civilization and the kind of abstract thought constantly demanded by today’s lifestyle so full of symbolic operations. Communication became increasingly necessary as the opportunity increased to “speak other languages”, to be different from other people in one’s own group. From a certain point in human history on, more opportunities began to crop up for people to diverge from the group to which they belonged by constructing personal values and worldviews that differed from the group’s. Reflecting on this question of the coexistence between different lifestyles among members of the same collectivity is important to sociology, which emerged as a science that set out to problematize the feeling that the constitutive events of the period known as modernity had caused a crisis. At that time, the aftermath of revolutions (the French Revolution and the industrial revolution, for example) and loss of influence on the part of religious ethics over other areas of collective life, which had begun functioning autonomously, meant that family origins, gender and social status were no longer the key to a person’s identity. The increased autonomy and mobility achieved by individuals in the modern era enable them to “play” with collectively inherited influences. The importance of specialized education and training so that the skills needed by industrialized production could be acquired, alongside an increase in exchanges between different groups made possible by urban life, enabled other constitutive models to flourish and broke the monopoly held by the standard for human beings prevailing in traditional communities. The notion of an individual as a member of the species so endowed with unique properties as to be irreplaceable emerged only with modernity, when the dominance of the collectivity over the person was shaken to its roots and the “mold” from which everyone was (con) formed was shattered.

The data that indicate young people’s rejection of participation in collective life through membership of political parties, however, do not contradict the data that show strong adhesion to new forms of collective participation: while collective action in the 1970s and 1980s was driven mainly by the desire for redemocratization and for the implementation of a new political project for Brazil, especially via popular participation organized by political parties, unions and religious entities, in the 1990s it was motivated above all by the fight against discrimination, exclusion and segmentation. From then until the mid-2000s, coinciding with the first ten years of Associação Arte Despertar, Brazilians gathered around common projects not necessarily linked to demands for macrostructural change.

This new model was geared to more democratic relations, requiring active and aware social subjects who could not only claim inclusion in a socio-political system but also demand the right to participate in defining that system. Autonomy and identity lay at the core of these demands. Besides the organization and formalization of “minority” social movements, participation in collective life consisted largely of involvement in Third Sector institutions. This was a period of consolidation of non-governmental organizations in Brazil, and such movements or associations were able to fill the gaps left by the state, which in the ten years in question prioritized management and regulation rather than welfare.

People choose whatever is easiest or momentarily enjoyable, easily relinquishing the ethics of duty, of long-term investment. In the world, but alienated from it, submitted to an avalanche of data, images and information produced in this Information Age, they retain nothing; nothing is for keeps, and there is no concern to memorize. The new keeps on coming. People are hedonistic, investing time, energy and money in an endeavor to “know themselves”, seeking their essence in yoga, psychoanalysis, meditation, acupuncture or Zen therapies. Even religions that promise collective forms of salvation are in decline. Individual practice liberates the individual.

Organizations and networks are therefore established by those who believe they share similar identities. This “community of commons” – grouping together equals while concomitantly separating them from the rest – is not considered suffocating for the individual. Members do not just “turn off and drop out” at the slightest hitch. Rationality and strategic actions transcend emotion and passion, leading these organizations to professionalize their staff in many cases.

In this context, people see themselves as so completely liberated from the fetters of collectivity that they can even imagine and invent a new identity for themselves. The fact is that there has never been so much talk about people’s lives; never has intimacy itself been so openly declared and publicized; never have there been so many biographies. “Blog yourself” is the order of the day. The fashion is to open yourself up, to tell all without delay to your social network friends and to unknown followers of all your steps.

Growth of the so-called middle classes took place against a backdrop of democratization in public life and public causes, alongside financial stability and direct presidential elections for the first time in over three decades, switching the focus for collective causes to the right to have rights. Access to public services and formal equality before the state were guaranteed for already existing rights, but the idea of citizenship was extended during this period in Brazil to enable groups and sectors previously denied any rights to organize behind demands for the right to have their differences recognized. The creation of the right to one’s own body, the right to environmental protection and the right to decent housing are examples of innovations that entailed the formal acquisition of a new legal framework, but more importantly envisaged a new model of social relations.

In this context human life becomes an always open process of constitution. Without projects for the future, without a desire to participate in the public sphere, with increasingly individualistic interests, valorizing the exposure of private life and intimacy (their own and others’), many people today have no sense of historical continuity. Past ways of life no longer inform life in the present, which changes ever more quickly; and the future is uncertain when it does not sound like a blast from the apocalyptic trumpets (heralding global warming, terrorist attacks, nuclear bombs, environmental disasters, new diseases etc., all added together to result in a feeling of imminent risk). The present is protected, safeguarded, disguised, recycled; imprisoned thus in endless youth, individuals today are submitted to a connection with life and with the world.

So it is worth asking whether our present way of life is not based precisely on the difference between individuals. After all, the specialization that requires distinct educational careers and makes mutual dependence unavoidable is largely favorable to the scientific and technological development that contemporary society values so highly.

military dictatorship raised the curtain on a democracy in which parties and politicians do not properly represent constituencies, and campaigns are “spectacularized” to such an extent that celebrities feature more prominently than debates, often tedious for lack of distinction between positions (all are in favor of education, better public health and a better life for retirees).

Loss of meaning by the old ways of thinking, feeling and acting since modern life began is due to the crisis (a term not to be taken negatively here) of feudal values, beliefs, habits and customs. For fifteen centuries, human beings lived in feudal societies strongly influenced by religious dogmas and consisting of small communities that occupied territories with their own specific values, laws, languages, currencies, armies, weights and measures, reflecting the rarity of commercial and moral exchanges among fiefdoms. The desire for new things that fueled the “creative destruction” said to be characteristic of capitalist economies forced people to effect a constant succession of minor daily revolutions. This world did not just establish a new sensibility, new values, and hitherto unimaginable political and economic systems. It also engendered new forms of sociability and interaction among open and plural individuals eager for the ephemeral, fragmentary and transient. The invention of the individual, begun with the advent of modernity and intensified during the nineteenth century, culminated in the 1960s, when the belief in progress came to an end, institutions were destabilized, and the importance given to individual uniqueness increased enormously (owing to an accumulation of factors such as the Vietnam War debacle, international terrorism, economic crisis, shortages of raw materials, and fear of nuclear catastrophe). The situation was aggravated by the end of the collective utopias represented by the societies that had experimented with socialism. Together with the Berlin Wall, the belief in changing society via participation in political movements also fell. In Brazil, the end of the

It is worth recalling that this situation – the existence of free, rational individuals who desire maximum self-satisfaction – is the result of a social process. If the ego is no longer seen as passive, like plaster to be modeled by determinations given at its origin, this is attributable to its capacity for reflecting, questioning itself, pondering itself and the world on the basis of conditions that exist in everyday life. Starting from the conception of an individual not just as a member of a certain species but also as an “indivisible” person (from the Latin individuus), we might say that at least one thing is permanent despite all the changes that occur during a subject’s life: identity. Alongside the role of other instances in forming the

individual, his or her ability to change during life’s course is also fundamentally important. Individuals are capable of reflecting on the process of their own formation – this opens up an opportunity for personal intervention in their own identity.

3 Awakening with and for art

This identity should be thought of as always unfinished, always under construction. It should be thought of neither as uniform nor necessarily coherent.

In the modern period aesthetics has become an essentially philosophical discipline less concerned with analyses of beauty and nature than with attempts to answer or clarify a number of questions ... about the nature of the art object and the character of its creation, the appreciation, interpretation and evaluation of art, and the relations of art to society, all of which can be examined at different levels of complexity.”

So in principle we are all more willing to take part in reflection on and construction of our own life courses, to be co-authors of our own biographies, than to participate in a project to transform collective reality thought up by others and decided on out of our sight. To take art in all its many hues and forms as an instrument for promoting full human development may also mean to conceive of self-fashioning, creation of oneself, as going one step further in achieving more responsible freedom over one’s own life. This transcendence would also make it possible to overstep the boundaries of an individual project and commit to a collective one. Understanding the influence of outside factors can be the way to start multiplying the humanizing capacity to assume responsibility for the formation of those who are still to come, a chance to re-create the collective experience out of the re-creation of the individual. Transformational action can be awoken in people who are ethically committed to examine themselves with the responsibility of seeing themselves interacting with a collectivity lacking in solidarity and valorization of the human in everyone. Art is a means for this continuous movement to put itself into perspective, as the first step in reconstructing the ability to see the outside world and the other. Without requirements regarding prior educational attainment, the activities and experiences offered by Arte Despertar during its first decade have not only broadened the cultural horizons of its beneficiaries, but resulted in the possibility of a new social positioning.

Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi

Donald Crawford. 1 When Regina Vidigal Guarita invited me to help design what was to become Associação Arte Despertar, by reflecting on art and art education, Brazil was experiencing a period of epistemological effervescence with regard to the latter. The debate was triggered by Ana Mae Barbosa’s “Triangular Approach”, which I will explain in a moment. The challenge of building a theoretical foundation for the actions of the future Associação Arte Despertar was intensely discussed at many meetings. We started with a number of questions: 1. How do people relate to art? 2. How do people learn art? 3. What is it important to teach in art?

Donald Crawford. The Questions of Aesthetics. In: Tópicos Utópicos, Ana Mae Barbosa, p. 41

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4. How can the content of art education and learning be organized? 5. Will the work situations in art to be offered by Associação Arte Despertar constitute art education and learning? 6. What is the specific focus for the organization’s activities? Will it set out to influence the reality of art education? The theoretical and methodological components of the Triangular Approach to art education helped us develop answers to these questions, thanks to the topicality and pertinence of the research undertaken by Ana Mae Barbosa, who was then the director of Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of São Paulo. Her research was largely inspired by three art education movements: Mexico’s Open Air Schools (Escuelas al Aire Libre), Critical Studies in the U.K., and Discipline Based Art Education in the U.S. According to Ana Mae Barbosa, the construction of knowledge in art takes place at the intersection of experience with codification and information. In this context research and comprehension of the questions involving the relations between art and public become an object of knowledge. Thus an art education program should consider three basic activities to be executed in contact with art: “making art”, “reading artworks”, and “contextualizing”, by which she means placing information and knowledge about art and art history “in dialogue” with other areas of human knowledge. This gives the following possible combinations or “sequences”: Sequence 1

Read

Make

Contextualize

Sequence 2

Make

Read

Contextualize

Sequence 3

Contextualize

Make

Read

Sequence 4

Read

Contextualize

Make

Sequence 5

Contextualize

Read

Make

Sequence 6

Make

Contextualize

Read

There is no predominant procedure or hierarchy in these combinations or their content. On the contrary, the key is the pertinence of each choice, always emphasizing the coherence between objectives and methods. In light of this, organicity and flexibility are also important in such an approach to art education.

quishes the infinite in order to gain reference. [...] Art wants to create the finite that restores the infinite [...]” (Deleuze e Guattari, 1992). Figure 3 attributes colors to the three main forms of thought. Figure 4 represents in shapes the actions of which the construction of knowledge in art consists.

The methodology can perhaps best be grasped in pictorial form, as shown in the figures. In Figure 1, the construction of knowledge in art takes place at the intersection of Making, Reading and Contextualizing. It derives from the dynamic interaction of subjects who act on reality, which is in turn made up of biological reality and sociocultural reality. In Ana Mae Barbosa’s own words: “The crossing of aesthetic standards with values-based critical discernment should be the dialectical principle that presides over the content of the school art education curriculum, through the magic of making, the reading of this making and of the making of popular and academically trained artists, and the contextualizing of these artists in their time and space” (BARBOSA, 1994, p.34).

Figure 5 shows the two-way connections between actions (Making, Reading, Contextualizing) and knowledge areas (Art, Science, Philosophy). Figure 1. Construction of Knowledge in Art

The visual approximations of the shapes shown in Figure 7 enable us to see that any given knowledge area is made up partly of collaboration by and inputs from others, since the division of knowledge into distinct areas and disciplines, characteristic of the social construction of knowledge in the west, no longer corresponds to the understanding of reality and knowledge in the early 21st century. Figure 8 illustrates the dynamics of actions and knowledge as they move apart, move together and merge. When they merge in a certain way, they become art and/or knowledge of art, feeding back into the sociocultural dynamics of reality:

Figure 2 represents in colors the three major forms of human thought that interact in bio/socio/cultural reality: ART (red), PHILOSOPHY (green) and SCIENCE (blue). The other colors produced by their intersections represent the multiplicity of areas mobilized in a single act of knowledge. The points of light correspond to the moments at which Making Art, Reading Artworks and Contextualizing Art/Knowledge about Art intersect as a result of the choices made by the subjects of artistic processes. In the words of Deleuze and Guattari: “What defines thought in its three great forms – art, science and philosophy – is always confronting chaos [...] But philosophy wants to save the infinite by giving it consistency [...] Science, on the other hand, relin-

Figure 6 shows the intersections between actions and knowledge areas in a given bio/socio/cultural reality.

Figure 2. Visual schema of dynamics of bio/socio/ cultural reality

“Pertinent knowledge should confront complexity. Complexus means woven together, plaited. Complexity exists where different elements are inseparable components of a whole (such as the economic, political, sociological, psychological, affective, mythological) and where there is an interdependent, interactive and inter-retroactive tissue between the object of knowledge and its context, between the parts and the whole, between the whole and its parts, and between the parts themselves. Thus complexity is the union between unity and multiplicity” (MORIN, 2000, p.38).

These are the theoretical foundations that gave sustainability to the activities of Associação Arte Despertar.

art

read

philosophy

In the ensuing years, action and reflection on practice gave its activities methodological consistency, from which derives the quality that can be seen from this publication commemorating its ten years of existence.

SCIENCE

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

The Triangular Approach has become the paradigm of contemporary art education, permitting a close interrelation between subjects and art while also actualizing its dynamics and sociocultural importance. Therefore, in drawing up a balance sheet of the activities developed by Associação Arte Despertar, we can pose a number of questions that arise from its theoretical and methodological choices: • What understanding has Associação Arte Despertar developed with regard to this approach to art education, and how has it been operationalized in the various activities performed since its inception? • Is this understanding present in all artistic languages? • Have there been changes over time? If so, what has changed? • Have there been difficulties? Successes? What kind? What solutions have been found?

Figure 7

• What impact has this conception of the construction of knowledge in art had on the constitutive process of Associação Arte Despertar?

Figure 8

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4 A word about us Maria Angela de Souza Lima Rizzi Maria Helena da Cruz Sponton

Arte Despertar and governance Experience is everything that passes through us or touches us or happens to us, and in so doing forms and transforms us. Thus only the subject of experience is open to his or her own transformation. Jorge Larrosa

First actions Ideas are rarely born ready-made and perfect. Arte Despertar is no exception. Much has changed since its foundation. Challenges have arisen and been overcome; many others lie ahead. The need to adapt to a wide range of situations and a permanent will to change are part of the association’s DNA.

to ensure that it would be able to operate with mobility and security. A multidisciplinary team of specialized professionals developed the first projects to help children express themselves through art. The activities that came, over time, to constitute the association’s own methodology were always implemented through partnerships. The partners were institutions that shared the mission and goals of Arte Despertar, as well as its ethical commitment to respect other people and welcome them with all their differences, making these core values part of the participants’ day-to-day lives as much as the capacity for dialogue that is intrinsic to human nature. The association began with two activities – one in partnership with the Heart Institute (InCor) at Hospital das Clínicas in the city of São Paulo (HCFMUSP), and the other at the SOS Children’s Village in Rio Bonito, São Paulo State. Both activities took place in August 1997. Six months later, on January 15, 1998, Associação Arte Despertar was legally established as a nonprofit organization with the official mission of awakening individuals’ potential through art and culture to take transformative action. In focusing on art, education and culture as the pillars of its activities, Arte Despertar also adopted and set out to disseminate the following core values:

- experiencing art does not require prior knowledge or specific skills, but sensitivity, motivation and involvement, in which everyone is equally capable of doing whatever is proposed; - effective action based on the various different languages of art has to be committed to principles of ethics, solidarity, citizenship, respect, autonomy and dignity. These values informed the very first activities undertaken by the association, when it was run by a small team, and continue to underpin its more complex and wide-ranging projects today, in its ongoing work to give meaning to life and project the future through art and culture.

Institutional governance Setting up the association required the drafting of a statute stating its purpose and the principles underlying its activities, the establishment of a board and executive committee, and the creation of a system of governance based on probity and impartiality.

Núcleo Arte Despertar, as it was called initially, was set up to consolidate a different approach to art education from the usual educational activities offered to children and families in situations of social vulnerability. The idea of focusing on inclusion was its founder’s. She had long talks with various consultants, discussing concepts and deciding what areas to cover. She opted for fostering access to art, culture and education, and plans for the first institutional initiatives were developed.

- addressing social problems is the responsibility of society in its entirety (social organizations, government, private enterprise and the community in general) and of every individual in particular;

The people who participated in the association at its inception were those who had contributed to its creation in one way or another. They were recognized by the statute as founder members. The statute also created the categories of honorary members and contributing members, and set out their rights and obligations, which include complying with and amending the statute, electing board members, dismissing directors, auditing accounts, approving financial statements and important property transactions, and winding up the association.

While the Núcleo was thinking about what to do, work was going on to establish the association as a legal entity and to prepare it for action. The aim was

- the development of skills and abilities makes individuals fitter to interact with their environment, enabling them to take action that drives positive change;

The association also established an advisory board and a supervisory board made up of members who volunteered to assume the responsibility of assuring

the effective pursuit of its social objectives and safeguarding its moral and ethical integrity. Since then all board members have put their time, experience and competence at the association’s disposal to guarantee healthy governance and sustainability, working to maintain its strategic vision, analyze reports, and develop solutions to legal, financial or accounting issues. The advisory board’s job is to steer the development of the association and advise it on the best way to pursue its policies and institutional mission. The supervisory board oversees accounting, tax and financial affairs, analyzing information and documents, and issuing technical or legal opinions. Governance activities consist mostly of meetings, some formal, as required by the statute, many ad hoc. Given the importance of these meetings to the running of the association, they are prepared by the administrative staff and validated by the executive committee. The day-to-day running of the association is delegated to the executive committee and administrative staff. The executive committee has three members, a president and two directors. It is responsible for planning and implementing all operating and financial processes, interacting with the administrative staff and the other boards as necessary. The administrative staff are led by a financial manager, a project manager and a product manager. There is also one intern. External audits of the association’s internal controls and processes have been conducted since 2004 to assure credibility and transparency. From the start all governance activities have been designed to enable Arte Despertar to fulfill its purpose,

which is to help people awaken to themselves and to the cultural universe in which they live and to which they are entitled. To this end the association develops social inclusion initiatives in non-formal and healthrelated educational spaces.

