Search Results (233)

This article examines training itineraries for early childhood education professionals in Portugal, focusing on promoting social and human development through music and the arts for infants. The training models discussed are categorized as short-term and long-term, encompassing both theory and practice through a transdisciplinary approach. Based on initiatives promoted by the Companhia de Música Teatral (CMT) and the Education and Human Development Group of the Centre for the Study of Sociology and Musical Aesthetics (CESEM) at NOVA University Lisbon, the article highlights projects such as: (i) Opus Tutti and GermInArte, developed between 2011 and 2018; (ii) the Postgraduate Course Music in Childhood: Intervention and Research, offered at the University since 2020/21, which integrates art, health, and education, promoting collaborative work between professionals; and (iii) Mil Pássaros (Thousand Birds), developed since 2020, which exemplifies the integration of environmental education and artistic practices. The theoretical basis of these training programs combines neuroscientific and educational evidence, emphasizing the importance of the first years of life for integral development. Studies, such as those by Heckman, reinforce the impact of early investment in children’s development. Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory and Malloch and Trevarthen’s concept of ‘communicative musicality’ structure the design of these courses, recognizing music as a catalyst for cognitive, emotional, and social skills. The transformative role of music and the arts in educational and social contexts is emphasized, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, by proposing approaches that articulate creation, intervention, and research to promote human development from childhood onwards. Full article

The design and planning of Western-style constructions during the early Qing Dynasty in China constituted a significant multicultural encounter that fused technological advancement with aesthetic innovation. This cultural interplay is particularly evident in the imperial garden and pavilion projects commissioned by the Qing court, which served as physical and symbolic sites of cross-cultural dialogue. Influenced by the intellectual and artistic movements of the European Renaissance, Western architectural concepts gradually found their way into the spatial and visual language of Chinese architecture, especially within the royal gardens and aristocratic buildings of the time. These structures were not simply imitative but rather represented a selective adaptation of Western ideas to suit Chinese imperial tastes and principles. This article examines the architectural language that emerged from this encounter between Chinese and European cultures, analysing symbolic motifs, spatial design, ornamental aesthetics, the application of linear perspective, and the integration of foreign architectural forms. These elements collectively functioned as tools to construct a unique visual discourse that communicated both political authority and cultural hybridity. The findings underscore that this architectural phenomenon was not merely stylistic imitation, but rather a dynamic convergence of technological knowledge and artistic vision across cultural boundaries. Full article

The article analyzes the meanings embedded in street art in Florence that portrays women, likely created by female artists. Between 18 May and 27 May 2024, during the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment (CAPHE) project, we observed a significant number of feminist street art pieces in Florence’s historic center. Using qualitative content analysis based on Gillian Rose’s methodology (2016), we interpreted the collected visual materials through semiotic and socio-cultural lenses. The findings revealed the deliberately interventionist nature of the analyzed works, addressing themes such as gender inequality, human rights, violence against women, and cultural stereotypes. This street art serves as a social manifesto and a means of activating both the local community and tourists, aligning with global feminist discourse while addressing Florence’s local issues. We conclude that Florence’s street art provides a space for visual resistance, education, and the promotion of gender equality and women’s emancipation in the context of contemporary social challenges. Full article

Youth make up a fifth of the world’s population and will suffer the consequences of the climate catastrophe to differing extents depending on their social and geographical locations. The climate crisis is thus a matter of both intergenerational and racial/imperial injustice. Intersectional and interdisciplinary climate justice approaches are growing in the field of youth climate activism and, more often, these are necessarily engaging with collaborative methods to platform the voices of marginalised youth and those who live the colonial difference. Our paper provides early reflections from a youth climate activism artistic research project titled ‘Theatre of Climate Action: Amplifying Youth Voices for Climate Justice in Guadeloupe and South Africa’ (ToCA). In this project, sixteen young people aged 18-30 from South Africa and Guadeloupe collaborate to design, produce, and create theatre performances that reflect their exploration of climate justice through their lived experiences using artistic research methods. Specifically, we examine the opportunities and challenges in using the framework of Safe(r), Brave(r), and Riskier Spaces to support collaborative and emancipatory art-making practices that allow youth to become co-creators in this project. Insights revealed that an intentional embrace of safety, bravery, and risk as an ethico-political basis for art making was critical to cultivate a sense of community, trust, and belonging for youth co-creators. Full article

