Art, normality and sensitivities: artistic workshops as spaces of expression for young people and adults with intellectual disabilities in Córdoba, Argentina
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Objectives: To analyze the narratives of people with intellectual disabilities based on their experiences in institutional and non-institutional art workshops in the city of Córdoba (2019-2023), considering creative processes, coordination between institutions, and public participation in inclusive festivals. Methods: Qualitative study with an ethnographic approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 people with intellectual disabilities and 15 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Six field diaries were kept, accompanied by photographic records. Results: The art workshops function as spaces of mediation between institutional settings and social spaces, where artistic practices, teaching relationships, and stage experiences create conditions of expression for people with intellectual disabilities. Inclusive festivals operate as nodes linking workshops, organisations, and audiences, generating specific networks of participation and collective visibility. These processes unfold in trajectories marked by structural inequalities that condition access to education, work, and technologies. Conclusions: Art workshops are complex social spaces that bring together teaching, institutional, and sensory dimensions, expanding expressive repertoires and forms of participation. Even so, they coexist with persistent normalizing logics, which shows that cultural inclusion is a relational process in constant negotiation.
Author: María Paula Zanini
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7223301444