06 Jun Progress on activities of the “Tiempos de Muralismo” project and integration of arts and science with the Tongoy High School
Exploring from an Arts+Science approach with participatory methodologies is one of the objectives of the project “Tiempos de Muralismo: Patrimonios Socio-Ecologicos y Memoria”, which the SECOS Millennium Institute is developing together with the Carmen Rodríguez Henríquez High School in Tongoy and the Brisas del Mar School in Caleta Tubul. Within this framework, between May 20 and 23, a series of activities were carried out with students and teachers of the high school to integrate science, art and local knowledge, which will be the basis for the co-creation of a new coastal mural in the bay of the Coquimbo Region together with the educational community of the high school and collaborating artists.
Within the framework of the SECOS Arts + Science program and the PME project “Tiempos de Muralismo: Patrimonios Socio-Ecológicos y Memoria”, a series of artistic activities and an instance of participatory mapping were carried out with students and teachers of the Carmen Rodríguez high school in Tongoy, in order to discuss scientific knowledge, local knowledge, processes and socio-ecological relations of this coastal community in the Coquimbo region.
The activities were attended by 95 high school students and 22 teachers and assistants, including teachers Macarena Contreras (Science) and Paula Silva (Arts), who were instrumental in the planning and development of the sessions. During the sessions, the participatory mapping methodology was introduced, where they explored how maps can be used to identify relevant and representative landmarks in communities, based on their experiences, observations and local ancestral knowledge.
“The mapping generated vast and diverse information about Tongoy Bay, including historical details such as the train, the importance of the wetlands and even local curiosities such as the perception of a sort of ”submarine volcano” -a phenomenon that could be related to the coastal upwelling in the Lengua de Vaca area-, mentions Fernanda Oyarzún, artist and Arts+Science integration researcher at SECOS and coordinator of the mural project, financed by the National Research and Development Agency ANID. Also, contemporary findings such as puma sightings in Puerto Aldea were recorded, which demonstrates the richness of community observation,” she added.
Moreover, the initiative was not only focused on mapping. Oyarzún, together with the artist duo Carla Bolgeri and Francisco Marín, who are doing an artistic residency at SECOS exploring the forces of the wind (embodied knowledge) and oceanographic models, projected future artistic interventions linked to the art curriculum. Thus, an artistic intervention is expected to take place in October, with the support of the Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA) and the local community.
“The information gathered will be fundamental for the co-design of the mural and other future activities, which will be accompanied by the artist Consuelo Ceballos, who will train students and teachers in mural techniques using local materials,” said Oyarzún.
Thus, the participatory methodologies that have been part of the co-creative and research processes of SECOS in the Arauco Gulf, Biobío region, and whose results were recently published in the journal Ecology and Society, open up as powerful tools for the integration of knowledge and territorial linkage, promoting horizontal dialogues between science, arts and local knowledge.