Social conflict and artistic activism in Argentina and Brazil. Comparative analysis of two cases

Abstract

The increase in social conflicts in our societies has led to the expansion of various forms of claims. Some of the protest repertoires used focus on expressive resources that accompany / configure the manifestation of conflict. These practices, activists, have catalyzed aesthetic, sociopolitical and technological movements. This paper proposes to analyze aesthetic proposals in public spaces related to two cases: the disappearan ce followed by the death of Santiago Maldonado in Cushamen (Argentina) and the crime of Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro. This article is based on a qualitative and interdisciplinary methodology. As a production of integral knowledge, it articulates the social studies of art, the studies of the urban and political theory. Photographs of social manifestations are analyzed, focusing on the iconographic and thematic aspects. It also works with various types of written text production such as newspaper articles, articles published on websites and newspapers, recovering from them relevant information for research purposes. A comparative approach is made from three argumentative axes. First, the images built antagonists, responsible for both events. Second, these proposals contributed to generate spaces for memory. Finally, the images of both were massively replicated in the urban and virtual space. In sum, similarities and differences of aesthetic experiences will be analyzed, which generated different meanings about Maldonado and Franco.