Designing a logo Designing a logo was a symbolically important part of the process of institutional creation, since it would synthesize the values and goals of Arte Despertar. The first design consisted of a clearly defined organic cell above the name of the association, Associação Arte Despertar, printed in large, bold letters. This was later modified by removing the word “Associação” to demonstrate consolidation of the institution, and by making the cell larger and bolder to emphasize the idea of organicity. The cell was also redrawn to suggest movement and symbolize the institution’s development in terms of both continuity and change. The pages that follow show how from the very first initiatives developed by a small team to today’s more complex and ambitious projects the association has always been driven by its commitment to human development, enhancing the value of individuals through art and culture, and fostering access to cultural goods. The progress achieved, challenges faced and obstacles overcome in a decade have helped build the knowledge base described here. After ten years of activities it is time to draw up a balance sheet of the work we have done, the transformations achieved in people and environments, our contributions to better interpersonal relationships, and how our activities have helped potential and talent to flower in places where art has not traditionally been present.

Art, education and culture: premises We recognize that art represents the cultural apotheosis of a society, but we reserve very little space for art education in cultural institutions. Why? Ana Mae Barbosa Time modifies people, society, the planet. Change is a vital part of human existence in today’s world. From an institutional perspective, however, certain values have always been at the heart of everything Arte Despertar does: ethics, solidarity, citizenship, respect, autonomy and dignity. As a third-sector organization, the association shares with all such organizations the idea that social and cultural development is the responsibility of the entire community and of every individual, and is an instrument of change. The association therefore seeks to integrate different social segments by building a network of partners committed to social responsibility in action. In the association’s choices, art and culture play a key role in the process of building relationships with children and adults, and in working toward their inclusion and the restructuring of society. Since its inception it has focused on fostering interaction and on involving people in art-educational and cultural processes that strengthen different forms of humanization, social inclusion, reflection, communication, expression, and knowledge construction. Arte Despertar believes that contact with art develops perception, imagination, memory, attention, intellect, judgment, thought and language, elements of the process of self-knowledge, knowledge of

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others, and knowledge of the environment. The association seeks to combine the perceptible and the intelligible through interaction with the participants in its projects. Through respect for the people with whom they interact, and particularly for what makes each one unique, its art educators gradually discover their perceptual, mnemonic and cognitive potential, enabling them to experience the encounter with art as a fount of knowledge and self-fulfillment. In the specific context in which the activities occur, this approach, alongside the reflection and interaction it motivates, opens up a multiplicity of viewpoints, ways to express creativity and foster interpersonal exchange.

Art is transformation Art can raise man up from a fragmented state into that of a whole being. Art enables man to comprehend reality, and not only helps him to bear it but increases his determination to make it more human and more worthy of mankind. Art is itself a social reality. Society needs the artist, that supreme magician, and it has a right to demand of him that he should be conscious of his social function. Even the most subjective of artists works on behalf of society. By the sheer fact of describing feelings, relationships, and conditions that have not been described before, [he is] reaching out into a new collective full of differences and tension, where the individual voice is not lost in a vast unison. Ernst Fischer

Thus the association’s work in this field contributes to significant advances in social responsibility, promoting creation and dialogue and promoting richer human relationships through art and culture. A key feature of its projects, and one that makes them unique, is that its team of art educators work in the communities and hospitals where art and culture make a difference. Moreover, the interpersonal relationships facilitated by its activities foster learning by doing, discovering the talent of each person, experimenting, and expressing sensibility through the languages of art. The concepts and choices behind the activities of Arte Despertar are grounded in premises that situate art as a creative activity which requires experimentation, appreciation and interpretation of the codes through which human beings seek to communicate and attribute meanings to the world. The organizing principles described below were developed by its art educators to orient its practices along these lines.

Art is the foundation for all the activities of Arte Despertar. Art plays an important role in people’s lives, especially in an unequally structured society. Access to art allows people to find creative solutions to everyday challenges, such as inclusion. Nineteenth-century rationalism claimed that society should place a high value on scientific and verbal language. As a result, for much of the twentieth century the importance of visual literacy to an understanding of other languages was ignored. However, at the start of the twenty-first century the image stands out as the characteristic language of the age, present in billboards, television and computers. Thus to cope with everyday life it is important to be familiar with different languages and interact with a wide variety of art works as a mode of expression, a source of interpersonal experience, and a form of access to contemporary culture. Based on this recognition of the necessity of art and its transformational capacity, Arte Despertar’s activities disseminate the idea that producing art contributes to

human development and increases cognitive potential in terms of conceiving and seeing the world in different ways that are closely linked to the interests of those who learn to attribute meanings. This way of proposing experimentation with art can break through barriers of exclusion, since art education is grounded not in talent or a personal gift but in each person’s ability to experiment. The beneficiaries of Arte Despertar’s activities are encouraged to take risks, to stick their necks out, to draw, paint, represent, touch, write and read. These activities are not regarded as competitive, but as experiences, personal or collective. This principle means that all those involved see themselves as participants in and creators of their own paths. Their discoveries are made possible by the art they experience, which is not incomprehensible, elitist or distant from reality. Thus conceived, art takes into consideration different ways of producing, comprehending and organizing social life. Culture in turn is seen as in permanent transformation and expansion, and as a basis for action that fosters the construction of knowledge. In this sense there is no division between theory and practice, reason and perception. The result is in an integrative approach that values skills and enables those who create or appreciate to deal with complexity. Art transcends immediatism, presenting itself as a way of constructing knowledge. It develops perception, imagination, memory, attention, intellect, judgment, thought and language, elements that make up the process of cognition. Through these faculties, according to Paulo Freire (1982), humanization is configured as a finishing point, as the bearer of capabilities that develop awareness and enable the individual to act and think as an author. This approach to the languages of art as tools for construction, knowledge and expression is in tune with the

latest findings in the field of art education. By reflecting on its own experience in the field, Arte Despertar contributes to the consolidation of a new pedagogy and strengthens the conception of art as specific knowledge, which it regards as a process of cognition grounded in perceiving as a way of knowing, as theorized by Rudolf Arnheim (2002). Thus it enables subjects to reflect, understand and acquire tools that make their own transformation possible. Arte Despertar’s activities are driven by its vision of the human being as a symbolic animal. We invent and create symbols to interpret the world. We use our ability to symbolize as part of our reason, but also in language, art, religion and myth, according to Ernst Cassirer (1994). Without all this, human life would be reduced to the satisfaction of biological necessities and practical interests, lacking projects of any kind. Each individual combines perception, imagination and a cultural and historical repertoire to read the world and re-present it in a unique manner using forms, colors, sounds, movements, rhythms and scenes. These and other elements of art constitute the languages used by Arte Despertar to humanize people’s environments, restore their self-esteem, educate them, and include them in society.

Art is citizenship The movement from the world to the word and from the word to the world is always present. In this movement the spoken word flows from our reading of the world. However, we can go further and say that reading the word is not merely preceded by reading the world, but by a certain form of writing it, or re-writing it, that is, of transforming it by means of our conscious practice. Paulo Freire

The practices of Arte Despertar are inspired by the work of four educators: Paulo Freire, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Elliot Eisner. Freire’s theory of popular education orients the practices of Arte Despertar, which sets out to transform reality by treating the individual as an active subject and protagonist of the teaching-learning process. By developing joint activities in different public spaces, the association extends the opportunities for experience and forms communities of culture that permanently recreate Freire’s legacy in workshops, seminars, study groups and working groups. These teaching-learning processes enable socially vulnerable people to emancipate themselves. The high value placed on everyday experience and on popular knowledge and traditions opens up a perspective for the recognition of individual creativity. In The Importance of the Act of Reading (1982), Freire describes how reading can stimulate and contribute to the study of lived daily life. In order for experience to become concrete as education, it is necessary for there to be dialogue, exchange and interaction. Subjects who dialogue think together and recreate reality, as long as truth is the foundation for this joint activity. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, however, Freire claims that “while to say the true word – which is work, which is praxis – is to transform the world, saying that word is not the privilege of a few, but the right of everyone” (2005, p. 90) [Continuum, NY/London, 2000, p. 88]. This perspective makes possible a dialectic between action and reflection that is essential for an education that problematizes the real. In his formulation of the premises for the pedagogy of freedom, Freire argues that technology is an instrument for students to act on the object of study and acquire a new worldview. Content is not passively assimilated, he says, but worked on and reworked in

various ways. For this reason, Moacir Gadotti (1979, p. 107) characterizes Freire as a critical constructivist: You learn when you want to learn and you learn only what is meaningful, say the constructivists. Paulo Freire was also one of the creators of constructivism, but of critical constructivism. Ever since his first experiments in the Northeast of Brazil in the 1960s, he sought to ground teaching-learning in interactive environments through the use of audiovisual resources. Later he reinforced the use of new technology, especially video, television and the computer. But he did not accept its uncritical use. For Piaget (1974), the subject extracts knowledge from action. He advocates innovative and active education that motivates learners to make discoveries and to see themselves as relevant partners in the teaching-learning process. Vygotsky’s emphasis on the social nature of all mental activity (1991) completes the social-interactionist and constructivist approach adopted by Arte Despertar. While in general there are more divergences than convergences between Piaget and Vygotsky, both understand knowledge as adaptation and individual construction, and both see learning and development as self-regulated. While Piaget is interested in the ways in which knowledge is constructed, so that his theory focuses on the mental construction of the individual, Vygotsky highlights the ways in which social and cultural factors influence the learner’s intellectual development. Piaget underscores the biological aspects of the educational process. The stages in which mental development unfolds are supported by biology and identical for all individuals. Similarly, knowledge is acquired through exchanges and interactions with the object. The individual reconstructs the object to ap-

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propriate it and give it meaning, first through action and then through representation. For Vygotsky, on the other hand, culture is all-important. Mental development is always associated with culture and its internalization by the individual. In culture, each subject symbolizes and creates significant elements that give meaning to life. The close connection between the individual and culture means that art helps subjects organize and construct the world, enabling them to reflect on social practice in the light of instruments created by the mind to interpret the world. Other concepts that are important to Arte Despertar and come from Vygotsky are the real zone, i.e. the knowledge already possessed by participants, and the zone of proximal development, i.e. their potential knowledge, which can be activated by educational work with art and culture to enhance their problem-solving capacity. The thought of Elliot Eisner (1987) also inspires the actions of Arte Despertar. According to Eisner, people do four main things in the relationship with art: “They look at art. They understand the place of art in culture over the ages. They make judgments about its qualities. They make art.” These activities are based on the specifics of each art work and on details of the relationship between the art work and the public. They may be mediated by actions capable of pointing to new meanings for different participants, with the meanings being actualized or contextualized by individual or collective motivations. In this sense, Eisner and Freire converge. While Eisner emphasizes imagination, Freire suggests the prevalence of dialogue to consolidate social awareness. In both, education is mediated by the world, formatted by culture, and influenced by languages. There is also the strong impact of

beliefs, needs and values, moderated by individuality. For Freire, awareness of experience generates knowledge, whereas for Eisner experiencing the empirical world depends on the biological system, on the senses, which it refines while broadening the imagination. Thus the work done through art potentializes knowledge and heightens the subject’s awareness of his or her context. This is why art is important: it stimulates tolerance of ambiguity and explores multiple meanings. There is no such thing as right and wrong in art: everything is more less adequate, more or less meaningful, more or less inventive or therapeutic.

Art is education Only education that strengthens cultural diversity can be understood as democratic. Multiculturalism is the common denominator of today’s movements to democratize education around the world. (...) A concern with cultural plurality, multiculturality and interculturality necessarily leads to respect for differences, avoiding pasteurization and homogeneity. Ana Mae Barbosa A work of art has emotional and cognitive qualities that contain information of a social and cultural nature. It cannot be understood without contextualizing the socio-cultural knowledge that is being communicated, for art always relates to specific values, psychological symptoms and worldviews that make it concrete as a social fact. This perspective is presented by Fayga Ostrower (1987), for whom it is possible to recognize that the conscious and sensitive potential of each individual is always realized inside cultural forms. Arte Despertar shares this idea and therefore endeavors to retrieve the culture and history of the groups with which it interacts.

For this reason it is also important to consider the concept of multiculturality, introduced in Brazil by Ana Mae Barbosa (1998). Thanks to multiculturalism, everyone can have access to the knowledge offered by art, as long as they are sensitive to different forms of culture and knowledge, and provided they develop the ability to integrate the diversities and singularities that are characteristic of social groups. In contemporary Brazilian society individuals frequently interact with others from different cultures and subcultures. Although all are closely linked, they can be identified by ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, geographic location, income, social class, occupation, education and religion. A multiculturalist attitude to art, however, will pay attention to art’s role in life for each group and try to understand that although everyone needs art, the concept of art itself may differ according to the values of different groups and the role art plays in their lives. Whatever the situation, however, thought and feeling are always present. In the words of Fayga Ostrower (1987, p.39), “creating is an existential process. It does not deal only with thoughts or only with emotions, but originates in the depths of our being where emotion permeates thought while the intellect structures and organizes the emotions. Creative action shapes the world of feeling, making it legible and intelligible.”

universalizes the right to art and culture. It aims to ensure that every activity is an experience within the learning process and the personal development of each participant.

Languages of art: cultural development and social change The starting-point for creation is reality, but it is also necessary to deploy prior experience and personal and cultural history determined by time and space, and to resort to various ways of giving new meaning to what one sees, recalls and feels. Consumers of art follow the same path in appreciating art, attributing meaning to what they see, hear or read based on their own universe. This knowledge, organized through symbolic systems, can be expressed in images, gestures, words, sounds and shapes that constitute the languages through which people interrogate the world around them. The activities of Arte Despertar prioritize theatrical, visual, literary and musical languages. Despite some overlaps, each of these languages has its own specificities and entails a theoretical approach that underpins a particular methodology.

Given the transformational power of art and its capacity to provide access to cultural experience, especially for socially vulnerable people and the hospitalized, Arte Despertar uses non-formal art education to extend the opportunities for collaboration to achieve citizenship and enhance self-esteem.

Theatrical language focuses on reading, writing, appreciation and reflection. These are group activities, which make intense use of individual experience and knowledge but can promote the acquisition of new collective understanding by exploring different kinds of dramatic content. Cooperative practices motivated by the experience of doing theater foster collaboration, interdependence and reflection about values and attitudes inherent in group work, as well as enhancing self-esteem and self-knowledge.

Its practices always involve action, linking with the realities represented, and reflection. Its methodology

The language of the visual arts develops the ability to see, judge and interpret images from visual culture,

through which it is possible to attribute meaning and follow, research and document creative processes individually or collectively. Using this language develops visual literacy, enabling the subject to decode and resignify the contexts in which it appears, as well as paving the way to personal experimentation, signification, enhanced self-esteem, and the opportunity to think about art and make critical judgments about the subject’s own production and that of others. Literary language explores the representational potential of fiction, develops the habit of reading and the pleasure of coming into contact with literary genres through storytelling, re-creation, and talking about the material read. These activities stimulate active appreciation, in which the production of meaning with regard to different human situations and social contexts, or in response to personal difficulties, takes place through fantasy, enabling readers to experience and think about a wide variety of phenomena from the safety of the armchair. They are also designed to promote critical reading, whereby the subject actively interprets and infers from the text, in what has been called authorial reading. Activities involving musical language develop appreciation, performance and composition with the aim of creating or extending repertoires, instilling notions of discipline, balance, harmony and respect, enabling the expression of local culture, and developing a good ear and creative musical skills. These languages determine Arte Despertar’s choices in terms of personnel, practice areas, methodologies and partnerships. Making art is as important as appreciating and understanding art, in terms of being, living, participating, and learning to see, hear, touch, and express one’s feelings. Aspects related to being are made explicit in meetings with the group, in which everyone is equal and individ-

uality and self-esteem are strengthened. Living derives from perception and the experience of belonging, of feeling part of a collectivity, which develops bonding, cooperation, affection and complicity, as well as respect for differences. Participating develops responsibility, involvement and commitment. Learning to see, listen and touch develops sensitivity to different languages, which in turn paves the way to self-expression, and to new and different forms of communication capable of attributing other meanings to thoughts, emotions and feelings. The creative process triggered by art educators and mediated by art fosters discoveries and the pursuit of personal trajectories, without comparisons or competitiveness, which is vitally important for individuals to develop and mature, while refining their capacity to see. In all learning situations the intervention of specialists is transformational because it provides a context in which participants can learn to construct meaning.

Artistic and cultural sensibility: methodological aspects and relevant activities Individuals see the world not just with their eyes but with every particle of their individuality. Each person’s way of seeing is closely associated with their personal history, and with the culture, time and specific moment of their lives. This is how Danilo Miranda (2006, p. 20) puts it: “(...) memories of playing in the park, soul music sung in backyards, native sounds, memories of intimacy (...) memories of small non-utilitarian, non-civilized things, all of them oral vestiges of a culture, as brief as life itself. Mário de Andrade believed a people’s greatest treasure resides in these

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less precious things that fade away with the voice – perishable, relational, ephemeral things, and, for this very reason, living things.” Arte Despertar invests in interpersonal relationships and transformation of the environment. In addition to stimulating individual expression, it develops creativity, especially the capacity to produce different solutions to the same challenge. This is justified by its theoretical premises, materialized in art education and motivational cultural activities taken to different spaces and communities in specific projects, workshops and labs, training programs, courses, lectures, or visits to cultural institutions. These activities involve processes of representation or expression of the real world, favoring intercommunication and sensibility. Sensibility is understood as the capacity to capture and express feelings, but also as being responsible for knowledge construction, since it can be the gateway to the creation of meaning during the mediation performed by art and culture. The ability to handle feelings is acquired in response to the stimulus of individual experience, which may take the form of gestures, words, drawings, and even looking. According to Ana Mae Barbosa (2005 p. 99), sensibility is a set of organic functions that seek intelligibility, pleasure and sensuality: “As a language that sharpens the senses, art conveys meanings that cannot be conveyed by any other language, discursive or scientific.” Thus it is seen as an instrument for seeking sensitive perception, which enables people to feel and perceive the world. Arte Despertar encourages seeing from the standpoint of another person, so that participants can develop their imagination and understand its role in creating personal or cultural meaning. Sensibility perceives the world, but imagination creates it first. Thus sensibil-

ity is a kind of knowledge in which rational thought is blended with sensory information. Arte Despertar invites people in situations of social vulnerability or otherwise at risk, such as for health reasons, to make better use of their senses. This is another important aspect of its methodology, involving the development of sensibility and the capacity of all participants in a given activity to recognize the sensations provided by their senses via lived experience. The association’s art educators, who mediate these activities through art and culture, highlight the processes of perception and awaken an interest in registering identity and belonging. Thus in the interaction between spectator and object, or between the producer and the work, information is captured by the body and sensations are assimilated before becoming reflection. This is why there is interaction among the participants in Arte Despertar’s activities, as different ways of seeing the world and experiencing emotions come into contact with each other. In this context, becoming aware of one’s own thoughts is exercising thinking as a practice, and preparing the terrain for transformation. It is also a way of being sensitive, experiencing the sensibility to think one’s own thoughts, and allowing oneself to be affected by them. However, sensibility is the capacity not just to perceive but also to interpret sensations, extending the conditions for reading. In this sense, all participants in the initiatives developed by Arte Despertar are simultaneously teachers and learners. Thus by creating spaces for action and defining themes to be developed, the mediators also experience the languages of art and culture, which are the vehicles for Arte Despertar’s activities, and all the people involved are able at one and the same time to learn and to teach, to propose and participate, to question and argue, to sensitize others and themselves by doing and making.