In an era marked by climate change, socio-economic disparity, and digital acceleration, the challenge of effectively communicating complex environmental data to diverse audiences has become increasingly urgent. This study examines how data visualization and interactive art can be employed to translate scientific knowledge into engaging, accessible formats that raise public awareness and encourage climate action. We reviewed 495 environmental art and design projects and selected a corpus of 36 that focus on dynamic data visualisation and interactive experience design in response to climate and urban challenges. A multi-scalar, qualitative analysis was conducted to assess the thematic structure, technological strategies, and aesthetic dimensions of these projects. Our findings show that interdisciplinary methods—blending real-time data, machine learning, sonification, and immersive installations—are effective in rendering abstract climate data into emotionally resonant, actionable narratives. Through detailed case studies, we demonstrate how artistic interventions can facilitate public understanding, stimulate behavioural change, and support participatory urban adaptation. We conclude by highlighting the significance of collaborative, cross-sectoral approaches in designing future-oriented communication strategies for climate resilience, and by identifying future research pathways in the integration of environmental science, technology, and the arts. Full article

Drawing from the insights of community partners, this study explored the roles and benefits of arts-based approaches to foster civic learning, critical media literacy, and community engagement. It also uncovered approaches to promote kindness, prevent violence, and combat online extremism, offering insights into strategies that may enhance community engagement and create a positive impact. We presented our model framework, a detailed case study of our project, and qualitative methods incorporating 15 interviews with our community partners to capture a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Interviewees were community partners who collaborated with our project in organizing events and activities using an arts-based approach to promote kindness, awareness, and violence prevention since the inception of the project. Data were analyzed using thematic data analysis. We categorized the community partners’ responses into four key themes: (1) the inherent benefits of the arts, (2) promoting kindness and preventing violence through artistic expression, (3) teaching civic responsibility through the arts, and (4) practical strategies for collaborating with community partners. The practice implications and lessons learned were discussed. Full article

This study presents a digital forensic facial approximation of Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia (ca. 907–935), based on photographs of the skull attributed to the saint, preserved in St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague. The skull was replicated through structural deformation using public domain images, adjusted to historical measurements, and enriched with anthropometric data. The facial approximation combined traditional techniques with statistical projections from tomography of living individuals, resulting in two versions: an objective one and another with artistic and more speculative elements based on historical descriptions. Comparisons with Petr Parler’s 14th-century statue and a previous reconstruction revealed structural consistency, suggesting the skull may have inspired the sculpture. This work contributes to humanizing historical figures and reinforces Wenceslas’s legacy as a Czech icon. Full article

Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) preforms are vital for high-performance composite structures, yet the real-time detection of surface yarn alignment defects is hindered by complex textures. This study introduces a novel machine vision framework to enable the precise, real-time identification of such defects in CFRP preforms. We proposed obtaining the frequency spectrum by removing the zero-frequency component from the projection curve of images of carbon fiber fabric, aiding in the identification of the cycle number for warp and weft yarns. A texture structure recognition method based on the artistic conception drawing (ACD) revert is applied to distinguishing the complex and diverse surface texture of the woven carbon fabric prepreg from potential surface defects. Based on the linear discriminant analysis for defect area threshold extraction, a defect boundary tracking algorithm rule was developed to achieve defect localization. Using over 1500 images captured from actual production lines to validate and compare the performance, the proposed method significantly outperforms the other inspection approaches, achieving a 97.02% recognition rate with a 0.38 s per image processing time. This research contributes new scientific insights into the correlation between yarn alignment anomalies and a machine-vision-based texture analysis in CFRP preforms, potentially advancing our fundamental understanding of the defect mechanisms in composite materials and enabling data-driven quality control in advanced manufacturing. Full article

Museums in Dispute: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Culture, and Critical Curation analyzes contemporary debates in the museum field through the lens of tensions between technology, digital culture, and political and epistemological disputes. Structured in three parts, the article develops a critical approach that, in the first section, revisits critiques of the modernist museum model, highlighting how discourses from New Museology, institutional critique, and decolonial perspectives challenge the idea of neutral, universal, and Eurocentric museums. The second part explores the shift from temple-like museums to interface-museums, focusing on the analysis of practices such as digitization, immersive exhibitions, and gamification. It argues that while these technologies may expand access, their uncritical use can reproduce inequalities and render plural and inclusive narratives invisible. The third part addresses the emergence of hyperconnected museums and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in curatorial, mediating, and reconstructive processes, analyzing collaborative and artistic projects such as Demonumenta and Curationist that critically reinterpret collections. Throughout the article, the concept of meta-algorithmic curation is developed, which is understood as a practice that makes algorithms visible, open to critique, and reconfigurable as cultural and political devices. Methodologically, the article combines critical theoretical review with analysis of institutional and artistic case studies, highlighting practices that appropriate the supposed neutrality of data to develop a critical pesrpective and advocate for more inclusive, distributed, and politically engaged curatorial narratives. Full article

Smart furniture (smart cities) can provide publicity, mobility services and local government communication, among many other services; however, its use for improving the quality of life of the elderly (extended IP-spaces concept) can be further researched. This paper describes the first step in a collaborative design of a smart city platform based on this concept. This design requires a layered design, as it includes architectonic, artistic, technological and social aspects. Participatory design (PD) and participatory action research (PAR) methodologies were selected to include the elderly in the design to ensure the acceptance and usability of the system. During this specific design process, three groups of elderly people from three geographic points of Spain were recruited. PD was applied to capture the users’ preferences and general specifications regarding the architectonic aspect of the project, while PAR was used to capture these groups’ quality-of-life needs, determine the initial acceptance of the project and define the initial activities to be realized for mitigating the detected needs. The application of these qualitative methodologies should produce a user-centric, valuable but local (specific) design. As more groups and towns will be involved, the new local designs will build a bigger set of validated solutions that potentially could be customized and reused for other contexts. Full article

Background/Objectives: Art-based community projects positively impact mental health recovery by fostering creativity, self-expression, and social engagement. Despite growing evidence on participatory art interventions, limited studies have used a mixed-methods approach to examine their effects. The present study examines how participation in the Artistic Couples project influences individuals’ subjective perceptions of recovery, psychological well-being, and self-stigma. Methods: This exploratory multi-center study employed an embedded mixed-methods design, integrating qualitative Photovoice methodology with a quantitative pre–post survey. Participants (N = 30) from five mental health institutions across Catalonia engaged in collaborative art creation with local artists. Qualitative data from Photovoice discussions and semi-structured interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, while quantitative data from standardized measures were examined using paired t-tests and correlation analysis. Results: Qualitative findings revealed the following three key themes: (1) artmaking as an artistic couple, emphasizing the collaborative process and art as a means of self-expression; (2) social connections, highlighting increased belonging, emotional support, and reduced loneliness; and (3) understanding mental health recovery, showcasing art’s role in identity reconstruction and personal growth. Quantitative results indicated a significant improvement in the “Connecting and Belonging” subscale of the RAS-DS (t = −2.51; p = 0.023), particularly among women (t = −2.85; p = 0.019), suggesting enhanced social integration. However, no statistically significant changes were observed in overall recovery, well-being, or self-stigma scores. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that participatory community art projects enhance social connections and self-expression, which are key elements of mental health recovery. The findings suggest that creative collaborations facilitate emotional processing and challenge stigma. The improvement in social belonging supports integrating arts-based interventions in recovery-oriented care. Future research should examine long-term effects and gender-sensitive approaches. Full article

Background/Objectives: Identification of human remains is of utmost importance for criminal investigations and providing closure to the families. The reconstruction of a biological profile of the individual will narrow down the list of candidates for identification. From another perspective, facial approximations performed by a forensic artist can provide investigative leads, with the identity being confirmed by primary or secondary methods of identification. In recent years, DNA analysis has evolved, trying to create a portrait of the perpetrator/victim based on External Visible Characteristics (EVCs), the color of the eyes, hair, and skin and Biogeographical ancestry (BGA), called DNA phenotyping. Despite these advances, currently, there are no studies integrating the biological profile performed by forensic anthropologists, the facial approximation created by forensic artists and EVCs determined by DNA. The goal of this work was to integrate these three investigative leads to enhance the possibility of human identification. Methods: Five donated remains from Mercyhurst were studied through these approaches: reconstruction of biological profile, facial approximation and estimation of EVCs based on previous studies. Results: Our results indicated the feasibility of integrating this biological profile and EVCs data into the facial approximation developed by the forensic artist, aiming to an enhance portrait of the remains. In a second phase of this project, the accuracy of the integrated facial approximation will be assessed. Conclusions: This study pointed out the importance of an interdisciplinary approach towards the identification of human remains, as well as the combination of current methods with new technologies. Full article

The integration of 3D modeling and printing (3DMP) into STEAM education has the potential to foster 21st-century skills, including creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication (the four C’s). This study investigates whether gender influences the use of 3DMP among pre-service mathematics teachers and how this technology supports the creation of meaningful STEAM learning experiences. Over 100 project documentations from Austrian university students were analyzed, evaluating their potential to promote the four C’s and their transdisciplinary connections. Results indicate minimal gender differences, with both male and female participants incorporating technical, artistic, and creative elements into their projects. These findings challenge stereotypes about technology as a male domain and suggest that integrating emerging technologies such as 3DMP into teacher training inherently supports gender-neutral outcomes, promoting inclusivity and equity in STEAM education without requiring explicit gender-focused interventions. The study contributes to ongoing discussions about gender perceptions and technology integration in education, offering insights into fostering inclusive and equitable STEAM teaching practices. Full article

The Florentine architect Vittorio Giorgini (1926–2010) graduated in 1957 from his hometown School of Architecture. During the 1950s and 1960s, he came to maturity in the lively cultural climate of Florence. Giorgini’s design process was based on the direct observation of natural structures. He coined the term “Spatiology” to define his studies of morphology. In 1969, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a professor of Architecture and Planning at the Pratt Institute until 1996. Giorgini took part in the artistic and cultural life of the Big Apple, and here, he frequented and formed a series of friendships with personalities of notable stature (John M. Johansen, Isamu Noguchi, Buckminster Fuller). The aim of the latter is to investigate Giorgini’s USA period (1969–1996), which constituted a far-reaching design phase beginning in the Seventies. In particular, it is very interesting to study the relationships Giorgini established with architects, artists, and intellectuals in New York that constituted a source of seduction and inspiration for his design process. The research focuses on the “Made in USA” projects that were never built, in which the formal interpretation of natural organisms consisted mainly of tetrahedral and octahedral meshes. Full article

In this article, I seek to outline a theoretical framework to critically assess as artistic the aesthetic value of participatory art, namely, art where the audience’s activity is constitutive of the artwork proper. I depart both from the idea that, in participatory art, aesthetic qualities emerge in the participants’ performances, and from a functional account of art criticism that assesses works in terms of the kinds of objects they are, the goals they pursue, and manners in which they do so. My paper raises the issue of whether and how a functional account of art criticism, which makes artistic value dependent on the artist’s intentions can apply to the criticism of participatory art, whose aesthetic qualities arise in the activity performed by the audience detached from the specific artefacts designed by artists. I analyse the question considering how such detachment varies across forms of participatory art—from interactive art such as installations to fully collaborative artistic projects. Full article