Curating the Commons: Socially Engaged Public Art

Synopsis

Since the 2008 financial crisis and Occupy movements around the globe, artists have increasingly turned to socially engaged public art to create new models of artistic production and community engagement. Curating the Commons examines this turn through an in-depth study of performance-centered public art presented in Athens and Piraeus, Greece, during the austerity years. Extending from Henri Lefebvre’s theory of social space, Arfara examines art and social engagement in relation to the commons and self-organized solidarity initiatives, including performance, photography, film, and sculptures that appeared in unexpected urban spaces to complicate notions of memory, mobility, and belonging. These works all ask the question: Who has the right to the city? Combining her scholarly and curatorial work, Arfara advocates for performance-centered public art that resists processes of exclusion and segregation, reclaiming public space as a commons. By sharing critical insights, Arfara immerses the reader in the working processes of artists and collectives, showing how public art can address ecosocial concerns in aesthetic forms. Curating the Commons offers a grounded perspective on the making of cutting-edge, socially engaged public artworks and contributes to the larger effort to craft more-than-human narratives in response to global events.

Copyright:

2025

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780472057795

Related ISBNs:

9780472077793

Publisher:

University of Michigan Press

Date of Addition:

10/28/25

Copyrighted By:

Katia Arfara

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Art and Architecture, Politics and Government, Sociology

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.