Mediators of action Human beings are inexorably inclined by nature to bond with others. We find in others an indispensable support for our original incompleteness. We become what we are thanks to these contacts in our lives. We exist by coexisting, even against our will. Gimeno Sacristán Arte Despertar aims to bring about the interaction of art and people through the mediation of art educators working with children and adults. Its activities are designed to provide significant experiences of self-knowledge and knowledge of the world through art, transformed into a powerful ally in the construction of life projects. The people responsible for Arte Despertar’s interventions are professionals who are deeply familiar with the content, capable of leading productive discussion, and well-equipped to guide processes of discovery by the other participants. Their qualifications and experience also enable them to act as trainers in courses and workshops. Considering the nature of mediation, careful planning always precedes the start of an activity. To meet the needs of participants and the context for the intervention, every team comprises a pedagogue, a psychologist and art educators. The team prepare an action plan, conduct research, produce proposals, draw on previous experience, and define priorities, the languages of art to be used and the modes of action that best suit the characteristics of the beneficiaries and venue. As the first step toward practical engagement, the planning stage brings the mediators into contact with the environment in which they will operate and the goals they intend to achieve. During a project the team hold regular meetings to discuss what has been

done, also allowing themselves to be affected by their own thoughts about the experience. Thus sensibility opens up perspectives, enabling the mediators to perceive, interpret sensations and put themselves in the position of learners through reflection. In the words of Alicia Fernandez (2001, p. 42), “only when you position yourself as a teacher can you learn; only when you position yourself as a learner can you teach”. To produce work that is intimately linked to sensibility it is necessary to be capable of surrendering to it, establishing a two-way process. This is what enriches the mediation performed by Arte Despertar. People change themselves by changing their ways of seeing. For Henri Bergson (1978), feelings are “generators of ideas”. The relationship with “experience” makes the activities meaningful and therefore capable of changing the participants. Experience is the domain of interpretation and depends on how situations are read. Jorge Larrosa (2001), a Catalan educator, says only events that move the learner are transformed into experience and appropriated as meaningful.

of their own work. There are also moments of exchange among all team members, when they discuss action plans and the problems that arise therefrom, and where they socialize their experiences and evaluations of the process. In this sense, art educators are also mediators, facilitators responsible for helping people become more aware of the value of their own repertoires and identities, creating situations that call for active participation, fostering the addition of new aspects to broaden the participants’ cultural horizons, and enabling the participants to recognize themselves as knowledge producers.

ner’s culture, imagine ways of acting, and insert itself into the reality in which it will act, taking art and culture as a criterion for mediation. The activities of Arte Despertar derive from the context, from analysis, and from reflection on immediate reality. Thus this stage aims to construct knowledge and is not passive but involves an exchange between partners, dialogue, and the cultural enrichment of each partner. The action that follows also tends to be dynamic and transformational, deeply rooted as it is in the culture of the venue. Communities

Action spaces So what if things are beyond reach? That’s no reason for not wanting them... How sad the paths if it were not For the magical presence of the stars

Because art educators are researchers who closely observe reality with a critical and creative eye, they understand their social responsibility and invest in interaction, know how to construct knowledge, and take reality into account in their planning, as well as permanently evaluating their practice, changing it if need be.

Access to cultural and artistic production is a universal right. In traveling this road in search of art and culture, Arte Despertar works in hospitals and in communities where there is no access to this type of production.

In sum, they are committed to new pedagogic paradigms that entail a different approach to teaching and learning based on exchange and interaction, partnership and collaboration. They are also investigators who set out to do in-depth research into the theory and practice of art education and the languages of art, its relations with culture, its peculiarities, codes, materials, and forms of construction and expression. The investigative dimension is enriched by individual research, training courses and critical analysis

Its interventions are never imposed, never the result of decisions taken only by the association. On the contrary, following a general presentation of the project and acceptance of partnership, the art educators, pedagogue and psychologist are chosen and, by mutual agreement with the partner, this team decide what languages to use, how frequently to intervene, what resources to deploy, and what activities to organize. This first stage has a profound pedagogic meaning, since it enables Arte Despertar to approach the part-

Mário Quintana

When Arte Despertar works in communities, with children and young people in situations of social vulnerability or in projects to train youngsters and social educators, its activities focus on eminently art-educational and cultural values. The idea is to create opportunities for interaction among the different groups, so as to foster sensibility to and awareness of the languages of art by using the four pillars of education according to the report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, chaired by Jacques Delors (UNESCO, 1999): learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be. Violence and social vulnerability are worsening in the contemporary world, and understanding the relationship between them is a major challenge for governments and civil society. Children from low-income households are among the most affected groups, suffering from a lack of decent public services, poor living conditions, few opportunities for leisure, and scant prospects of social mobility. All these problems in turn affect the forms of sociability they customarily adopt, their expectations for the future, and any lifecourse projects they may have.

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In light of this situation, it is vitally important to propose opportunities for sociability outside school. Arte Despertar aims to break the vicious circle of vulnerability by means of initiatives that enable these children and young adults to be protagonists of change, rejecting the uncertainty and insecurity in which they live, helping them realize their potential through art and culture, and seeking to contribute to creative solutions to the problems they face in their day-to-day lives. Our experience with community projects shows that art is one of the possible ways to increase people’s contact with culture, boost their self-esteem and help them work on their life-course projects. The first project was a stimulating challenge. It gave rise to questions and required frequent changes to meet the participants’ needs. Many lessons were learned, strengthening the association’s convictions and preparing it for future activities with communities in the southern suburbs of São Paulo City. Youth protagonism was intensified in projects involving young people, by investing in activities designed to help the participants make personal and collective plans for a change of course and appropriation of the results of research relating to the arts and culture, as well as attitudes, values and behaviors capable of promoting well-being and education. A successful assumption was made that the more consistently these young people planned for the future, the more they would seek to perform better in their routine day-today activities, the broader and more critical would be their view of reality, and the more meaningful would be the suggestions provided regarding the acquisition of specific knowledge, even in the workplace. A project involving former participants in Arte Despertar’s visual art workshops was an experience that

generated a substantial amount of learning and transformed the social environment. The young people concerned became an example worth emulating for the rest of the community and were sufficiently empowered to become monitors, guides and mentors to those younger than themselves in activities designed to enrich their artistic sensibility. Also in communities, activities were conducted to train nursery teachers and enable them to use different languages with infants up to the age of six. One workshop started with storytelling based on the local culture. Although initially the activity focused on the infants, the nursery teachers became interested in researching and enriching the life stories of their fellow community members as a result. Among Arte Despertar’s commitments in interacting with these communities is empowering their members to expand social capital by introducing them to art and culture so that they recognize their potential, learn, and develop the habit of making productive use of the cultural amenities provided by the city. In this way the association’s activities promote inclusion, foster access to leisure, entertainment and cultural venues and facilities, and increase the opportunities for children and young people to enjoy community life. It also invests in humanization, socio-cultural insertion and knowledge diffusion. This in turn suggests future projects because the lessons learned encourage reflection on the potential for change. The goal is to transform people accustomed to the status quo into citizens eager to engage in activities that change society for the better. Every meeting and every workshop, regardless of where it takes place, can unleash the creativity of all the participants, students and art educators alike. As a result, the meetings become meaningful, the participants find out more about themselves and the world,

and the end-result may be an exhibition of visual arts, the production of a book of poems, the telling of a story about the place, or the recording of a music CD.

Hospitals In the hospital environment, art is suggested as a means of attenuating the difficulties of everyday life. Different activities are organized to enable the subjects to express their unconscious images through experience with art and culture, which is equivalent to understanding art and culture as a means of selfexpression, communication and creation in order to face suffering proactively and cope with the limitations imposed by sickness. Recourse to the languages of the arts makes it possible to discover what is poetic and creative in each person, awakening abilities, potential and meanings that have often been forgotten or overshadowed by moments of pain and individual distress. The organization of favorable environments, in conjunction with moments of relaxation for all participants (patients, carers and health workers), encourages some people to overcome the passivity typical of hospital and become the subjects of their own lives. The common sense view of hospitals is that life there is fragmented and tedious, and that they tend to stifle subjecthood. Investment in activities capable of counteracting this view is important for the subjects who find themselves in hospital to be able to establish positive relationships. The language of art fosters the expression of emotions, feelings and thoughts, resulting in humanization as the driving force for the construction of closer ties and trust between patients and health workers, while lessening pain, promoting dialogue with families and visitors, and mitigating the rigidity and hierarchy typical of patient-doctor relationships.

The artistic and cultural intervention embodied in Arte Despertar’s actions can create integrating and stimulating situations, which serve as a gateway to new discoveries, and new personal and collective life courses for all those involved, however desperate the situations they may be facing as health workers, patients or carers. Play is a key ally in this transformation. According to historian Johan Huizinga in Homo Ludens (2008), play shares values with art. By bringing art and play together, Arte Despertar creates an area of escape, offering specific disinterested activities that allow people to give expression to life, valorize identity, draw on their original culture, and create another possible world of wellness and sensibility. In this situation, as noted by the English art critic Herbert Read (2001), art helps people escape chaos and strengthens a movement of humanization ordered by the rhythm of life. Art interrupts daily life through play, suspending distressful reality and replacing it with a different world that is fascinating and enchanting. This aspect suggests a break with the status quo, and by accepting the proposal the group or individual resignifies the environment to escape into a sphere of autonomous activities normally conserved in memory once they are over. Besides the capacity to remove individuals from hospital routine, the activities promoted by Arte Despertar also challenge them to share emotions by provoking sensibility-broadening experiences. The art educators stimulate the senses of all those involved, mining and strengthening elements of their original cultural identity, so that they can experience and perceive feelings that can become powerful allies to help them transcend the limits imposed by the contingencies of hospital life. The bonding mediated by art enables the participants to embark on a process of repertoire exchange, in

which they mutually offer and absorb knowledge and compassion. This process, which has no beginning, middle or end, is constantly metamorphosing and thus requires careful planning, psychological and pedagogic guidance for the art educators, and availability to socialize repertoires from their own personal experience. The work Arte Despertar does in hospitals attempts to take art and culture to everyone indiscriminately, combining words, images and sounds. Its art education activities stimulate the patient’s healthy, creative side, encouraging the expression of individuality and expanding sensibility. Aesthetic experiences foster looking and thinking individually and collectively, enriching ways of seeing, hearing and feeling the world. In this context, art and culture act as mediating instruments in the dialog between the participants and their external environment. Arte Despertar’s interventions are often met with surprise, or even hostility, because of the strict rules of hospital life, and on occasion it has taken time for the association’s proposition to be understood. The effects become visible as the activity proceeds, however, and interaction between Arte Despertar and the health workers increases, even leading to collaboration and requests from health professionals to help a particular patient. The four pillars of education enunciated by the Delors Commission report are also important to Arte Despertar’s hospital activities, albeit more generically: by strengthening the individual and fostering self-esteem these activities are part of learning to be; by establishing a dialogue and transforming the environment through the introduction of personal objects, photographs and drawings they promote learning to live together; by exercising new ways of seeing, touching, hearing and solving problems they

develop learning to do; and by using art as a means to construct knowledge of the world, its history and its nature they encourage learning to know.

Action methodology As the association carries out its activities, it constructs a methodology that derives from its concern to ensure that its practices reflect its theoretical choices and can be replicated in different places. A key element in this methodology, whether activities are conducted in communities or hospitals, is to observe what is going on in the surrounding area in order to plan activities that make sense to the different subjects involved, while also remaining true to the theoretical foundations described above. This approach, whereby the starting-point for everything the association does is the reality defined by its partners, influences the content and languages of the art work used in the projects, and orients the planning of the actions and art-educational activities taken to different places and groups in therapeutic or awareness-raising sessions, workshops, training courses, programs, lectures and presentations, or visits to cultural institutions. Every single action or activity is planned, executed and evaluated by Arte Despertar’s team of art educators, pedagogues and psychologists, with administrative support. The methodology of social intervention using the languages of art developed by Arte Despertar is inspired by Ana Mae Barbosa’s Triangular Approach. Starting with an art object or artistic act, it explores the historical context in which the object or act is produced and stimulates the making of art through

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meaningful experiences, resignifying the place of art in the life of each individual. In the sphere of making art, the practical activities developed, which may cover the visual arts, theater, music and/or literature, are designed to foster a deeper understanding of the art object or artistic act. Involvement in the various stages of art production enables the participants to perceive them as the result of work rather than artistic genius. Production loses its aura to reveal proximity with the creative individual, so that making art represents an encounter with desires, yearnings and stances toward the things of the world. This includes a significant amount of play, in which the capacity to recreate the wworld is infinite, especially when enriched by technical resources. Reading or appreciating art presupposes interpretation of the specific codes of music, theater, literature and visual images, which are also ways of reading the world linked to the ability to see, judge and interpret the meanings of art and culture.

Communities Projects conducted in communities consist of an educational option that starts with the needs and desires of the community and sets out to foster an understanding of culture, develop artistic interventions to help people think about and act on the surrounding reality, and open up perspectives for planning the future. Learning in these situations derives from the capacity to think and judge developed by the participants, who become more autonomous, disciplined and creative as a result. What is learned is all the more meaningful, dynamic and interesting to the extent that it flows from research, investigation, collection and recording of data, and the formulation and verification of hypotheses that transform the learners into subjects of their own knowledge. Theater workshops, for example, comprise three main stages: games, rehearsal and performance. Each of these in turn always includes warming up, games, and improvisation.

Contextualizing, which involves reflection and constructing a dialogue between knowledge of art as a social and historical object and other areas of human knowledge, focuses on understanding the different materials, means and supports used for expression, and on the subject’s creative capacity to question the things of the world. In other words, a constant dialogue on the importance of art and the role it plays in the construction of knowledge can contribute to the formation of people better able to produce and consume cultural goods.

Theater workshops begin with games designed to promote knowledge, integration and respect among the participants, awaken their attention and creativity, and enable them to acquire basic theatrical skills in a playful and dynamic manner. Rehearsing, the second stage, includes choosing or creating a play or scene, and preparing a performance. Performance is the third and final stage, in which the audience comprises other members of the same community and/or specially invited spectators.

Although the same principles underpin everything it does, the strategies and evaluation metrics used by Arte Despertar differ substantially depending on the site of the intervention, since they are determined by the type of participant and the context in which the activities are carried out.

In the workshop structure, the sequence of warming up, games and improvisation enables the participants to appropriate the language of theater gradually. Warming up includes socializing, breaking the ice and lowering inhibition; all this fosters integration and helps the participants prepare for the activity proper.

Games and improvisation include the creation of solo or group mimes, make-believe play, and theatrical games that develop self-knowledge, group dynamics, self-confidence and trust. Once a theme and text have been chosen, the group create the scenes, explore and discover technical details, and introduce elements of scenery and props, made by themselves or found to suit the space and resources available, such as lighting, sound, tab or act curtain etc. In the case of continuous programs, many new participants appear at the start of each year, so that some of what was done in the previous year may need to be changed: the art educators select activities based on their knowledge of the interests and needs of each group, and especially on their age. With the arrival of new participants, some of the older members of the group volunteer to act as mentors and mediators in socialization and icebreaker activities. The entire process aims to offer opportunities for pleasure and criteria for artistic quality and variety. As already stressed, this fosters the development of sensibility and intimacy with art, which in turn contributes to the reinforcement of self-esteem and better interaction with the social and cultural environment. In visual arts, whether or not the activities take place in specially equipped rooms, they aim to provide contact with the language of art via the handling of different materials, such as natural pigments researched by the groups, as well as gouache, acrylic, India ink, watercolor, pencil, crayon, and clay. In using these materials, participants discover or recognize themselves as producers and constructors of meanings and stories in the group. Arte Despertar’s teams are presented with specific challenges by each venue and community. Different

approaches are required, depending on whether the relationship is starting or continuing, whether the content is new, whether the group and links with the art educators and activities are being constructed or maintained, respect for the space and material, regularity of attendance, and people’s commitment. At the end of the project, an exhibition is held for the community. To foster contact with literature, storytelling is also a resource that Arte Despertar uses in its workshops and that stands out for its playful character. Chosen on the basis of a theme, in accordance with the group’s age and interests, the stories told motivate the participants to read and stimulate their imagination. Oral narration highlights the value of literature as an important part of mankind’s heritage, as well as stimulating memory, identity, imagination, and knowledge of local cultures, since even today it is a form of artistic expression for individuals, communities and peoples. In addition to physical and motor development due to movement and use of the voice, storytelling can facilitate group integration via action in several areas: intellectually, it awakens interest in reading and stimulates the imagination; in communication, it contributes to the production of meaning and fosters dialogue and retelling; and it encourages socio-cultural interaction by reinforcing social ties and forming communities of readers. The association’s activities also train storytellers to perceive and use the values of a text for the multiple possible approaches it offers, and for the affective memory embodied in personal experience. The stories told are also key elements in the construction of social knowledge about reality, and produce values and concepts. Although they are grounded in fiction, they can investigate and problematize social reality, helping to intensify people’s ethical awareness.

