Belonging to the City

Alliances between Community Art and Diaconia as a Means to Overcome Segregation in a Gentrifying Neighbourhood in Amsterdam

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3585570
AutoresErica Meijers (0000-0001-8599-3336, Protestant Theological University, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume14
Fascículo6
Páginas811
Data de publicação2023-06-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel14060811
OpenAlexW4381335450
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas11

Between 2019 and 2021, volunteers of a local Protestant congregation in Amsterdam, professional artists, and (other) local residents organised the interactive exhibit A(t) home in the Staats. In this project, community art and diaconia joined forces using multidisciplinary methods to strengthen relations in the neighbourhood and to discern issues of belonging and lines of division in the changing neighbourhood. The project was situated at the intersection of an "up and coming" neighbourhood and a shrinking congregation. By analysing the exhibit, this article contributes to the development of creative, arts-based research methods in diaconal studies. Within this approach, art is never a mere illustration or a vehicle for reflection but rather a generator of knowledge. The central question is: how can alliances between community art and diaconia contribute to overcoming segregation in urban contexts? This question is informed by the process of gentrification and the search by city churches for ways to engage with urban changes. After the introduction and methodological reflections, the article describes the background and practice of the project, followed by the outcomes of the interactive exhibit. It concludes by answering the central question and mapping theoretical and practical challenges concerning alliances between art and diaconia in urban contexts

Art · Economic growth · Gentrification · Multidisciplinary approach · Political science · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · The arts · Visual arts · Place Attachment and Urban Studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability