Colectivos juveniles y educación social a través del arte en espacios públicos de la ciudad de Cuenca y de la parroquia Nulti

Abstract

The objective of this research was to value the work of youth collectives that develop artistic mediation practices in public spaces. An exploratory qualitative-descriptive methodology was used, using methods of bibliographic analysis and direct participatory observation, with semi-structured interviews with cultural managers and representatives of the collectives and communities of the Cuenca canton. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was applied to circumstantial material obtained through interviews with key actors. It was possible to establish that the way of operating of all the youth collectives studied contributes to the educational field through their artistic proposals; however, the work of two of the four groups analyzed falls more clearly within the parameters of social education, by deploying a permanent dynamic of offering workshops and educational activities to rural communities, a fact that has generated the empowerment and self-management of young people, and the involvement of communities in a process of identity self-affirmation. The work of youth collectives contributes to social education and enriches the educational field through their socio-educational interventions. Lacking the limitations imposed by formal education, their didactics are pluralistic, flexible, playful and responsive to the needs of the inhabitants of urban and rural communities. The support to youth collectives in the canton of Cuenca by the Academy, local governments and citizens could mean an important step forward to expand and diversify the educational offer to its population.