The storytelling sessions organized by Arte Despertar are preceded by warm-ups and games to focus attention. Storytelling proper may or may not include the support of books or props. The listeners’ attention is gripped by the unfolding story of adventures or suspense, in which they are invited to participate by questions about discoveries, examples offered by the lives of the characters, myths and archetypes, or internal issues (identity, self-esteem, concepts) and external issues (family, community, society, friendship and relationships in general) raised by the texts. Storytelling sessions are usually planned to consist of three stages, absorption, reflection and communication, not necessarily in that order. Absorption entails creating conditions for people to listen to the story and enter its imaginary universe. Reflection presents challenges to encourage comments on the plot, attribute meaning, and problematize relevant aspects of the story. Communication involves opportunities for the expression of thoughts and feelings about the story told through activities such as painting, drawing, modeling, writing, movement, dance, individually or in groups. Strengthening the group’s history and identification with its cultural roots is another way to contribute to the preservation of memory and the nation’s musical foundations. Arte Despertar’s music workshops focus on Afro-Brazilian contributions, regional and folk music, instrument making and body percussion. Music is capable of developing competences that relate to knowledge of the local sound culture and autonomy to interact with it by creating or attributing new meanings to the knowledge acquired on the basis of individual or collective experience. The resulting experimentation helps the participants appreciate music critically and, in the case of workshops, perform using alternative percussion instruments or in song.

Children and youngsters are in the majority in these activities, so any art language used must be chosen for its capacity to foster human development. The workshops therefore aim to contribute to the construction of a group dynamic and help the participants bond with the art educators; to promote participation in and involvement with the activity, through a commitment to regular attendance and responsibility for sticking to what everyone has agreed on doing; to develop positive attitudes and values as a basis for relationships between the participants and the environment; and to offer motivating artistic alternatives that insert the groups actively in their context and foster responsible attitudes toward retrieving, recording and resignifying their own cultural history. Thus the workshops promote the development of such potential instruments of self-expression as: • An interest in the arts as a form of knowledge, interpretation and expression about oneself and the world around one; • Creation of a special space for playful exchanging of information and culture; • Expression of the group’s own experience, content and themes; • Contact with and research into a range of different artistic methods or techniques to expand the participants’ repertoires and stimulate their creativity.

Hospitals In the hospital environment, the art educators’ involvement with patients begins after they discuss the latters’ clinical condition and specific needs with the head nurse.

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Activities in hospitals always involve pairs of art educators, preferably with different languages so as to broaden the participants’ expectations and knowledge. They are planned with the assistance of pedagogues and psychologists, who play a crucial role in structuring and strengthening links with partners and the participants themselves, and in all other dimensions required for the activities to be successful. Although the art educators are the main initiators of any given activity, when implementing what has been planned they prioritize observation, listening to the participants attentively and remaining silent as much as possible. This attitude enables them to see the group as well as its parts, the individuals, and to notice essentials, producing knowledge from lived experience, in the words of Madalena Freire. These elements are inherent in the act of observing and construct forms of respect for other people’s pain or ways of sharing their joys and achievements.

admire their production and may feel frustrated if they cannot finish learning to sing a song or listening to a story, for example. The entire team take part in semiannual planning sessions to decide what themes to address, the objectives, content and strategies feasible in each venue, the participants’ age groups and physical condition, and assessment metrics. The document is enriched with additional material relating to each art language. Activities must be carefully tailored to each hospital space. ICUs, for example, are suitable for literary activities (storytelling, poetry, nursery rhymes, myths, fables, folk tales etc.), musical activities (games, songs, call and response, use of small instruments such as maracas, shakers, jingles), and visual arts activities (using images for appreciation and exploration of the context for what is presented).

Observation is permeated by questions such as: Who are the participants? Where do they come from? What stories do they bring with them? What is their cultural heritage? Are they active participants? Are they alone or accompanied by relatives or carers? Are they reluctant to take part? Do they accept what is proposed? Do they keep quiet? Are they able to establish a dialogue with the others? The answers to these questions, which are always part of the art educators’ routine, are useful in an endeavor to produce an overview of the effects of art in healthcare venues.

In chemotherapy rooms, bedrooms, and isolation or positive-pressure rooms (e.g. for bone marrow transplantation patients), the procedures and activities are very similar, as patients are usually bedridden or prevented by procedures from participating except in a limited way. These patients require quieter, more individualized activities such as appreciating images, or listening to music, poetry and stories with wordplay, rhythms, sounds. Art educators who work in this context must pay close attention to patients’ responses, which determine whether and when to change, continue or end an activity.

Another feature of Arte Despertar’s work in hospitals is the need to conduct one-time sessions, workshops or other activities of short duration, in spaces that are often inappropriate for working with art and where respect for each patient’s rhythm is important. This aspect is especially relevant when working with children, who want others to see and

In outpatient clinics, which usually have people from differing backgrounds waiting to be seen, literary and musical languages are the most suitable, provided the repertoire is compatible with the background of the group. The same applies to hospital entrance lobbies and other venues with intense pedestrian traffic, which require carefully planned group activities.

Arte Despertar also works directly with health professionals to help them experience, appreciate and contextualize art. The activities in question are characterized by dynamics and sensibility that minimize stress and foster a new way of seeing the workplace. Arte Despertar’s interventions in hospitals aim to socialize different cultures with patients, family members and health professionals by retrieving and valuing cultural roots and extending artistic horizons and repertoires. Thus they help disseminate hospital humanization, optimizing potentialities and healthy aspects of the beneficiaries who engage with the association.

Content of mediation To operationalize the activities of Arte Despertar, a number of topics orient the mediators in their art-educational interventions, which are always tailored to the specific features of each venue or audience. Choices are made in such a way as to facilitate planning implementation and make optimal use of interventions based on the theoretical premises described above.

• The language of literature: storytelling, conversation circles, folk tales, poetry, remembering and creating stories, myths, fables • The language of music: knowledge, learning and experimenting with percussion techniques and resources, listening, breathing and relaxation exercises, tempo and rhythm, spontaneous singing, instrument making, singing games • Human development and social issues: citizenship, social inclusion, values, community problems, violent crime, rights and duties, diversity, identity, alterity, entrepreneurship, active participation, autonomy, relationships, behavior, attitude, ethics, social responsibility, teamwork • Art and culture: popular culture, especially Brazilian, roots, identity, folklore, popular music and dance • General culture: art history, cultural and visual literacy, cultural and ethnic diversity in Brazil, gender, cultural action in museums, libraries, theaters, community centers etc., creative processes, aesthetic appreciation.

tongue twisters, remembering and creating stories, myths, fables • The language of the visual arts: techniques, materials, resources, artistic expression and production, results and effects, knowledge of phases, movements and artists, painting, printmaking, photography, cartonnage, cutouts • Art and culture: popular culture, especially Brazilian, roots, identity, folklore, popular music and dance • General culture: appreciation and enjoyment of art works; cultural and visual literacy, cultural and ethnic diversity in Brazil, gender, cultural action in museums, theaters, community centers etc., creative processes

Activities designed to make a difference You cannot become a carpenter without making yourself sensitive to the signs of wood or a physician without sensitivity to the signs of disease.

activities based on the different languages of the arts. Permanent reflection on the activities conducted, alongside exploration of potentialities in each area and their contributions to the association’s overall objectives, sharpens the teams’ capacity to perceive and listen, leading to a continually enhanced methodology of action.

Pedagogic supervision The professionals responsible for pedagogic supervision observe the teams to which they belong, providing guidance on how best to tailor activities to specific venues and groups so as to achieve the best possible interaction and strengthen relationships with partners. They also participate in planning, in activities designed to construct meanings, and in learning processes that lead to comprehension of the concepts, values and other elements to be stimulated in such interaction. Observation of reality is the pedagogic supervisor’s starting-point for the experiences planned to create opportunities to help people prepare for better living.

Gilles Deleuze

Hospitals

• The language of the performing arts: theater, movement, sensory, physical and spatial awareness, imagination, physical games, verbal and non-verbal communication, losing inhibitions

• The language of music: musical universe, listening, breathing and relaxation exercises, tempo and rhythm, spontaneous singing, instrument making, singing games, sound sequences, musical recall based on the patient’s identity, knowledge of music history and periods, listening to unfamiliar music to enrich the participants’ repertoire

In a society of shared information and knowledge, where opportunities for learning are no longer confined to formal education, it is impossible to neglect the educational nature of initiatives not linked to school. They too may be capable of fostering the acquisition of abilities or skills in the sphere of sociability, extending cultural repertoires, participation in public life, fluency in communication and foreign languages – in sum, of forming subjects who are competent to interact with others.

All educational situations are complex and permeated by conflicts of values or perspectives, demanding integrated and integrative work with clear goals or purposes and a space of professional autonomy. An important part of the pedagogic supervision function is therefore to produce critical links between the art educators and the context in which they operate, and between theory and practice, investing in a process that is at one and the same time formative, emancipatory, critical and committed, as noted above in the discussion of art educators as mediators of action.

• The language of the visual arts: exhibitions, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, plastic arts

• The language of literature: conversation circles, storytelling, folk tales, poetry, nursery rhymes,

Integrated teams assembled by articulating knowledge areas that link theory to practice develop

Thus the pedagogic supervisors are responsible for organizing space, time and processes bearing in

Communities Workshops address the following:

Workshops address the following:

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mind that practice must correspond to the theoretical premises on which it is based, and must be constantly redirected in accordance with their commitment to social responsibility and critical thinking. In light of these principles, the pedagogic supervisors hold meetings with the rest of their teams to select, organize, critically analyze and observe the possibility of reconstructing the values, knowledge, beliefs and habits appreciated by the beneficiaries of Arte Despertar’s activities. Together they all seek, based on previous experience, to involve the beneficiaries in situations that broaden the horizons for their expectations and interests, offering other experiences, cognitive advances and a chance to establish new relationships with the context. By problematizing and adding technical knowledge to the procedures for the activities planned by the teams, the pedagogic supervisors invest in the possibility of promoting learning processes in which action and expression show what the subjects feel, think and know, so that they can enhance their perception of themselves and the world.

Psychological support The psychologists who work with Arte Despertar’s teams contribute to aspects relating to the environment, to the art educators, and indirectly to beneficiaries and socio-cultural contexts. The psychologists act as facilitators and mediators of the teamwork done by the art educators, providing psychosocial support in dealing with workplace issues and relationships with beneficiaries, such as hospital patients, relatives and carers, as well as health workers, and in the community with children, adolescents and youngsters. They create opportunities for all partici-

pants to realize their potential and limitations and to strengthen their interpersonal relationships. Reading a venue through the eyes of psychology, they set out to understand the situations experienced and furnish data relating to the profile of the beneficiaries. They also provide the art educators with guidance and counseling to help them interact with the beneficiaries and tailor their activities to the demands of the situation. In hospitals, simple actions such as addressing patients by name and knowing a sufficient amount about them and about their socio-cultural background help assure respect for the identity and personal history of subjects who are obliged to relinquish their routines and social roles because of hospitalization. The choice of vocabulary is also very important. Using simple accessible language can be a sign to patients and their families that the team is motivated for interaction and vice-versa, so that all concerned feel less inhibited about exposing their fears, doubts and questions. In communities, psychological support can make room for a discussion of issues such as domestic violence, aggressiveness, and behavioral difficulties. Activities geared to personal and social development need to take what is present in daily life into account and leverage bonding, trust and the commitment assumed by all those involved. All these aspects are made viable by the psychologists. Another important contribution from the psychologists is the flexibility to understand the characteristics, difficulties and potential of the specific group involved in a given project, while respecting the psychosocial aspects for selection and adaptation of the content according to the necessities presented.

Support for artistic languages Professionals in visual arts, music, theater and literature provide Arte Despertar with support in terms of references, studies, research, content and repertoire. This support may be both technical and supervisory, and the professionals concerned meet regularly with the art educators for discussions, guidance and training. Stela Barbieri recalls: “We had meetings where we learned a great deal from each other. At the time Sônia Silva was an adviser for music, Ligia Cortez for theater, Maria Helena da Cruz Sponton for art, and myself for literature. Group discussions were very powerful. Coordinated by Regina, it was a very vigorous group and the dialogue engaged deeply with the work to be done. We discussed conceptual issues that arose from practical experience and the challenges presented in the various contexts of the places where we were working. In our efforts to make art happen we ran into many problems with other institutions that had nothing to do with art but we had to resolve them in order not to destroy any chance of success in the delicate and sensitive processes that unfolded in our work. I learned a great deal from each person’s commitment to the work. I believe and hope I left my own mark thanks to my enchantment with the cultural universe of the various ethnic groups.”

Specialized mediation The association’s art educators, working with the languages of visual art, literature, music and theater, develop and participatively execute a methodology that centers on the construction of knowledge about art and elements of culture, via practice and reflection. Interacting with pedagogic supervisors, they

use the methodological instruments characteristic of educational activities, such as planning, observation, recording, reflection, and evaluation of the practices developed, in a continuous feedback loop that enhances the effectiveness of what they do. Here it is worth highlighting the effort to combine the various languages, which strengthens the group and the structural concepts of the languages of art that constitute daily practice, whether in hospitals or communities, broadening the horizons of the experience for all concerned. As mediators between art and the other participants, the art educators have to perceive the latters’ needs and take whatever steps may be required to assure a balance, considering the conditions for interaction and developing each discovery in greater depth so as to attribute meaning to art while highlighting the value of each participant’s life history. This helps them deal with the present and plan the future. The art educators also have to make an adequate selection of content based on the beneficiaries’ ages and socio-cultural context, and taking the conditions at each venue into account. In sum, as mediators the art educators promote opportunities for the beneficiaries to appropriate perceptions, individual interpretations, information, knowledge and relationships with the world, enabling them to construct an articulate and meaningful whole in which knowledge made useful is linked to the dynamic flow of life.

Systematization of projects, routines and assessment The way Arte Despertar works with partners, and the systematic procedures and routines it adopts, are

characteristic of its institutional praxis, including elements that promote knowledge of the organization and its functioning. Partnerships Partnering can be understood as a sharing of responsibilities to achieve a common goal. It involves mutual respect and the willingness to negotiate, which in turn entails an exchange of information and competencies, joint decision making, and mutual accountability. Arte Despertar’s activities are made possible by partnerships with institutions that identify with its objectives and mission. There are several preconditions: • Availability of a physical space – since its inception as a structured institution, Arte Despertar has opted to be wherever its preferred beneficiaries are and to construct knowledge and innovative alternatives starting from the location of these people. Thus its activities always take place in hospitals or venues in the communities with which it interacts. • A shared ethical commitment – as an institution with a methodology of its own and that makes a point of finding the funds, materials and professionals needed for its activities, Arte Despertar always partners with organizations sensitive to the importance of acting to promote human dignity. • Agreement on the value of initiatives that introduce familiarity with art and culture to daily life and that consider art and culture essential to the promotion of sensibility and citizenship. Before entering into an agreement, the partners discuss the proposed activity, appraise the availability of resources and disposition to achieve what is proposed, and make sure that a suitable physical space is available.

Systematization Aspects such as the environment, the beneficiaries, the social and cultural context and the specific needs of the community are priorities in all projects, from the planning stage until the final balance sheet. Research, analysis, comprehension and evaluation of these items are systematically performed by the entire team, using the knowledge they possess in various areas. Arte Despertar’s activities are collective creations grounded in a conception of art education organized to transform the reality in which they take place. To this end it is made up of professionals with appropriate qualifications and experience, and an administrative organization that serves the association’s objectives. Its projects take into consideration the pedagogic criteria that favor learning and offer constant didactic and pedagogic assistance to the art educators, as well as meetings to discuss matters of collective interest, exchange experiences, study subjects that improve the quality of the work, and build links among the different languages of art so as to foster the development of the project. Each project involves carefully selected partners, highly qualified teams, and a shared plan of action. The project structure consists of an action plan, weekly briefings, annual and semiannual planning, in-process evaluation, and semiannual and annual reports. • Annual planning The annual plan covers all the activities necessary for the development of projects during the year. Priorities are identified for each project and for relations with partner institutions and groups of beneficiaries, and for the activities to be carried out, always with the aim of optimizing quality and efficiency of results. Detailed plans are worked out collaboratively by the project team, administrative staff, pedagogues and psychologists.

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• Semiannual planning The semiannual planning process involves the art educators, pedagogic supervisors and psychologists working as a team to discuss content and objectives, and to organize and structure art-education activities and procedures for managing the deployment of the plan for each six-month period. It also involves the development of teamwork competencies, a joint analysis of learning situations, and reflection on the different professional practices that will be put into effect. Routines The basis for Arte Despertar’s projects is art education, cultural excursions and actions, technical meetings, and training activities. • Art-education activities These use the languages of the visual arts, literature and storytelling, theater and music. They are planned and conducted by art educators, when necessary with the assistance of monitors, and are designed to awaken the participants’ potential through art and culture. Projects are developed in the areas of social inclusion, hospital humanization, and training for educators. Thus each activity is specific and can unfold in different ways, given the differing natures of the various beneficiary groups. However, all activities seek to achieve the institutional mission and are organized in a systematic manner. • Cultural activities Specific activities conducted by the technical team to present the methodology, publicize Arte Despertar and explain what it does to various groups whenever pertinent to the association’s objectives.

Cultural activities are also part of the projects carried out in communities, comprising musical and theatrical performances, and/or art exhibitions, to share the work done by the participants. • Excursions Cultural excursions are designed to extend or deepen the content treated during art education and cultural workshops. They are directly linked to the work process and aim to enrich and complement the activities carried out during weekly sessions. All excursions are carefully planned, with a clearly defined rationale and objectives, given that they are part of the educational practice. Follow-up and evaluation are equally important, to clarify the relevance of the choice, extend the participants’ cultural repertoires, and provide input for other activities. Prior research is done to find out what’s on in the city’s cultural agenda, prioritizing Brazilian art and the cultural amenities open to the public. This widens the array of experiences available, offering a broad artistic and cultural repertoire and permitting interaction through culture. • Technical meetings The technical meetings, consisting of an exchange of knowledge among team members, are an outstanding opportunity for reflection and learning. They take place systematically and focus on operational issues, organization, follow-up and evaluation of the activities carried out. • Training Training events designed to extend and enrich the repertoire of the entire team are held three times a year, each time on a selected topic. They are fundamental for continuing education and training, recycling, team cohesion, and appropriation of Arte Despertar’s methodology and approach.

