Conference Program

Under the mantel of Medical Humanities, attempts have been made to promote valued capabilities such as compassion, empathy, human connection and person-centred communication in medical and care practice leading to both socially sustainable working-life and healthcare (Bernhardsson, et al. forthcoming; Patel, et al. 2019; Post & Wentz 2022; Smydra, et al. 2022). Central to Medical Humanities is not just the exposure of students (and later practitioners) in healthcare professional education programmes to humanities (various arts, usually painting, literature, and music as well as philosophy and history), but to give them practical skills and knowledge to be able to not just appreciate but also use humanities-based resources in sustainable occupational and personal contexts. At Lund University’s medical programme, students have had the opportunity to take an elective course in Medical Humanities for 15 years. In Spring 2023, an online alumni survey was conducted (by a research group including the author) of the alumni who have taken the course. The survey was anonymous and included demographic questions as well as questions about what and how the content, perspectives and competencies acquired during the course have influenced and been applied in both medical practice and the personal lives of the former students. There were 71 respondents to the survey out of approximately 200 alumni contacted. The analysis for this paper focuses on the open, free-text answers obtained, which indicate that the course has functioned as a “resilience” resource in dealing with emotionally taxing work; that exposure to the arts has provided a deep source for empathetic understanding of patients and vulnerability; it has provided a more tools for a more fulfilling leisure leading to relaxation and recharge; as well as both skills and content for reflection and communication with patients and colleagues.

The contribution outlines the creation of a virtual environment called the "Inclusive Virtual Museum," which harnesses the potential of Extended Reality (XR) technologies and 3D printing to promote inclusive and sustainable museum experiences. The project involves the establishment of a virtual museum hosting digital assets of archaeological artifacts acquired through 3D scanning in museums across the Campania region. The digital assets of these archaeological artifacts have been further replicated using biodegradable material through 3D printing, allowing students to manipulate artworks and providing additional sensory information, particularly for visually impaired students, to fully grasp the history and significance of museum pieces. Moreover, the virtual environment enables detailed study and analysis of artifacts without safety or fragility concerns, offering a meaningful experience for students with disabilities to actively engage without real-world risks. Consequently, the combined use of the virtual museum and 3D printing of archaeological artifacts serves as an effective tool to promote student self-determination by enabling independent and meaningful exploration and knowledge creation. These innovative technologies support a pedagogical vision of community-based education, where schools and local areas interact, creating alternative educational spaces enriched by museum experiences for visitors and students alike. Additionally, the environmental implications of these technologies are considered, identifying opportunities to reduce environmental impact through resource optimization and the use of biodegradable materials in 3D printing archaeological artifacts. Therefore, this paper examines the challenges and future opportunities in the adoption of these technologies, highlighting their potential to revolutionize the museum sector and promote greater accessibility and sustainability in cultural heritage preservation.

The importance of mobilizing artistic languages as a means of activation of transformative processes toward a more sustainable present, also in its symbolic dimension, has assumed increasing consideration in recent years (Tota and De Feo 2022). What this paper intends to examine, however, is not the transformative potential of art in the context of educational practices, but whether artistic practice can be considered a public and critical pedagogical practice in itself (Zorrilla 2014). Especially for marginalized groups, art can be a tool for resisting oppressive structures and articulating and exposing social and cultural identities (hooks 1998; Hall 2003). Still, it can also be a tool to create a zone of contact and a space of dialogue, for the unlearning and re-learning of issues related to identities and cultures, and it can be vital for raising a critical consciousness toward social justice (Zorrilla 2014).

