Abstract

MARXEN, Eva. The Ethnography of Art: Definitions, Theoretical Bases and New Scenarios. Alteridades [online]. 2009, vol.19, n.37, pp.7-22. ISSN 2448-850X.

In this century, art may be redefined in political terms and as a social instrument that goes beyond bourgeois, romantic or expressionist conceptions. In this article I seek to shed light on this "new" way of understanding art through the case study of Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art's (Macba) - one of the fundamental, official institutions of art - policies and activities. I shall also demonstrate how, through this redefinition, art may become an ethnographic instrument that allows for the broadening, illustration and contrasting of informant narratives while simultaneously granting them an active and creative role in field-work. A methodology for a visually active ethnography is developed in which the essence of information is transmitted through images.

Keywords : politico-social redefinition of art; interactive and relational art; art workshops; reading and interpretation of images.

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