Evaluation • Records The art educators observe everything that happens, document each stage of the work and record interviews with the participants. They carry out a critical analysis of the activities, identifying strengths and weaknesses in the planning and execution stages, and offering suggestions for possible solutions. Their reports are also instruments for communicating with the pedagogues and psychologists. Other records consist of photographs that document significant moments during the activities and are used for administrative and methodological reports. • In-process evaluation The art education process is monitored and evaluated on an ongoing basis so that planned activities and strategies can be adapted if necessary. In-process evaluation also helps identify factors that facilitate adjustments or changes as and when needed to assure the continuity of a project. • Assessment of results When a project is concluded, a comprehensive assessment is conducted to verify the results, determine whether the project achieved its goals, gauge what has been learned and what challenges have been met during the activities, and analyze the characteristics of the partner institution. The main aim of this assessment is to pave the way for a more effective performance in future projects.

the technical team’s records during the period, highlighting positive points and problems or aspects that require reformulation in order to optimize the activities and enable them to continue on a sounder basis in the next six-month period. They provide an opportunity for an assessment of the three areas that comprise the pillars of Arte Despertar’s methodology – art education, pedagogy and psychology. The reports are analyzed at technical meetings to measure the institution’s success in attaining its objectives. These meetings are also attended by the administrative staff. • Annual reports Annual reports complete the recording and assessment cycle, covering all the activities carried out by Arte Despertar in the year, and detailing quantitative and qualitative results, along with testimonials, interviews and photographic illustrations.

Dissemination of knowledge for the sustainability of Arte Despertar Because Associação Arte Despertar’s projects are always born of a partnership, as discussed in the previous section (“Systematization of projects, routines and assessment”), the possibility of continuation is inherent in their structure.

personnel, its art educators, pedagogues and psychologists come into direct contact with the day-to-day activities of these partner institutions, and with the difficulties and requirements of the participants in its projects, enabling the association to engage in a significant and lasting learning process.

material produced form the basis of a network. This is the overriding objective required to assure dissemination of Arte Despertar’s methodology and its sustainability.

This approach also enables the association to train multipliers, which is one of its objectives, to continue learning and to increase the number of beneficiaries. When professionals become multipliers, they realize the need for continuing education and training and thus become partners in the learning process. Another means considered necessary to guarantee dissemination of the knowledge produced is the recording, systematization and publication of descriptions of the main activities undertaken, in a compilation entitled Art Education Support Material. This helps the professionals involved continue to strengthen their practice by consulting it and making adjustments whenever necessary. The material has been organized on the basis of records and reports, as an initial step in the systematization of Arte Despertar’s methodology. It includes videos and multimedia documents designed to extend the participants’ repertoires and disseminate the association’s methodology.

Reports

The partner institutions are where knowledge is developed and constitute a permanent laboratory for experience and learning for the association.

The language used in this material is simple, concise and objective, stressing the key points in the analysis and reflections that arise from practice. The structure of the Art Education Support Material makes it suitable for use in a wide variety of education and training venues and with various different audiences, thereby extending the institutional outreach.

• Semiannual reports Reports are produced every six months to summarize

When Arte Despertar requests the use of spaces in hospitals and communities, and works with their

The links with partner institutions, exchanges of knowledge, and socialization of the lessons learned and

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5 The view from outside

Carlos Vicente Serrano Junior Heart Institute, Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo School of Medicine (InCor – HCFMUSP)

For this chapter we asked a number of co-workers, associates and partners to talk about their impressions and views of Arte Despertar.

Célia Yukiko Osato Heart Institute, Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo School of Medicine (InCor – HCFMUSP)

They have all been vitally important to the Association from the start, earning a place in the story by contributing in structural, conceptual or administrative terms, supporting its activities, and participating in projects and programs. Some have used Second Sector knowledge and competencies to do so. Others, because of their activities, have enabled the Association to take its expertise to companies and institutions that have then supported the cause or opened their doors to receive the services of Arte Despertar. The interviews and testimonials are colloquial to make this a good read, and placed in chronological order to help the reader follow Arte Despertar’s development. They are intended to provide a view of the Association “from outside”.

Interviewees Ana Marta Oliveira do Nascimento Associação Santo Agostinho (ASA) Antonio Sérgio Petrilli Institute of Pediatric Oncology (IOP) – Support Group for Children with Cancer, Federal University of São Paulo (GRAACC/UNIFESP) Carla Batista Alves Universidade Mackenzie

Dario Ferreira Guarita Filho Guarita & Associados Dario Ferreira Guarita Neto Amata Brasil SA Enrique De Goeye Neto De Goeye Advogados Associados Guilherme Vidigal Andrade Gonçalves União Vidigal Ltda Heloisa Guarita Padilha RGNutri José Ferraz Ferreira Filho J Ferraz Business Development Lígia Maria Camargo Silva Cortez Escola Superior de Artes Célia Helena Lúcio de Castro Andrade Filho Grupo Ultra Marcos Kisil Fundação Maria Cecília Souto Vidigal Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi School of Communication & Arts, University of São Paulo (ECA/USP)

Maria Nadir Azevedo de Moraes Escola Habitat Maria Stela Fortes Barbieri Instituto Tomie Ohtake Patrick Charles Morin Jr. Morin Assessoria Empresarial Ltda Rogério Magon Instituto Fonte Telma Sobolh Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein Teresa Guarita Grynberg Estúdio Colírio Valdir Cimino Associação Viva e Deixe Viver William Malfatti Grupo Fleury Wilze Laura Bruscato Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo

Into the world of work

When did you come across Arte Despertar? What did you think about it? I first came across it in 2000. I was in a phase when I didn’t take anything seriously. I had no expectations for the future. I was still going to school because I had to, but I didn’t really study. I heard about a music project that was about to start in the Paraisópolis community and invited a friend to go with me. She came along and we went to take a look. It wasn’t what we expected. Anyway, I went back next Saturday. I wanted to hear the Spice Girls. Another band called Palavra Cantada was in the project. I found it weird but between classes I made friends and gradually got to like drumming. What did the Association awaken in you? It awakened my curiosity, love of music, interest in Afro-Brazilian culture. I started to study the subject. I got interested in maracatu. I became really interested in music, and I spent more and more time making it. As a reward, I was invited to play in the band that art educators Beth Beli and Adriana Aragão are members of. I wasn’t interested in anything before I joined the project. The project helped me find out who I really am. I began to dream. I learned to see myself as a person and to recognize my cultural identity. Today I’m proud to say I’m a black woman. Life has given me the opportunity to transform my story, to be stronger, and to go out looking for things I believe in. Today I’m a go-getter. I have genuine desires and beliefs. I value Afro-Brazilian culture and identify with it.

Ana Marta Oliveira do Nascimento Tell us a little about your life. As a teenager I rarely opened my mouth. I was reserved. I hated the world and thought everyone was against me. I came across Arte Despertar when I was 14. Music helped me work on these issues of mine and I began changing very subtly. This went on for a time. Then I suddenly realized I’d become a different person.

What improvements did you experience? I identified deeply with the art educators. I learned discipline and responsibility from them. They sowed in me the seed of believing, of positive thinking. If I hadn’t joined Arte Despertar’s music project, my life would probably have been entirely different. I’ve tried to imagine what it would be like. Maybe I wouldn’t even have finished high school. I’d already have at least two kids,

like most of the girls in my community. That kind of life no longer attracts me. I’m very happy with the life I lead now and with everything I’ve done so far. The project broadened my horizons and introduced me to a whole new world. I couldn’t have done that on my own. What led you to become a volunteer with Arte Despertar? Are you an art educator now? I was invited to take the training course and for a time I worked as an art educator in Arte Despertar’s project, but not any more. Before that, while I was a project beneficiary, we worked with several values, one of which was solidarity. I learned that learning can intensify your feeling of solidarity. In fact, I realized I could make a contribution myself. It’s gratifying to be a multiplier, to be able to pass on what you’ve learned. I enjoyed the experience of working with education so much that I took part in a selection process for the Paraisópolis Community Center. I remember the first rhythm I learned – it was bumba-meu-boi. It made such a strong impression that I always started with it whenever a new project began while I was an educator. What’s the importance of this project in your opinion? It was fundamental in my basic life choices back then. It was the gateway I needed to explore many possibilities. I didn’t have much hope of personal development, but the encounter with these art educators helped me realize I had musical talent as well as teaching abilities. What’s it like to participate and work to help other people? Just like the project that awakened me, I also want that to happen to other people. I want to contribute to their having the same opportunity as I had. I hope to make a difference to other people. What does it mean to you to be an art educator? An educator must first and foremost be true to

herself before she can teach someone else. I don’t believe in “do as I say, don’t do as I do”. You have to set the people you teach an example. You’re often what they look up to. An educator’s work is highly gratifying. The work I do now is with children. I try to teach Brazilian culture through music. The methodology I learned at Arte Despertar is part of my professional life. I use music as an educational tool. Carla Batista Alves Tell me a little about your life. My name is Carla Batista Alves. I’m 23. I was born and brought up in the Paraisópolis community. I’m studying language, literature and translation at Universidade Mackenzie. I’m a grant-aided student there. I’ve always loved to study but I never had the chance or expected to, until Arte Despertar came along and I leaped at the chance. When did you come across Arte Despertar? In 2001. I wanted to learn to draw and Arte Despertar had an art project in the community called “Awakening to Peace with Art”. I thought art was about rules and aesthetics but I discovered it’s also subjective. There’s no recipe. It’s a way of expressing yourself. I didn’t expect the project to become as important in my life as it did. I joined in to learn to draw and I was fortunate to meet some brilliant and enlightened people, the art educators. They succeeded in awakening me to art. I’ve since participated in many art and music projects in the Paraisópolis community organized by Arte Despertar. What improvements did you experience? The community I live in is seen as a violent place where people have no chance to make progress. However, I’m the living proof that it isn’t true. You can get ahead. All you need is the will. Of course, I

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was very lucky to be part of a social project that has opened so many doors. Before that, when I was 15, I never left home alone for fear of violence. I didn’t know anything about the outside world. I’d never been to a mall. I was insecure, frightened, I felt inferior. Now I’m a communicative person. I can express myself well. I’m creative and I’ve developed mechanisms and techniques to express feelings through art. I like what I produce. I think I make interesting pieces. Before I had no life prospects. Today I have goals and work to achieve what I want. In future I plan to work in the arts. Although I never even used to go out alone, now I’m thinking of going to France to improve my French. How long were you in the project in Paraisópolis? Nine years. During that period I participated as both educand and educator. What’s the importance of this project in your opinion? Arte Despertar has made a huge difference to my life. In the project I learned to share learning and had many experiences. Participating in Arte Despertar has been very important for me. I am who I am because I’ve been through these processes and had these experiences. How did the Association awaken you? It awakened me in the sense that I’m no longer content with a mediocre life lacking in prospects. It taught me to believe in my abilities, that I can create as I want and as I prefer as long as it’s pertinent to what I plan. Before I was hidebound by rules and aesthetics. Now I see art as a way of expressing feelings. The materials are just the means to produce art. Aesthetics isn’t the most important thing. How has this work influenced your life? Participating in the projects in the Paraisópolis community has enabled me to acquire professional experience.

I’ve been very well tutored by professionals, people who have left their mark on my life for ever. This has influenced my character, and undoubtedly helped me get my first job as an art educator. The supervising educator once said to me during an activity, “There’s a creative solution to everything,” and showed me how important it is to observe and listen. That will stay with me for ever. I learned to persevere and believe in my own ability. I learned from the art educators to explore materials and understand the creative process, its possibilities and working techniques. I also had emotional experiences that gave me the strength to seize the opportunities that came up in my life. I believed in myself when no one else did – like when I applied for a grant at the university, for example. Are you an art educator now? Not any more. The project in Paraisópolis has ended. But I was, and if Arte Despertar had continued its work there I would still be participating. The community is a violent place and Arte Despertar made a difference to a lot of people. It’s a way of discovering yourself as an individual, your value as a member of society. What led you to become a volunteer with Arte Despertar? I had the opportunity to learn and change my life. I believe in learning through solidarity and multiplying knowledge. When I was invited to take the training course for educators in 2004, I was very happy because it was an opportunity to pass on the cultural baggage and the experience I’d acquired. Hat does it mean to you to be an art educator? I never thought I had the capacity to be an educator. It’s most rewarding to see your students making progress and realize you’re making a difference to their lives. In these social projects, art educators don’t just educate, they often play the part of mother and father. You’re dealing with people who are very deprived and

lack a compass for their lives. An art educator’s job is to teach art and also to help people enjoy art, but the very first step of all is to win the group’s trust. I find the work very enjoyable. I feel more of a citizen for making a difference to these people’s lives.

Before we began implementing any projects, we brought together well-known educators with experience in the educational use of drama, storytelling, art and music. They met to discuss and draw up the organization’s objectives and the pathways to achieve them. Dario Ferreira Guarita Filho

Institutional structuring When Arte Despertar began, the idea was to start as a nucleus, a cell, a single unit. From this beginning it multiplied, becoming organic and mutating. Initially, although the idea was clear-cut, no one knew how it would turn out. Creating the logo, for example: it couldn’t be hard, it had to be malleable, rounded. And the colors: we went for the warmer colors, the colors of nature, earth and sun, because our work involved people, human beings. A logo is a graphical representation of an enterprise. It has to depict the DNA of that enterprise. Another point about the colors is that we chose ocher and orange, which are warm colors. Also, we chose a sans serif typeface to suggest the boldly innovative, because it was a groundbreaking project.

society in the context of hospital humanization. The organization has a firm grasp of the challenges and the techniques it needs to introduce. It learns by doing. And in my view it’s been very successful in achieving what it set out to do. So I’ve been very impressed and there’s no doubt in my mind that in future this NGO will bring very beneficial changes to Brazil. Patrick Charles Morin Jr.

It was very difficult to write the bylaws. To define the corporate purpose, the mission, everything else you need. Nowadays you call a law office and they do it for you. It wasn’t like that then, I believe. Guilherme Vidigal Andrade Gonçalves The structure was steadily improved, in a process of organic growth involving the people themselves but also with help from many outsiders who contributed knowledge, enhanced the team, and also helped with fundraising. José Ferraz Ferreira Filho

Enrique De Goeye Neto I find being on the board of Arte Despertar very interesting, because it’s an organization that takes a highly professional approach to its projects. It discusses goals and forms of action in a clear, methodical fashion. It’s creative, and manages its projects with skillfully developed plans. With my experience in the business sector, I see Arte Despertar just like any other organization, and working with it is highly satisfactory since I can make comments on plans and objectives that have been painstakingly analyzed. In offering my opinions, I try to suggest alternative approaches and encourage new proposals. Lúcio de Castro Andrade Filho

Teresa Guarita Grynberg To organize Arte Despertar we used the same concepts and structures used by business organizations. Bylaws and governance differed somewhat from the usual Third Sector approach. The Third Sector was only just getting off the ground at that time. We brought in marketing professionals, lawyers, auditors, because we wanted to build a dynamic organization along corporate lines rather than the traditional charity. We have an elected board of governors for strategic oversight and an executive committee.

Creating the Association’s slogan was an important step: “Our art is awakening the best in you”. Setting up the advisory and supervisory boards at arm’s length from the founders and associates was also important. Dario Ferreira Guarita Neto I joined Arte Despertar’s board of governors and continue to follow its progress by overseeing its various projects. But what impresses me most about Arte Despertar is that the leaders think big. I’ve been around long enough to realize that the organization is positioned today to have a very strong impact on Brazilian

the partnership. For example, Arte Despertar is in touch with large corporations and people who believe in its work. The partnerships it enters into have to be underpinned by contracts and agreements. Everything has to be transparent and properly documented. There are also employment-related issues. We guarantee legal security in all these areas for Arte Despertar. This work is done by lawyers in our various practices according to the requirements concerned.

When we began our partnership, we exchanged a vote of confidence. We didn’t know if it would work out, if the results would be satisfactory, but we started working and addressing Arte Despertar’s requirements. Over the years the Association has grown and its activities have expanded. The partnership has become stronger, and both parties are satisfied with the results, which are gratifying. We’re proud of this partnership. My law firm, De Goeye Advogados Associados, chose Arte Despertar to provide pro bono legal aid. We donate many hours of work to this cause, hence

Methodological structuring When I was working as an art educator and teacher at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC/USP), the dream of Arte Despertar was beginning and the director of the Museum was Ana Mae Barbosa, an eminent art educator. Regina Guarita contacted Professor Barbosa through her sister, who belonged to the Association of Friends of the Museum. Regina was then planning to set up what was to become Arte Despertar. Ana Mae asked me to talk to Regina and see how I could help. So that was our first contact. Back then the office was already on Rua Helena. By this time Ana Mae had finished developing conceptually the methodological formulation that came to be known as the Triangular Approach to Art Education. This proposal was starting to be implemented and the first experiments were taking place to teach art in this way. So that was what I brought to the conversation with Regina at Arte Despertar. My contribution to the process consisted of these theoretical foundations. As art educators were taken on board, these theoretical foundations were discussed and put into practice in the form of projects led by the professionals concerned.

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The work they do is very serious, very carefully thought through, very important. It involves a combination of several elements. Arte Despertar has a mission, which is to help individuals develop through artistic activities. Over time, in all these years of witnessing the activities, reading reports and watching performances of plays and music, I’ve seen work done to a high level of quality and individuals who have had real opportunities to develop personally and artistically.

Another impressive dimension is the work they do with art educators, inviting them to develop and lead projects. These professionals are trained on the job, given access to courses, lectures, project planning meetings and so on. Initially this helped construct the profile of Arte Despertar as well as the profiles of the professionals concerned. I’ve seen a lot of people who have matured through their participation in Arte Despertar and are now outstanding artists and art educators in a broader social sphere. So there has been a process of leadership building.

Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi One thing I can say, first, is that it was a marvelous experience to be invited to work with Arte Despertar. I don’t remember very clearly how it happened, but I recall my first contact with Regina, which was through mutual friends or something of that kind. I was very excited and impressed by the soundness of the methodology and the intense dedication, which was very heartwarming. So the idea was for us to do something at the hospital. This was the biggest challenge in the world – what were we to do there? Also, it was going to work at a place called Aldeia SOS (SOS Children’s Village), which was just getting under way. Theater was one of the possibilities.

