Aesthetic workshops in Morro da Queimada: memories in process

Abstract

To investigate the memories of the art workshops offered in a peripheral territory in Florianópolis, in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, is the aim of this research. The team got closer to the territory in 2017, through aesthetic workshops offered in Morro da Queimada’s co-op. Most of these workshops did not continue, although tracks of what happened there have remained in the place. From the Benjaminian and Vigotskian perspectives, the importance of the work with the remains, with what is thrown away, rejected, forgotten. These remains are important to the investigation in psychology because, even as insignificant details, they are vestiges of other possibilities that aren’t unfulfilled, by being scrutinized and seen, may contribute to the comprehension and transformation of the present. In this sense, the analysis seeks to understand the characteristics of the art workshops offered in the co-op and of the workshops that occurred before the co-op, focusing on community participation, possible repercussions and the motives for it to have ceased to exist. 10 interviews were carried out with women that participated in the workshops. The methodology of data analysis was the discourse analysis, which allowed us to understand what motivated and the construction process of the workshops, the community participation, possible repercussions that its discontinuities and what remained as memory to the participants. Despite the end of the workshops, some learnings persisted and were transmitted from generation to generation, especially those that had a broader meaning such as, for example, the tradition of making chocolate to deliver to the community´s kids during Easter. Another obtained result was the comprehension of the importance given to the workshops as places for accomplishment of encounters and of sharing life experiences.