Beatriz Arias López and Laura Jiménez Ospina, of the project “Art That Protects“, have published a new open-access article under the title “Art that protects: Contributions to expanded self-protection in the urban socio-political conflict in Medellín, Colombia” (in Spanish) in the journal Revista Virtual Universidad Católica del Norte.
Summary: Previous experiences and studies agree that art is a powerful mediator in contexts of socio-political violence. The aim of the study was to explore how artistic and cultural initiatives developed by community-based organisations in Medellín generate and facilitate self-protection strategies, especially for women and young people in the context of urban conflict. From 2022 to 2024, our team conducted an in-depth case study including document analysis, participant observation, territorial walking tours, semi-structured interviews, and discussion groups, with the participation of 15 organisations. It shows that art becomes self-protective through its impact on strengthening collective processes, mutual recognition, the ownership of safe territories, and the possibility of an affirmative stance by artists and communities towards armed actors, making art a protective umbrella that enables other types of relationships and agency in the neighbourhood, in addition to the legitimacy built by organisations over the years. The authors conclude that art allows for expanded self-protection that encompasses both a physical and emotional dimension, considering the bonds that are formed between individual and collective bodies, with actions of care that strive to maintain and strengthen solidarity and spaces for the common good.
The article can be downloaded here.