One of the first challenges was team building. We began very small and then expanded. (...) My own involvement was always with the educators, both those who worked in hospitals and those engaged in the communities, working with stories in the oral tradition. We always tried to activate imagination and imagery linked to cultural diversity, ethnic diversity, seasonal festivities, a universe in dialogue with the culture of each person we met. The work involved a dialogue among various cultures. I led some very intense training workshops where we studied the stories, looked at the art and listened to the music of a particular ethnic group. The plan was to weave a broad tapestry, with various ways of seeing the same culture.

Lígia Cortez Stela Barbieri They’ve always worked with professionals, educators, people who have done teacher training. Arte Despertar introduced play, games, as a way to learn and acquire culture for families as well as children. Everything from music to the arts. (...) Wow! Visual arts, that was a fabulous idea! Célia Yukiko Osato

The biggest challenge was approaching these children. The first contact was as a group, although we did talk to each one individually. Then there came a moment when we started working with their mothers so they could understand and see what was going on, and grasp the value of it. It was a profound learning process and a very tough reality to come to terms with.

Shortly after that we went to Paraisópolis. This was a partnership agreement with the Einstein in the Paraisópolis Community Program [run by Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein]. It started very small, with the children grouped by age, and although they were very poor they had a family structure for support.

weather, and so on. Stories are impregnated with all these things. All these layers of reading made possible by a culture are concentrated in them. Stories synthesize human complexity and spiritual yearning. Stela Barbieri

Lígia Cortez I believe art is really a way to awaken people, a transformation that leads individuals to change their way of seeing, their worldview. Art works with people’s sensibilities and perceptions, enabling them to develop new ways of learning that can cast new light on their lives and open up new perspectives. Regina has always worked with art as a means to learn from your own experience, based on each participant’s personal development. You should never take too big a step or go too fast. It’s one small step after another in a continuous construction that involves participation by everyone. (...)

We all have art inside us. It’s just a matter of letting it well up to the surface. What’s more, I believe art is vital. It isn’t a choice. It’s totally different when you work with something else, anything that isn’t art, that’s vocational or leads to a job later on. When you work with art you’re forming the individual. It can be beneficial. It can be therapeutic, positive, if other people listen. It’s a form of metaphorical communication. (...) That’s very important so that we can get a lot of things off our chest — monsters, fears, difficulties — through art. And it’s crucial that others see your work. You need to have performances, exhibitions, communication. Lígia Cortez

The storytelling universe can lead an individual to their own story. Regina Machado, a great storyteller, likes to say that there is a vertical axis, which is the story, and a horizontal axis, which is your life, and the two axes intersect. Through this intersection you can retell your own story through the stories you tell. What matters most to the storyteller is being at the service of the story and the listener. This encounter has the power to transform people through art. The artwork is the point of contact. It’s through these interactions that transformations can happen. A hospital patient, for example, can see the world from a new angle. The light at the end of the tunnel is the artwork.

We would go to hospitals and communities, and I would provide assistance based on the educators’ practice. It was very interesting work. The educators were incessantly challenged to invest in the relationship with each and every person present, to find a way in, despite the pain or unhappiness those people felt, so as to gain access to their healthy, hopeful side, creating an internal world of images and stories in which the narrative sequence could suspend reality for a moment and let other emotions in. Stela Barbieri

I think storytellers need to know themselves very well and also need to be very familiar with the universe of stories, the cultural universe, everything around the story, the context, the meanings, smells, tastes, the

What I see is that this challenge of working with a person who is in a vulnerable situation because

they’re paralyzed or disabled in one way or another, even temporarily, or debilitated, obliges these art educators to find absolutely unique procedures for addressing each situation. Sometimes the patient is there and then just not there the week after. You never know who you will be working with when you arrive or how ready people are to work with you at that moment. There are people who are undergoing chemotherapy or hemodialysis or in the ICU or in any number of different situations. Because of all that, Arte Despertar’s team had to formulate principles and strategies for their work, not just in terms of how to proceed with specific people but also how to organize the material used in these activities – what to take along, how to package it all, how to prepare. All that was created by the Arte Despertar process. Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi The key thing is that the vast majority of the children treated here at the hospital have never been exposed to this type of stimulus, and it’s easy to see how interested they are by this introduction to culture. (...) Healing is not enough. We want to heal and also to provide quality of life and social inclusion, meaning they have a chance to find a job after they leave here, or to study. If possible, they should leave here with new skills and abilities, so they can continue their lives positively, so this disease [cancer] doesn’t stop them from living their lives. (...) To me the key to humanization is that you treat others as you would like to be treated. How would I want a child of mine to be treated while in hospital? So you have to ask what’s most important for this to happen. I think we’ve made a lot of progress. Once upon a time people accepted whatever they were given. Children weren’t taken seriously anyway. Our experience shows the opposite. Our watchword is solidarity. We try to partner with their families. We work with Arte

Despertar and other NGOs to make sure children’s right to care is respected. In the case of Arte Despertar, art educators have a very serious task to perform. They’re extremely objective about it. They actually do teach the children we have here. So humanization helps time pass while they’re in hospital, attenuates the pain and the trauma. That’s fundamental. Antonio Sérgio Petrilli Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo, a charity hospital in the city of São Paulo, also has a cultural arm. This places a high value on culture through a number of projects involving museums, for example, among other things. In fact, we have a museum inside the hospital. So the institution itself gives priority to culture and art. This chimes perfectly with the goals of Arte Despertar, whose approach to thinking about art and the value of art is similar to our own. Bringing art in all its forms, even the simplest, to our patients means offering them a whole new experience that doesn’t just revolve around the corporeal. This is beneficial for everyone, of course, for the patients and the institution. Wilze Laura Bruscato I think its role is fundamental. Let me take an area I feel comfortable talking about, which is humanization, especially in hospitals. This is incredibly rich in my view, for two reasons. The first is medical. As you increase the levels of specialization, subspecialties, technology etc., you start finding it hard to know whether it’s the technology that produces the diagnosis, the treatment, and governs relationships between patients and carers. Patients often focus on the machine. The human meaning of the relationship is lost. These changes that have been made so that new technology can help the pa-

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tient have also optimized time for health workers. The downside is that they are now more remote from patients. So the time they do spend with patients is strictly technical. There’s a whole other side to the patient’s life, family, work and so on, a lot of things that bring in distress and worry. None of that is typically taken into account. This is a major problem for the sector today. Then in comes Arte Despertar to help, using art as an instrument – not just an instrument of play or fun, but one that helps recreate this world that the individual has lost. It’s a chance the health system has refused to provide. So Arte Despertar plays an extremely important role, first and foremost for the well-being of patients and their families, but also indirectly creating the conditions for the psychic components of illness not to affect the somatic components, because all illnesses are psychosomatic. If you can work with the individual’s emotions, you can help prevent the emotions worsening the physical component. That’s why I see their work as incredibly rich. I’m taking the hospital angle because I’m familiar with that, and because it doesn’t matter where the patients are, they can be in São Paulo, Rio or Maceió. Arte Despertar is just the beginning: it’s practically obliged to disseminate its practices and experiences so they can be repeated by others. Marcos Kisil I believe treatment doesn’t just require medication: emotion also counts for a great deal. Depressed people attract disease and take longer to get well again, whereas happy people tend to make faster progress from a clinical standpoint. Carlos Vicente Serrano Junior Children come along without any ideas about art, drama, music or literature. As they develop and

awaken, they become capable of expressing themselves through painting, playing music, singing and doing theater. It’s striking to see how much a child can develop in a single year. I learned a lot. It’s a unique approach. There’s no pressure, no preparation for primary school, no hard and fast rules about the three Rs. It’s entirely different. The whole point is to let the child flower. I learned a lot from Arte Despertar and that helped me later in my work with other projects. Maria Nadir Azevedo de Moraes Methodology is key. No project can succeed without it. For example, this Arte Despertar project couldn’t be done if it didn’t have a structure. Our sponsorship was a benefit for the children and it had a methodology that guaranteed the benefit. Even voluntary activities require a methodology. Another important point is that this is new in the corporate environment. When you introduce a project of this kind into a business organization, if it lacks consistency and fails the business will wait a long time to try anything similar again and you end up spoiling a good idea. William Malfatti

The Setting I was privileged to start working in this sector at a particular time in Brazilian history. I belong to a generation of university graduates who got involved in social issues when Brazil wasn’t a democracy. One of the difficulties about not being a democracy is that

people have no chance to exercise their citizenship and participate in political decision making, which affects everyone’s lives. So my generation has always been eager to retrieve these values. This process of retrieving democracy started at the end of the military regime in 1985, and gathered momentum between then and 1988, when the new Constitution was promulgated. I was lucky enough to be part of the generation that fought for democracy and succeeded. In 1988, the year of the new Constitution, I went to the United States to do a PhD in business administration. It was very interesting for me while I was there to discover two personages I didn’t know in Brazil, possibly because they didn’t exist. One was what you could call the social entrepreneur, a person who has ideas about how to change the status quo, change society, and typically doesn’t use money to do so. The other is the philanthropist, who has money, has been good at making money, but isn’t always involved in social issues. Putting these two personages together enables society to determine its own fortunes outside the government arena. I’d never seen that in Brazil, where all the decisions that affected society were made by government. I found it in the U.S. and became fascinated by the idea. I think there has been a lot of important progress in the past ten years. (...) Today you find strong determination among civil society organizations, which are taking their mission seriously, professionalizing, planning, using management models, information technology, and emphasizing personnel recruitment. These are all tasks for a professionally run organization. Back when the Third Sector began, there was an feeling that everything was important. Organizations found it hard to focus, to work out their own way forward, their vocation or trajectory. As a result, they wasted energy, effort and money because they didn’t have a clear idea of what they wanted to do. This has changed. Nowadays they set out to

define a mission, a role, a program; they work on success indicators and so on. All this is part of what these organizations do and didn’t exist ten years ago. Another point I want to stress is that these organizations have started to see that the Third Sector needs partnerships. I believe there was a lot of pentup energy when the Third Sector began – everyone wanted to go out and do everything. The ones that succeeded had a strong brand. It was unusual for them to build partnerships. Organizations wanted their projects to be exclusively their own. That was only natural. What I’m saying is that at the time it was very important for individuals to establish a clear position, to be unique. Now, however, people are more aware of the need for partnerships right from a program’s inception. The last point is that they used to call themselves NGOs because they didn’t want to work with government, but now they’re aware of the role played by government, which is to disseminate their work to the general public. So there’s no longer a clear distinction between what’s non-governmental and governmental. Now they know they have to work together for any participatory citizenship process to succeed. Here in Brazil I’ve been in the social sector since the beginnings of redemocratization. I’ve been involved with several movements since the Constituent Assembly, and with the emergence of various movements, such as Instituto Ayrton Senna, Abrinq, Ethos, Centro de Voluntariado de São Paulo, and academic groups that do research on the Third Sector. I’ve been privileged to be part of all these movements and I’m one of those people who feel deeply grateful and convinced that the Third Sector can be a tremendous benefit to society. Personally I don’t like the term Third Sector. I prefer civil society organizations, an expression with a very important positive connotation, relating to what they give to society, rather than a negative one relating to the fact

that they are non-governmental. My baptism and growth in the Third Sector happened as I’ve told you. That includes my thirty years of experience. Marcos Kisil There’s much more professionalism today, in my opinion. As a result, structures similar to those of firms in the Second Sector have begun to emerge. The Third Sector has started to understand this as an efficiency model and hence the evolution we’ve seen in the last ten years. In addition, they invest their funds more effectively thanks to this professionalization. Heloisa Guarita Padilha The Third Sector fills the gaps left by the public sector. Of course there are distortions, but mostly a lot of hard work gets done. It’s all very serious. We’re in touch with other NGOs and others that do the same as us are clearly very efficient. This isn’t just happening in Brazil, evidently, but here there’s such acute inequality that it’s very fertile ground. People come to see us when they’re starting an NGO. So we’re a benchmark.

I think we still have some unresolved issues. I’d say one unresolved issue is how the government should treat civil society organizations. Brazil still doesn’t have a legal framework, and the government needs to provide more incentives for Third Sector initiatives. It seems to me that the government continues to display a certain fear of directly supporting what society can do for itself. This requires more work. Society needs to lobby for changes to public policy on the issue of citizenship. A second concern is governance and the leadership turnover these organizations require. Many of these organizations were set up by people who are still running them. As a result, there isn’t a second generation ready to take over. I’m talking generally here, pointing out that the Third Sector isn’t good at producing new leaders. A third concern relates to the use of evaluation, which should be more frequent. We’re used to evaluating products in Brazil, but not processes, the processes used to make something or do something, and we also don’t evaluate the impact of processes on the people who benefit. (...) So these are the three main points that still require more work. Marcos Kisil

There’s been a great deal of growth in the past few years, but without organization. The number of social projects has increased, as well as the number of volunteers. I’ve been working in the field for 23 years and when I analyze what’s happening I can see this is a highly positive trend: we used to be considered people who had nothing better to do, especially us women.

Here at this institution, we have certainly changed. In my view many healthcare institutions introduce humanization practices merely to comply with ministerial orders. That’s not the case here. We’ve had this from the cradle. It’s no accident that we’re called “Santa Casa de Misericórdia” [“Holy House of Mercy”]. We’ve always practiced humanized care. I believe Associação Arte Despertar, which is now ten years old, thought of this first because the Ministry of Health started thinking about it at around the same time.

Telma Sobolh

Wilze Laura Bruscato

José Ferraz Ferreira Filho

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Humanization is constantly spreading. Today it’s an international trend, linking social assistance and humanization to find ways and means of including the emotions in patient care. This is going to get bigger all the time. Hospitals are aware of its importance and are already seeking ways to ensure humanization becomes a routine part of the care they provide. Carlos Vicente Serrano Junior There’s no vision of a network, of the First, Second and Third Sectors embracing to produce indicators. NGOs often see each other as competitors, because when someone starts a new project they don’t check if there’s already a similar one so they could join forces. Everyone wants their own. I also think visibility is lacking for many NGOs that are really good, very correct, but don’t have the chance to show others what they’re doing. The Third Sector started with a paradigm that needed to be broken when the first organization called itself non-governmental. That “non” spoils everything. (...) You have to work with government. You need support from government as well as support from private enterprise, because you’re trying to do what you do for everyone. Look at it from the investment standpoint: business organizations cut back on social projects whenever there’s a crisis, before they make cuts in marketing or training. I would say a policy is already in place so that we have to make it happen. That’s our challenge, bringing about that transformation. If we can empower our patients, provide information to them so they can take preventive action to care for their health, if all these actions are in effect promoting that, then we expect shorter waiting lists and more highly valued profes-

sionals. (...) So it’s valid for everyone. When we make this vision work for everyone, the future wins. Valdir Cimino

Successes and failures All this work was carried out very professionally. What I find striking is that Associação Arte Despertar doesn’t use volunteers but professionals. I think that’s very important. José Ferraz Ferreira Filho The art educators were paid: that was one of the first things Regina said at the meeting. I found that really interesting and important, because it’s a job and more than anything there has to be real bonding with the children. This was serious work, commitment to a goal, a mission to enable learning about art. I think this changes everything. When you’re working with children and you have paid professionals you achieve continuity and a different sort of relationship from what you get with volunteers. I used to say to the professionals, “Look, this is a serious commitment and you must take it seriously. The children will have expectations. They’ve been abandoned so often and they need your commitment.” Lígia Cortez In these ten years the number of people who have benefited from the activities of Arte Despertar could have been far greater, but its constant pursuit of perfection has limited the universe.

For example, we realized that working in hospitals was the most important and original aspect of what we were doing. As a result, as soon as we began reflecting on our experience we immediately made a point of producing a handbook, a manual on hospital humanization through art. Professionalism became a hallmark of the Association and will continue to be its most salient feature, even though this means it reaches a smaller number of people. In its relationships with partners, this profissionalization, the endeavor to achieve perfection and to record and disseminate the lessons learned, all this has not always been properly understood by all concerned. Many partners are business organizations and so they often ask us for more speed, more publicity for their sponsorship, larger numbers of beneficiaries. Dario Ferreira Guarita Filho Yes, changing, changing. That’s what Arte Despertar does. They’re always evaluating, always calling in consultants, groups of experts to discuss specific issues. I was able to take part in one of these processes. It’s very enriching. Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi Look, I find it very hard to locate any flaws because the structure is so well organized. (...) So it’s hard to make a suggestion or point to a flaw. But I’m an enthusiastic advocate of our project, so don’t expect me to be critical, even constructively. José Ferraz Ferreira Filho

I don’t work for Arte Despertar, but I get the impression it’s always building. They have one big strength: they’re always evolving, always engaged in a process of construction. Teresa Guarita Grynberg Arte Despertar has experience in several fields. Today all these successful attempts have matured, and I feel the Association is very balanced, with a solid track record and a soundly built legacy. It’s tough that everything still centers on Regina, but I think her style of working is extremely important. Lígia Cortez One of the best results is when children and their families experience the hospital as something other than suffering. Many keep coming back to visit the hospital thanks to this discovery, this positive recollection of hospitalization, as not just being about pain and suffering. There can also be fun, which is important for adults as well as children. Some research even shows improvements in children’s immunity. They’re less unhappy or depressed, their anxiety diminishes, they don’t feel so worried. How? Through pleasure, the pleasure of listening to music and stories, singing, creating. All that affects the organism. It has a physiological impact. It improves immunity and can even reduce the length of hospital stays.

patients if we don’t adopt them as an institution in our relationships with health workers. So we have this dual perspective. Humanization is important for both patients and their families, and for our own staff. Doctors and nurses are constantly dealing with pain, suffering, death, and they also need to be cared for. It’s extremely important for the institution to adopt these practices. For patients, for example, the group relieves their suffering considerably when it interacts directly with them. Family members also take part when they are staying at the hospital as carers. So these are ways in which the tension created by the hospital can be mitigated. The patients experience this relief because health workers who are involved in humanization training and procedures are able to deal with patients with greater lightness and cheerfulness. So the patients and their families benefit both ways. That’s what we expect and what has actually happened. Wilze Laura Bruscato The children feel totally involved and begin to learn that hospitals aren’t just places where you have needles stuck in you and take medication and all that. (...) So in our view what Arte Despertar does here with us is extremely useful in helping us to provide humanized care for children. (...) They become more accepting and often succeed in receiving the treatment they need, because adherence and compliance get better, frequently improving survival. Antonio Sérgio Petrilli

Célia Yukiko Osato Our Humanization Committee has discussed the need for a two-sided approach. It’s no use asking our health workers to adopt humanization practices with

