El arte obra en el mundo. Cultura ciudadana y humanidades públicas

Celebrating art and performance as practices capable of addressing social challenges is what Doris Sommer proposes in this book. To refresh the humanities’ engagement with the world beyond the classroom, throughout the chapters she offers samples of reformist projects that inspire faith in the possible because they achieve goals that would have been unattainable without art. Cases include top-down initiatives – such as those of Antanas Mockus, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, and bottom-up movements such as the Teatro Oprimido created by the Brazilian Augusto Boal. Similarly, Sommer’s own initiative, Pre-Textos, is a literacy project in areas with few material resources, which relies on popular arts to interpret any text, thus developing both intellectual and civic skills. With the slogan ‘we are all cultural agents’, El arte obra en el mundo demonstrates the urgent relevance of the aesthetic education proposed by Friedrich Schiller to prevent violence and achieve enlightenment. Sommer’s book is a call to action and an invitation to play.