Folkcomunicação, cultura e arte em busca da resiliência em tempos de pandemia

Abstract

With the atypical scenario provided by the Covid-19 pandemic, we aim to identify how the expressions
of public, urban, and popular art, with a focus on graffiti, were used as communicative practices capable
of expressing collective feelings in the face of the pandemic tragedy, as well as raising public debates
through the political claims of marginalized classes. Based upon the Folkcommunication theory, different
perspectives of the study of culture are interwined to understand this form of art from both an identity and
a claiming perspective. Then, we analyze manifestations of such a kind occurring in 2020 and 2021 in the
State of Pernambuco, Brazil, in an exploratory way. Our initial results point to the occupation by graffiti of
a historical place in the collective representation of the desires and needs of a fragile population marked by
fear and uncertainty. We also point to the use of local and regional cultural features as a connecting element
with the public and as a reaffirmation of identity. On the other hand, we also question to what extent
the legitimization and insertion of these actions in the framework of public policies limit the contesting
potential of graffiti as a modality of artivism, taking also into account the need for inclusive actions in the
perspective of intersectionality.
Keywords: Folkcommunication; Covid -19; Popular Culture; Graffiti; Artivism
.