Hospital humanization is actually a new way of practicing healthcare. Treatment and other healthcarerelated actions must occur but they can be performed in a humanized manner. So it’s the way you deliver the

care that must be human, from saying “Good morning” to all the medical procedures you use. Wilze Laura Bruscato Arte Despertar provides emotional support to patients through the work it does in humanization. Carlos Vicente Serrano Junior Arte Despertar’s work in hospitals isn’t just for children. It’s for us professionals, too. Today was a day I needed them, for example, because they give us a break from the agitation that’s too stressful for staff, let alone for the children and families. The activities they bring here can restore a degree of balance. (...) Hospital humanization is just that. The art educators come into that hospital mechanism, that machine driven by concern, decision making, painful procedures, and they make a break with all that machinery, they provide relief, and that’s what humanization is, that’s Arte Despertar’s achievement. Célia Yukiko Osato I’ve always had an interest in community work. I belief in human beings and that’s why I devote myself to them. As a businessman I need well-trained people, but human beings always have flaws or gaps. I’ve always loved helping to prepare and develop people and it’s moving to hear people testify to the way something has improved their lives. I get exactly that emotion from Arte Despertar’s projects, where you can see the improvement in the lives of health workers and patients. Lúcio de Castro Andrade Filho

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Well, I’ll begin with what I left. I left an open door. That was nice – I left the organization and the project continued. That’s what demonstrated the project’s legitimacy. It was the organization’s project, not mine. It was a good project; in fact, it’s still running today. And what did Arte Despertar leave me? It taught me a different attitude to the Rouanet Law [which offers tax breaks in exchange for cultural investment by business]. My prior experience had involved using the law for major projects with scant social impact. I confess I didn’t have much faith in Arte Despertar when it started. I was wrong. We succeeded. What I’m trying to say is that Arte Despertar taught me to see that the amount of money you have isn’t the key to whether you support a project or not. The experience showed me you can do a relevant project without loads of money. Another lesson I learned was about the impact of a project of this kind on the community. I’d never been into a favela [slum] before, when one day Regina invited me along. So I saw, for example, the incredible outreach of the Einstein in the Paraisópolis Community Program, how it has transformed the community. The people who live in that area know they have a point of support for healthcare, education, schooling etc., and that it’s a program designed to assure cultural development in a cyclical manner. You can see the impact it has on the community. You can see the look of hope about the future on people’s faces, the look of happiness, their expectations that things can only get better. And they demand that respect because they constitute a community. You see those people developing, improving their organization, earning an honest livelihood. There’s a very mistaken idea about what a favela is, or a community as we prefer to call it. The prejudice is that all the people who live there are hopeless or feckless, dangerous even, people without a job or a trade, drifters. That’s not it at all. When you go in, what you see is that people grasp all the opportunities they’re offered. Arte Despertar awakened me to this. It enabled me to see the community differently. That’s great, because I believe that kind of experience makes you think differently

about what a favela is, what a community is. That’s the biggest lesson of all.

Partnering

The work done by Arte Despertar is wonderful: hat’s off to them! It’s really effective and well-planned. They know where to go and what to do. The music project in Paraisópolis is extremely impressive!

One of the first partners I found for the Einstein in the Paraisópolis Community Program was Arte Despertar. I believe children can develop through art, develop their personalities more fully, if they have a chance to express themselves, to show what they think and feel about life. It’s been a very positive relationship from the word go. I believe I’ve also developed by working with Arte Despertar.

Maria Nadir Azevedo de Moraes

Telma Sobolh

Typically they’re a little timid. I don’t know if it’s a mistake. It’s a very conservative style. It’s a characteristic, with pros and cons. As far as the disposition to attract people is concerned, you could say it’s a mistake.

My relationship with Arte Despertar was very interesting because I’d just joined a corporation that was structuring its communication sector and strengthening its brand nationwide. Just as we were putting our plans together, Arte Despertar came along with a proposal. It included a project called “Weekends with Music” for the Paraisópolis community. The idea was to use Rouanet Law incentives. It would have a considerable social impact by giving children from the community something to do on Saturdays. Arte Despertar proposed to run activities there so as to inspire the children to develop an interest in music. (...) The project was a huge surprise. (...) This was in 2000, and it’s still running today. We succeeded in implementing the project in a well-organized form. It began with one group, then along came others, they performed music for the kids and a lot of them liked it so much they became professionals and are now making a living as musicians.

William Malfatti

Guilherme Vidigal Andrade Gonçalves I think the first “round” as an institution was with a pharmaceutical company, and the first slip-up was also with that company, when they changed their CEO and sponsorships as well. So then we had to go out and get another sponsor. Dario Ferreira Guarita Neto It’s very important for people to know about this work, about what’s happened in the past few years, about the numbers and so on, so that the Association can grow. We need to publicize what we’re doing as widely as possible. We need to multiply our knowledge, take it to new places we’ve never thought of going to. That could enable us to expand our outreach via a multiplier model. Heloisa Guarita Padilha

William Malfatti Arte Despertar was fundamental for our programming in the Paraisópolis community. (...) However, when you consider Third Sector organizations in general, it’s important to realize that an NGO is not an organiza-

tion like any other. I believe only those with stability in every respect will survive, and that includes conveying a sense of credibility to the market. (...) We knew we had to offer better conditions for partners to work with us, both physically and administratively. Telma Sobolh While I was head of JP Morgan Brazil, the vision I had was that our institution would support initiatives and projects in which our employees could participate actively, so that they could have an experience I believe to be extremely important — realizing that we’re all part of society, that we have to help the people who need help, and that helping people participate more in society isn’t just a matter of making donations. It’s making an effort to understand the challenges faced by the organizations that set out to create value in the social sense, participating actively in that context, and making sure their participation produces results. We also had another goal, which was to enable the employees of the institution, in this case JP Morgan, to identify with organizations responsible for projects by sharing their work. Nothing could do that better than the kind of work Arte Despertar was then doing, especially hospital humanization, to enable our employees to experience directly what happens when people work together to improve living conditions not just in hospitals but for the needy in general. This produced fantastic results at the organizational level. There was a lot of talk about how to organize the voluntary work done by employees over the weekend, in the evenings, the songs they sang, they drawings they produced, and all this created throughout the institution, JP Morgan, a sense of pride that people were doing something that had an important effect on the lives of other human beings, particularly people who were sick. Patrick Charles Morin Jr.

When the first contact happened between Arte Despertar and the institution, I was called in as chair of the Humanization Committee. And I can genuinely say it was a tender relationship that led to engagement and marriage and is still working really well right now. We immediately identified with their values and vision. So we met on common ground and then we held a number of meetings for mutual introduction. The Association showed us what they wanted to do here. The committee obtained authorization from our superiors. The people brought in by the Association were very good and it presented us with a timetable that was relatively easy to implement in our units. Directors of units were also asked to authorize the activities. Since then we’ve met regularly, every month, with me and with a person representing the place where the Association carries out its activities. This has worked out very well. Wilze Laura Bruscato Arte Despertar got going just as the debate about hospital humanization was starting. That’s over ten years ago. Their proposal dates from that period, when there was very little of that kind of thing. (...) At the time we had a group here at Hospital das Clínicas that was supposed to help patients with basic necessities. No one was thinking more broadly about patient needs, especially those of children. Célia Yukiko Osato We hope the partnership with Arte Despertar continues. We’re very interested in sharing this space here with a project that has been highly successful. I’d like to take the opportunity to express thanks for all the hard work and collaboration. We’re trying to do complementary things, healing children and helping them

leave the hospital feeling victorious to carry on with the rest of their lives as competent citizens. Antonio Sérgio Petrilli The partnership between De Goeye Advogados Associados and Arte Despertar began some time ago. Its starting-point was friendship. During a get-together they told me about the work they were doing and it sounded great to me. Very well organized and serious. I got interested in the cause and decided I should devote some time to pro bono legal work, a form of volunteering in which you provide fully professional legal services without charging any fees. Enrique De Goeye Neto I find the projects very interesting and effective, as evidenced by the results and by the acceptance of partners and sponsors. The response of the organizations that have opened their doors to Arte Despertar’s activities and its beneficiaries shows how much it helps and is useful to human beings. Indeed, Arte Despertar has been working in some hospitals for years. That proves how effective its work is. Lúcio de Castro Andrade Filho

Sustainability Things are a lot better now than they were ten years ago, in my view. The learning curve is a valuable reality. There are very good projects to look at. I also think business organizations are more aware that they need to get involved somehow. This is one of the best lessons learned. They’ve made sig-

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nificant progress by starting to keep track of how these resources are used. And they’ve found ways of inserting people into these projects. It’s good for a company’s brand, out there on the front line, and it’s good for the company’s self-esteem as well. (...) Businesses now consider these issues to be part of their corporate goals. These resources were allocated to the community and had a direct impact on the people there. So the project wasn’t confined to promoting culture, which is essentially what the Rouanet Law is for, but had a broader social impact.

keep going. The next step was to submit projects for approval of tax incentives under the Rouanet Law, so that companies could deduct investment in social projects from their tax liabilities. Then came product marketing. This is the best part. Arte Despertar is actually an enterprise through which products are sold, so you have a meeting of interests between the Third Sector and private enterprise. (...) This product interests me because I buy the product as a business proposition. It’s business but at the same time it’s a non-profit. I think that’s the most important driver of sustainability for the Association. Dario Ferreira Guarita Neto

From then on we were invited to make presentations about our partnership and about details of the project. I had an opportunity to participate alongside Arte Despertar in two presentations we made to introduce the project to other firms. People were surprised by this approach to using the incentives offered by the law at that time. It was a special moment. It was easy for you to join a project like that. I think this question of using tax breaks via that project serves as an example. It sets an example that is still valid now, nine years later. It’s a project that has validity in the present. It’s still a symbol.

José Ferraz Ferreira Filho As far as sustainability is concerned, initially the idea was to find a sponsor so that Arte Despertar could

Heloisa Guarita Padilha

First and foremost, the model has to be sustainable. It’s no use earning a big salary and wanting to donate three-quarters because it won’t work. It has to be realistic in terms of your budget. So for the model to be sustainable, a fixed amount has to be stipulated. In addition, the fund can’t invest aggressively. In terms of longevity it has to be moderate, which means aiming for a reasonable return without too much risk. That way you guarantee a certain income and an agreed percentage is withdrawn for use by the Association. This is why the structure has to be conservative. The amounts may be large or small. What matters is its

tralized everything and without her it didn’t work. During the process it became clear that this was an obstacle to sustainability. So it was important for the evolution of Arte Despertar. Guilherme Vidigal Andrade Gonçalves

If you put all your eggs in one basket, you can find yourself in trouble: what will you do if a partner decides to move out? So you often lose them, and the worst worries are when an agreement comes up for renewal. The suffering of finding yourself without funds happens every year, it’s normal. You build credibility once the investors see results and realize they’re participants, once they see positive results from partnering with the organization. Valdir Cimino

When I make a donation to a hospital, for example, the money is allocated to a specific use. We thought of ways to make this feasible for Arte Despertar. We set up a specific fund, part of which was to be for use by the Association, part of the income earned. It was to be a fixed amount that didn’t depend on fluctuations in the fund’s returns. This worked well, with two withdrawals per year. It’s an important source of funding for Arte Despertar and we’re committed to this allocation on an ongoing basis.

William Malfatti The biggest difficulty we faced was coming away from several contacts with our hands empty. We also had successes, but to some extent it was frustrating to be doing such marvelous work and not being able to find an investor.

appropriateness to your household or individual budget, and its durability.

They’re people who came from the business world and brought into the organization a valuable network of contacts. Very significant support soon came out of that. However, although the support is very strong, there are no guarantees they’ll stay around for long. At that time the issue was how to make this sustainable. How could the organization divide up the eggs and baskets better, given that it had only one or two major sponsors. Most of the budget was centralized with one or two sources of funding. So that was a concern: you have this basket and if it should fall and break all the eggs, sustainability would be a major problem. That was when I was called in to take a look at the problem. Sustainability is not simply a financial matter. It involves a number of other issues that have to be combined if the organization is to be sustainable. Rogério Magon It was a successful process of raising awareness in preparation for decentralization, because Regina cen-

This was a concern that I always expressed to Regina, because of course business organizations aim to boost their corporate image when they support activities such as these, which is legitimate. The secret is how you make use of it. We’ve always been careful not to let the marketing overshadow the activity. Marketing is a consequence of the sheer dimensions of the project. We didn’t want the project to be used as a springboard for publicity and marketing. The involvement was there, and the project was an example to other companies. It had an impact on the community. Children went to the company’s offices via the project to have their work recognized. We extended the project and produced a CD. The children also recorded one in a studio. William Malfatti So you began to see companies that managed to balance social, economic and environmental concerns, no longer just to boost their image but because they simply had to in order to survive. The companies that emerge now are in a new world where the customer’s demands prevail. This is a stage that requires consumers to change their habits. A very difficult subject. Companies that don’t have that balance will start losing competitiveness and could even go out of business in some sectors. I believe the organizations that have led from the front in this respect are the NGOs, which are now part of the debate that’s going on throughout society in a very important way. They have a great deal of strength and influence. Dario Ferreira Guarita Neto

All Third Sector organizations face the major challenge of sustainability, both financial and in terms of well-structured projects that can be multiplied. Arte Despertar, in my view, is aware of this challenge in both respects and is working on both financial and project sustainability. One of the main obstacles or problems for many Third Sector organizations is that they’re too narrowly focused on welfare. Arte Despertar doesn’t see itself like that. There’s no limit to the work it can do. It’s focusing on training and preparing intermediaries who will work with the final beneficiaries at the end of the chain. Most other NGOs work directly with the final beneficiaries and that creates a need for a very large amount of human and financial resources, which it’s often difficult to develop. Arte Despertar, in contrast, now has a much more interesting focus on intermediaries, many of them in hospitals, such as doctors, nurses and so on, helping them and training them in the context of hospital humanization and encouraging them to work with colleagues so that the multiplier effect can happen. So I believe the model pursued by Arte Despertar is very interesting and produces success without constantly requiring more resources, whether human or financial, because this will happen almost naturally. Patrick Charles Morin Jr.

because if you strengthen the cause you strengthen all the NGOs that are working in that field. Valdir Cimino Yes, I do have an idea of the importance of the legal work we do for Arte Despertar. I also believe in the importance of this contribution to a better world. Any initiative that’s well organized , with transparency, technical quality and honesty, helps make the world a better place. We in the professions have the capacity to contribute to efforts to improve the world and people’s lives. If we each improve what we do, the world will also improve. Enrique De Goeye Neto My expectation is that it will indeed be a relevant institution in the context of Brazilian society, that it will once day extend its reach out from São Paulo to the rest of Brazil, and that it will continue transforming society with the ideals and methods we’ve seen in the past ten years. I don’t expect us ever to know precisely the value of what we do, but we are able to ascertain that this type of initiative promotes very important changes in the beneficiaries. So we expect this to become public policy within a few years. Dario Ferreira Guarita Neto

I have the impression that this will be the watchword for the next stage in the development of Arte Despertar. José Ferraz Ferreira Filho We’re partners in the Conference on Humanization in Healthcare [www.vivahumanizacao.org.br]. This is the main partnership. We exchange information and share production of the event. We’ve embraced this cause

I agree with what he said, but one of the challenges for the next ten years is to try to decentralize the leadership exercised by Regina. I would set that goal. It’s extremely important for the perpetuation of Arte Despertar, alongside making all its work replicable. As for when or to what extent this can be done, I don’t know. (...) Guilherme Vidigal Andrade Gonçalves

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A very present force – here’s the proof: you young entrepreneurs who are now arriving at the top of your organizations, bringing with you a different culture from that of previous generations, who weren’t concerned about these issues, who had experienced different economic conditions and didn’t have this kind of preoccupation. The new generation of business leaders have this new culture, they’ve been hearing about these issues since they were kids, it’s already part of the culture. So this is progress and it’s emerging naturally. A second force that’s very important is sustainability of the planet. Business organizations are increasingly aware of the stark facts: we’re using up the planet’s resources so fast that there won’t be a planet for the next generation unless we slow down and take a less predatory approach. So this is a key driver, too. It starts with the environment but is closely coupled to social issues. And the third force is society. Although you’re saying it’s hard to change consumer habits, at least part of society knows you shouldn’t buy products that don’t have this or that seal or hallmark. It’s not a big change yet because the market hasn’t been regulated in this way, but we’re already seeing a reasonable awareness on society’s part about the companies that behave correctly. These three forces are contributing to all this and driving it forward. And the fourth force is the one you mentioned, the emergence of the Third Sector and non-profits with the freedom of expression and organization made possible by the restoration of democracy in Brazil. That has happened since the new Constitution. Before 1988, a handful of people who tried to set up an association would have been arrested. The few of us having this talk here would have been accused of being commies, lefties, before 1988. So that’s another really big change. Society, organized or not, is watching. Is it still incipient? Of course, it’s a new project, not yet 20 years on the road. But the signs are there. There’s less impunity than there was. Society and the media

enjoy freedom of expression and fewer things can go on without society finding out. (...) I don’t participate in the organization’s day-to-day activities and I’m not familiar with the latest plans, but I also see it the way Guilherme does. It’s the challenge of leadership. You have to have succession planning. You’ve had ten years with Regina in the driving seat. What kind of face will the organization have from now on, what will it be like in the years ahead? How do you transition from being a pioneer to being a more mature organization, whose activities are still linked to its groundbreaking principles, but with management possibly shared among several people. I think that continues to be a major challenge. Rogério Magon

6 Yesterday, today, tomorrow

day-to-day running of projects to use a great deal of creativity to develop effective strategies and solutions of their own.

Regina Vidigal Guarita

At that time, Arte Despertar’s activities were limited to relatively small numbers of beneficiaries, but the participants were engaged, committed and observant of the transformational purpose of the projects.

“Be the change you want to see in the world” Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Today What individuals are these who have invested time and knowledge in Associação Arte Despertar during the past ten years? What motivated them to commit to the mission of awakening people’s potential through art and culture so that these beneficiaries become subjects of transformative action? They are certainly part of a distinguished group of citizens who believe that only the positive transformation of every individual can change society and the world.

