Approaching Utopia Pragmatically

Artistic Spaces and Community-Making in Post-Earthquake L'Aquila

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4755859
AutoresJ J Bock (0000-0002-7561-3042, Woolf Institute, autor correspondente), Jan-Jonathan Bock
Ano2016
Fascículo5, No 1
Páginas97-115
Data de publicação2016-03-30
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCadernos de arte e antropologia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2238-0361 • E-ISSN: 2238-0361
EditoraOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/cadernosaa.1046
OpenAlexW2330741608
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas17

The aftermath of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake was marked by social fragmentation and isolation in resettlement sites. Cultural work emerged as a central aspect of recovery initiatives, aimed at reconnecting dispersed survivors. This article explores how local artists envisioned their contribution to recovery from catastrophe, namely as the production and performance of utopian imaginations in particular spaces, seeking to connect divided Aquilani. Cultural initiatives approached the notion of utopia pragmatically: with historic neighbourhoods, in which sociality used to be produced, off-limits, dispersion and envy made the building of new shared spaces necessary. These spaces were often cultural. However, rather than envisioning cultural events as momentary, artists aspired to shape enduring relationships and recovery. Their work challenges approaches that depict the culture industry as conquered by late capitalism's neoliberal, enjoyment-centred experience economy

Aesthetics · Art · Capitalism · Isolation (microbiology · Political economy · Political science · Sociality · Sociology · Utopia · Work (physics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Engineering · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law