On December 5, the director of the Center for Intercultural Studies (CEI), Clara Sarmento, presented the plenary lecture “Visual Narratives and Memory Trails in Street Art in Porto and Northern Portugal” at the International Colloquium “The Street and the City – Challenges”, at the invitation of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, which hosted the event between December 5 and 6.
From smart cities to megalopolises, from gateway cities to anchor cities, or from factory towns to green cities, from real cities to imaginary cities, “The Street and the City – Challenges” addresses the challenges they all pose and face. Literature, the visual arts and the theoretical flow of thought offer multiple possibilities for discussing the prospects of more responsible and fairer cities. The challenges for a better life in terms of sustainability, education and new technologies, freedom and equality and the new approaches that new cities can teach us. Cities all over the world pulse with endless challenges and endless possibilities. “The Street and the City – Challenges” proposes an analysis of the countless challenges that mark the rhythm of the streets and cities of the past, present and future.
“Visual Narratives and Memory Trails in Street Art in Porto and Northern Portugal” analyzes the city as a palimpsest, where political, economic and social changes can be read in the images, symbols, colors, letters and materials that line the pages of the streets. Studying and mapping street art creates a self-conscious positioning as well as a living understanding of the urban fabric, where street artists build their own networks of connection, communication, movement and meaning, with their multiple layers of memory.
More information: http://thestreetandthecitylx5.wordpress.com