Yesterday At its inception Arte Despertar prioritized work with children from low-income families and in hospitals. Adolescents, youngsters and adults were naturally the next groups to join the roll of beneficiaries. Adults because they accompanied their children in hospital; adolescents and youngsters because they were interested in the work with art and culture offered in the communities. The association’s social practice required responsibility, but persistence emerged as an indispensable element to achieve successful results. A lack of models for legal, financial and social management obliged the professionals involved in the

Ten years on, the association’s commitment to society required rethinking in order to deal appropriately with new expectations and requirements, starting with the concept of sustainability that had become the supreme imperative for any third-sector organization to succeed over the long haul. The answer to the sustainability question was to create a social technology resulting from the systematization of a methodology constructed during ten years of work in hospitals and communities, and whose characteristics reflect the profile of today’s society in terms of the feasibility of its dissemination, low cost, and easy understanding of its application. This technology, which we call Tecnologia Arte Despertar (TAD), has extended the association’s capabilities. In addition to serving as an element of financial sustainability, since it is designed to be self-contained so that it can be sold as a product or service, TAD is custom-built for use in disseminating and implementing the methodology in hospitals to support Brazil’s National Humanization Policy, and in poor communities for the training of educators. To construct the new line of action, it was necessary to bring together professionals who already worked with Arte Despertar, agreed with the proposition,

and were willing to transform their individual experience into collective experience. Commitment and teamwork by all concerned were crucial for the venture to succeed. In the early days, pilot projects facilitated understanding and engagement on the part of the association’s professionals. A variety of partners provided contact with projects that had similar aims, strengthening the team’s competence and experience. Day-to-day practice enabled them to amass a significant amount of knowledge, which has now been systematized as content for TAD. Evaluation methods and metrics were created to assess the results.

The story of Arte Despertar told in this book has been made possible by the hard work done by so many of the association’s members, executives, partners, sponsors and professionals, all of whom are responsible for the positive results achieved to date. Thank you all very much indeed. Regina Vidigal Guarita President

Communication became a vital element, lending Arte Despertar visibility and credibility in publicizing its activities, reinforcing the participation and commitment of the professionals involved by enabling them to share ideas and opinions, and contributing to capacity building.

Tomorrow From now on, after years of practical experience with the overriding aim of promoting the individual, Arte Despertar plans to extend the scope of its activities to reach and strengthen those who most need support in defending their rights, and to create a new profile centering on active subjecthood and critical thinking about experience so as to promote social development and citizenship. To this end, the association will disseminate TAD and implement it where opportunities arise to support citizenship in this way, in healthcare institutions, educational environments and in the corporate world, thereby fulfilling its role as a contributor to the creation of a society with a more promising future.

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Our partners

André Vicino de Lucca

Daniela Helena Biancardi

Geraldo Maria Orlando Filho

Leila Yuri Sugahara

Maria Graziella Guarita

Associação Arte Despertar extends heartfelt thanks to all those who have believed in its cause and contributed to its growth by helping to make its projects successful.

Andréa de Almeida Bossi

Daniela Rodrigues Flor

Graziela K. Kunsch

Letícia de Cássia Cocciolito

Maria Helena da Cruz Sponton

Andréa Mangabeira Faingezicht

Débora Cristina de Melo Ramires

Helena Domingos

Lígia Cristina Dantas

Maria Helena Webster

Andrezza Medeiros Vieira da Silva

Débora Kikuti da Silva

João Gomes da Silva

Lígia Maria Camargo Silva Cortez

Maria Stela Fortes Barbieri

Arte Despertar Co-Workers

Angélica Costa Arechavala

Denis Henrique da Silva Duarte

João Mauro

Lígia Nóbrega

Maria Tereza Estrabon Falabella

Adriana Freires Aragão

Anna Carolina Loiacono

Denise Garcia dos Santos Chaves

Joelma Correia de Andrade

Lilian dos Santos Magnani

Marília Pontone Hellmeister

Adriana Maria Motta de Siqueira

Bruno Almeida Silva

Diana Matsumoto

José Henrique Reis de Menezes

Luciana Caldeira Viacava

Marilisa Galvão Basso de Oliveira

Alberto Duvivier Ortenblad

Camila Bigio Grynszpan

Edson Pereira de Luna

Joyce Helena Bisca

Luciana de Sá Bertossi

Marina Quinan

Alcides de Lima Junior

Camila Miccas

Elisabeth Belisário

Joyce Machado de Coimbra

Luciane Toffoli

Marllon Brando Feitosa Chaves

Alcita Maria Coelho de Lima

Célia Gomes Chaves

Estevão Silva da Conceição

Joyce Menasce Rosset

Luís Roberto Soares dos Santos

Marta Labriola Sandler

Alessandra P. S. Peixoto

Chake Erkizian

Everaldo da Silva Santos

Juliana Leis Balsalobre

Maicira Maria Oliveira Trevisan

Mauricio Anacleto

Alex Rosato

Claudia Viri de Oliveira

Fabiane Cristina Matias Schwenkow

Juliana Yogui

Maíra Daniel Vaz Valente

Milena de Marco

Amanda dos Santos Agostini

Cleide Beatriz Masini Barbosa

Fabiane da Silva Reginaldo

Karin Michaelis Oppenheim

Márcia Cristina da Silva

Murilo Krammer

Amaury Costa Brito

Clodoaldo Aparecido Alves Silva

Fábio Nogueira de Matos Martins

Karin Patrícia da Silva

Marco Antonio da Silva

Nadia Ferreira Esteves Tadema

Ana Cristina Simões Parente

Conceição Aparecida da Costa

Fábio Vieira Rodrigues Rosa

Kelly Aparecida da Silva

Marco Antonio Ramos Borneu de Abreu

Orlene Queila de Oliveira

Ana Emília C. Ribeiro

Cristiana Arantes Lanhoso

Fernanda Efigenia Ribeiro

Kelly Aparecida da Silva Jardim

Marco Aurélio de Araújo Silva

Paula Galasso

Ana Luisa Lacombe

Cristiana Lima Gabriel

Fernanda Kelly da Silva Brito

Laura Dantas de Souza Pinto

Maria Angela de Souza Lima Rizzi

Priscila Basile de Moraes Leme

Ana Maria Rodolpho Domingues

Cristiane Alves Silva

Fernando Nitsch Borges de Almeida

Laura Finocchiaro

Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi

Rafael Galli

Ana Rosa A. Araújo Costa

Cristiane Sayegh

Gabriel Júnior

Léa Pintor de Arruda Oliveira

Maria das Graças Saturnino de Lima

Rafael Masini Barbosa

André Pereira Lindenberg

Daniel Coelho Matos

Gabriela Villaboim de Carvalho Hess

Leila Garcia

Maria Fernanda Cardoso Santos

Regina Vidigal Guarita

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Renata Flaiban Zanete

Sonia de Almeida Sampaio Teixeira

André Sobral

Eleonora Pitombo

José Roberto Opice

Maria da Penha F. da Cruz

Renata Munhoz Martins

Sonia Lazara Biroli de Medeiros

Andreia da Silva Silveira

Fabiana Fagundes

José Romeu Ferraz Neto

Maria Eugênia Saldanha

Renato Tocantins Sampaio

Sonia Silva

Anna Cecília Pinheiro Malta Campos

Fabio Noto

Josefa Rodrigues

Maria Helena Ribeiro do Valle

Ricardo Marques de Souza

Tâmara David de Oliveira Sousa

Antonio Augusto Abreu Sampaio

Fernanda Niemeyer

Laura Suarez Gomes

Maria Lúcia Ferlini

Rita de Cássia Demarchi

Tânia Marilis de Oliveira Piffer

Antonio Carlos Vidigal

Flora Romanzoni

Lígia Souto Vidigal

Maria Nadir Azevedo de Moraes

Roberta Delizoicov

Telma Helena dos Santos

Camila Vieira Santos

Gastão Augusto Bueno Vidigal

Luciana Freitas Pupo Nogueira

Maria Virginia Leardi

Roberta Maia Sessa Frederico

Tereza Simonsen de Ferraz Ferreira

Carlos Alberto Gramani

Gastão de Souza Mesquita

Luciano Sapata

Marília Fernanda Correia S. Pedroso

Roberta Paola Parente

Thelma Lobel

Carlos Vicente Serrano Junior

Gilberto Dantas

Lucio de Castro Andrade Filho

Marina Brant de Carvalho

Rodrigo Dionisio

Urga Maíra Cardoso

Celina Ida de A. S. Campello

Giordano Biagi

Luis Eduardo da Costa Carvalho

Marina Brito Gonçalves

Rodrigo Y. Castro

Vinícius Spinelli Peixinho

Celso Clemente Giacometti

Gisela Guarita Levy

Luiz Eduardo Campello Filho

Marina Mendes Bassalo Mesquita

Rosana Errico

Viviane Xavier Marques

Cristiano Biagi

Giselle Cicotti

Luiz Fonseca de Souza Meirelles Filho

Maurício Souen

Dalva Funaro Gasparian

Guilherme Vidigal Andrade Gonçalves

Luiz Martins

Maurílio Biagi Filho

Rosângela Almeida Samara Ferreira

Individual Partners

Daniel Vianna Silveira

Heloisa Guarita Padilha

Luiz Masagão Ribeiro

Maurício Pompéia Fraga

Sandra Urizzi Lessa

Alberto Malta de Souza Campos

Dario Ferreira Guarita Filho

Henrique Lacerda de Camargo

Luiz Vicente Barros Mattos Jr.

Ney Castro Alves

Silvana Abreu

Aléssio Calil Mathias

Dario Ferreira Guarita Neto

Ibsen Augusto Ramenzoni

Lygia Fonseca Vidigal

Olívia Gonçalves Messa

Sílvia Cristina Roque Mascarenhas Cruz

Alexandre Grynberg

Dinah Portugal Gouvea

Irineu Ferman

Manoel Carlos da Costa Santos

Orlando Giácomo Filho

Sílvia Regina Monteiro

Alexandre Negrão

Dora Guarita Levy

João C. Marchesan Filho

Marcia Maria Abreu V. Pinheiro

Patrícia de Queirós Mattoso

Simone Moerdaui

Alice Ferreira

Edith Geribello

José Alberto Tozzi

Marcos Lima de Freitas

Patrick Charles Morin Jr.

Solange Salva

Alvaro Cesar Ferrari

Eduardo Junqueira da Motta Luiz

José Benedito Rodrigues Júnior

Maria Beatriz Portugal Gouvea

Paulo Augusto Ramenzoni

Solange Zaborowsky Muszkat

André Mesquita

Eduardo Vidigal Andrade Gonçalves

José Ferraz Ferreira Filho

Maria Carolina Sapata

Paulo Brasil Moraes F. Velloso

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Paulo Brito

Suzana C. Scuracchio

Banco Sudameris

Paulo de Tarso C. Opice

Teresa Guarita Grynberg

Bandeirante Energias do Brasil

Comunitas - Parcerias para o Desenvolvimento Solidário

Valores Mobiliários SA

Instituto Camargo Corrêa

Gráfica Igupe

Instituto Criar de Cinema e TV

Grupo de Apoio ao Adolescente e à Criança com Câncer (GRAACC)

Instituto de Ortopedia e Traumatologia do Hospital das Clínicas (IOT)

Grupo Ultra

Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP)

Paulo Fernando D. T. Pitombo

Tereza Proença

Banespa SA

Conselho Municipal da Criança e do Adolescente (CMDCA)

Paulo Guaspari

Terezinha Gotti

Biblioteca Anne Frank

Construções e Comércio Camargo Corrêa SA

Raquel Carvalho Oliveira

Vera Inês Marmo Masagão Ribeiro

Biblioteca Hans Cristian Andersen

De Goeye Advogados Associados

Reinaldo Marques

Verônica Tutundjian

Boehringer Ingelheim do Brasil Química e Farmacêutica Ltda

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Auditores Independentes

Gusmão & Labrunie

Brasmetal Waelzholz SA Indústria e Comércio

Epanor Lecca SA

Hedging-Griffo Asset. Management SC Ltda

Escola Estadual Maria Zilda Gamba Natel

Hedging-Griffo Corretora de Valores SA

Escola Habitat

Hospital da Criança Nossa Senhora de Lourdes

Espaço Cachuera

Hospital e Maternidade São Lucas (Diadema/SP)

Instituto Minidi Pedroso de Arte e Educação Social (IMPAES)

Estúdio 185

Hospital Geral de Guarulhos

Instituto Tomie Ohtake

Guarita Associados Renata Camargo Nascimento

Victor Artur Renault

Renata Cavalcanti Biselli

Virgínia Garcia de Souza

Roberto A. Gomes Dantas

Viviane Cohen Nascimento

Instituto Fonte Instituto Itaú Cultural

CBI Indústria e Comércio Ltda Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil (CCBB)

Roberto Jaime Engels Corporate Partners

Centro Cultural Herman Gmeiner

Roberto Pereira de Almeida Filho Aldeias Infantis SOS de Rio Bonito/SP

Centro Cultural Rebouças

Robertson Emerenciano

Estúdio Colírio

Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein

Intercode Tecnologia

Associação Santo Agostinho (ASA)

Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas em Educação, Cultura e Ação Comunitaria (CENPEC)

Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP)

Hospital Maternidade Jesus José e Maria (Guarulhos/SP)

Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo

Associação Viva e Deixa Viver

Centro de Voluntariado de São Paulo (CVSP)

Fundação Bienal de São Paulo Hospital Municipal da Criança (Guarulhos/SP)

Itaú Seguros SA

Associação Viver em Família para um Futuro Melhor

Cia Agrícola Usina Jacarezinho

Fundação Faculdade de Medicina Hospital Municipal de Urgências (Guarulhos/SP)

Jardim Botânico de São Paulo

Cia Melhoramentos Norte do Paraná

Fundação Julita Hospital Nossa Senhora de Lourdes

Jardim das Esculturas/Parque da Luz

Fundo Municipal da Criança e do Adolescente (FUMCAD)

Hospital Stella Maris (Guarulhos/SP)

JP Morgan

Associação Crescer Sempre Rosa Helena M. Pinheiro Ruy Simões Pinto Jr. Sandra Alves Silva Sérgio Paula Souza Caiuby Sheila Lyrio

Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (InCor – HCFMUSP)

Banco ABC Brasil

Simone Guaspari

Banco Indusval Multstock

Coelho da Fonseca Empreendimentos Imobiliários

Sonia da Cunha Bueno Vidigal

Banco Mercantil Finasa

Colégio Santa Cruz

Galo SA

Instituto Alfa de Cultura

Lecca SA

Stefan Neuding Neto

Banco Pecúnia SA

Companhia Melhoramentos Norte do Paraná

Goldman Sachs do Brasil Corretora de Títulos e

Instituto Arte na Escola

Mahil Participações Ltda

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Mapfre Seguros

Olivieri & Signorelli Advocacia

SESC

Maringá SA - Cimento e Ferro Liga

Oxiteno Nordeste SA Industria e Comercio

SESI

Markiodonto

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Social Web

0 Indispensable Utopians

Stan Desenvolvimento Imobiliário

Eduardo Montechi Valladares

Stan Empreendimentos e Participações Ltda

Master’s degree and PhD in social history from the University of São Paulo (USP). Currently a post-doc student of history at the University of Campinas (Unicamp). Also holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy from USP and in history from the Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). Author of Anarquismo e Anticlericalismo, published by Editora Imaginário (2000), and co-author of Revoluções do Século XX, published by Editora Scipione (1995). Co-wrote and worked as history consultant on the film Nós que aqui estamos por vós esperamos (dir. Marcelo Masagão, 1999).

Parque Alfredo Volpi Mattos Filho Veiga Filho Marrey Jr. e Quiroga Advogados

Parque Burle Max

Mineração Buritirama AS

Peróxidos do Brasil Ltda Teatro Alfa

Ministério da Cultura

Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro SA

Ministério da Saúde

Petróleo Ipiranga

Mosteiro São Geraldo

Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo

Museu da Casa Brasileira

Pôr do Som Produções Artísticas

Museu da Imagem e do Som (MIS)

Posto de Orientação Familiar (POF)

Museu da Língua Portuguesa

Prefeitura Municipal de Guarulhos

Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC/USP)

Prefeitura Municipal de São Paulo

Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia Teatro Brincante Teatro Célia Helena Teatro FUNARTE Teatro Padre Bento (Guarulhos/SP) Teatro Santa Cruz PricewaterhouseCoopers

The Key Organizações e Marcas Cidadãs

Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM)

1 The notion of social responsibility from early modernity to the context in which Associação Arte Despertar emerged Rui Luis Rodrigues

Programa Einstein na Comunidade de Paraisópolis (PECP)

Theca Corretora SA Tiffany & CO

Novartis Biociências SA

Projeto Arrastão

Novartis Saúde Animal Ltda

RGNutri

Novartis Seeds Ltda

Secretaria da Saúde de Guarulhos

Núcleo Educacional da Santa Casa de Diadema

Secretaria de Cultura de Guarulhos

Graduated in history from the University of São Paulo (USP) and is currently preparing a PhD in social history at the same university.

Tostex Haddock Lobo UBS Pactual Asset Management

2 The individual and the art of self-creation Felipe de Souza Tarábola

União Brasileira de Vidros SA Secretaria de Estado da Cultura de São Paulo

União Vidigal Participações Ltda

6 Yesterday, today and tomorrow Regina Vidigal Guarita Social entrepreneur, founder and president of Associação Arte Despertar.

3 Awakening with and for art Maria Christina de Souza Lima Rizzi Tenured professor at the University of São Paulo’s School of Communication & Arts, Department of Fine Arts, licenciate degree program, and graduate visual arts program.

4 A word about us Maria Angela de Souza Lima Rizzi Graduated in education from the University of São Paulo (USP) and has worked as an educator in social projects since 1990. Pedagogic supervisor (2000-07) and currently pedagogue, Associação Arte Despertar. Maria Helena da Cruz Sponton

UBS Pactual Corretora de Mercadorias

Odontoclínicas

in social psychology from Fundação Escola de Sociologia e Política de São Paulo (FESPSP). Also holds bachelor’s degrees in social sciences and philosophy from USP and journalism from FIAM/FAAM. He is deputy director of Escola de Aplicação (teacher training) at the University of São Paulo’s School of Education, where he is also a professor and researcher.

Earned a master’s in sociology of education from the University of São Paulo (USP) and a graduate diploma

Art educator and educational psychologist. Visiting professor at the University of São Paulo’s School of Public Health. Co-author of Educação Ambiental e Sustentabilidade, published by Manole/USP. Humanization consultant to the São Paulo State Cancer Institute (ICESP). Pedagogic supervisor (1997-2007) and currently pedagogue, Associação Arte Despertar.

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