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Building Communities in Tense Times: Fostering Connectedness Between Cultures and Generations through Community Arts |
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| Authors: | Caroline Beauregard Joëlle Tremblay Janie Pomerleau Maïté Simard Elise Bourgeois-Guérin Claire Lyke Cécile Rousseau |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Human and Social Development, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), Montreal, QC, Canada;2. École d'art, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada;3. Art et Contes Department, Parc-Extension Youth Organization (PEYO), Montréal, QC, Canada;4. Sherpa Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada
Département des Sciences humaines, Lettres et Communications, Université TÉLUQ, Québec, QC, Canada;5. Sherpa Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada;6. Sherpa Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada |
| Abstract: | The worldwide upsurge in social polarizations generates intercommunity tensions that challenge the social fabric of urban neighborhoods and undermine the relationships between their members. Because community arts can foster the creation of connections between people that would not have been in contact otherwise, they are often perceived as being powerful tools to foster community resilience. Through a multiple case study approach, this article describes how three community arts projects, carried out in two socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods of Montreal (Canada), influenced the social relationships between participants from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds and generations. Using participant observation and arts-based data collection methods (photography, video, and arts productions), the authors examine how the three projects illustrate (a) the interactive processes at play, (b) the transmission and hybridization of stories and images of adversity and resiliency, and (c) the access to a collective voice. |
| Keywords: | Neighborhood community Community resilience Social connectedness Community arts |