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practices
Ren Lommez Gomes
Carolina Vaz de Carvalho
The concept of the common, as defined by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri,
encompasses both the common resources of the material world and the results of social
production that are necessary for social interaction and further production, such as
knowledges, languages, codes, information, affects, and so forth. (Hardt; Negri, 2009:
viii) The existence of the common could make possible a democracy of the multitude; at
the same time, the common should not be seen as an object, but a project of the
multitude. The multitude, in its turn, could be conceived as an open and expansive
network in which all differences can be expressed freely and equally (Hardt; Negri,
2004: xiii-xiv).
In consonance with global movements of the multitude, cultural and social
groups which act in the sphere of the common have been making themselves more
present in Belo Horizonte, a large city in the Southeast region of Brazil, particularly
since massive public demonstrations took place nationwide in June 2013. These groups
advocate causes that are diverse and not necessarily convergent, but partake of a
common logic of cultural production, political participation, self-organization and
communal management of resources, based on the principle of horizontality, and
independent of governmental actions.
The event The Common and the City aimed at eliciting aspects of the thoughts
and actions of multitudinal movements in Belo Horizonte, through the gathering of
singular groups in a collective project that questioned authorship and disciplinary
boundaries. Scheduled to take place simultaneously to the FIFA World Cup, it set itself
apart from other events promoted by the touristic circuit and mass media, proposing,
instead, a critical approach to the recent transformations of the urban territory. It
expressed a desire to experiment with new forms of curatorial practices, to deepen
communication channels between academic institutions and society, and to consolidate
networks of cooperation among those interested in the project of the common. The open
participation of a variety of social actors in all decision-making, from the
conceptualization of the event to its execution, represented an opportunity to investigate
new methodologies in the museological field, developing social technology based on
shared knowledge production, and democratic appropriation of cultural heritage and
museal processes.
were put at risk as visitors could actively participate in the construction and
transformation of the exhibition during the time it was running.
In the opening ceremony for ICOM 15th General Conference in 1989, the then
Director-General of UNESCO Frederic Mayor commented on the changing
museological landscape:
The remote, aristocratic, Olympian institution appropriating objects for its own
taxonomic purposes has increasingly - and alarmingly to some - made way for
an entity responsive to its environment, conscious of its organic relationship
with its social setting. (Mayor,1989: 4)
Although this transformation still faces resistance in the local context, initiatives such as
the one here presented show that some museological institutions and professionals are
concerned with the role of museums as an instrument to be appropriated by the public,
by community and by society. Many of the themes and issues featured in The Common
and the City would not ordinarily have space in the official cultural agenda of Belo
Horizonte, albeit strongly present in the actions of independent groups. The event was
an opportunity to strengthen direct dialog with a wider diversity of people who live in
the city and to make the Espao do Conhecimento UFMG more permeable to new ideas
and propositions coming from its environment.
References:
Hardt, M.; Negri, A. (2004). Multitude: war and democracy in the Age of Empire. New
York, The Penguim Press.
Hardt, M.; Negri, A. (2009). Commonwealth. Cambridge, Mass., The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press.
Mayor, F. 1989. Address on the occasion of the Fifteenth General Conference of the
International Council of Museums (ICOM). The Hague, United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Moutinho, M. 1993. Sobre o conceito de museologia social. Cadernos de Museologia
n.1: 7.