This contribution aims to analyze the work of South African artist Muholi (they/them). Muholi’s artistic practice combines photography, video, and installation with human rights activism. Their focus lies in exploring documentation and representation as tools capable of providing a different narrative of the black queer community in South Africa (Tyali 2014). Muholi’s work not only strives to counteract misrepresentation in the media but also illuminates the complexities of intersectional identities, providing them with visibility and contributing to the formation of an alternative archive of narratives and identities (Poulain 2019; 2020). By weaving aesthetics and social reflection, their works can be interpreted as useful sources for a process of learning through differences. In this light, I consider their form of visual activism (Mirzoeff 2016; Bryan-Wilson et al. 2016) not only as a form of intervention and subversion in the field of representation but also as a form of public pedagogy in service of critical common literacy on social issues, one that originates and speaks of the lived experiences of marginalized groups. While regimes of visuality enforce racism, and sexism, here Muholi’s interpretation and their act of gazing back (Poulain 2019) seem to activate a pedagogical practice that emphasizes a reciprocal relation with the viewers, inviting them to engage in a reflexive analysis, broadening their perspectives (Peters 2016). Thus, the critical value of Muholi’s visual activism as a counter-discourse expands beyond the geographical boundaries of South Africa. What kind of social dialogue can Muholi's work activate with respect to issues of inclusion and diversity in the Italian context?

Based on ethnographic research and interviews conducted at Mudec (Museum of Cultures, Milan), on the occasion of the solo exhibition Muholi. A Visual Activist (March-July 2023), this paper argues that art practice can be articulated and perceived by viewers as a means of public critical pedagogy. This occurs in the way that it provides a ground for the recognition of the Other, emphasizing the educative nature of representations (Peters 2016) and constituting an invitation to the recognition of intersectional plural identities and their struggles, helping to shape a more sustainable imaginary in terms of equity, diversity and visibility of marginalized subjects.

There is a very long tradition of scholars who, even in the variety of the perspectives, have documented the relevance of the arts for education. Among them, the most significant contribution is due to Friedrich Schiller (1795), according to whom only the arts are capable of educating human beings in harmony, sociability, freedom, happiness, and goodness. In his Thoughts on Art Education, Rudolf Arnheim (1989) has contended the key role of the arts in any educational and teaching plans: “since the components underlying art involve the workings of mind as a whole and art is an outstanding instance of the class of structural problems, which arise in many fields, (…) art education gives a meaningful contribution to personality development.” In this paper the theoretical debate on “arting education” (Tota and De Feo, 2022) will be placed in dialogue with the environmental turn and the environmental humanities. Among the most recent contributions, Emanuele Coccia (2018; 2021a; 2021b), but also Byung-Chul Han (2022), Tim Ingold (2001) and Arne Naess (2005) have documented, even in the variety of the perspectives and approaches, how educating for sustainability requires a new paradigm of relations between the human being and the world. We will need “eco-words” (Tota, 2023b), and “eco-thoughts” (Tota, 2023a) to be able to transform ourselves even before, or at least together with, the external environment, offering a new way of considering boundaries. How can we contribute to the education of new generations in this direction? Artistic languages can become a very relevant resource in this respect. Several examples will be considered in relation to alternative pedagogical approaches, such as these of the Waldorf schools (Tota, 2018; Barbanti, 2019). These empirical examples will be used to illustrate to what extent artistic languages can contribute to nourishing and growing “eco-visions of the future” (Tota, 2023c) among the new generations. We need new forms of social narration able to regenerate reality for us through our daily experiences. “Eco-visions” can be defined as embodied images, because they can neither ignore nor do without the situated gaze that produces them, the “flesh of the body” that hosts the gaze which literally establishes them. Eco-visions are the opposite of polluting images, they require citizens to take responsibility and develop awareness. The arts are called to draw for us the boundaries of new perceptive imaginaries, those same visual thoughts that Arnheim spoke about many years ago, but which now become indispensable tools for rethinking our relationship with the surrounding environment and for reimagining our future in terms of sustainability. Educating through the arts represents a unique opportunity to deeply transform the pathological relation established with the environment, and to offer to new generations the opportunities, the spaces and the places for a new ecological awareness.

Terms such as sustainability, social justice, collaborative knowledge construction, and a new vision of cultural heritage are now required reference points for those with a role in education and participation surrounding cultural and landscape heritage (Bishop, 2006; McCarthy, Jinnett, 2001). This applies to both formal and informal contexts (Albert, 2015).This paper examines the initial outcomes of the doctoral program in Intangible Heritage in Sociocultural Innovation, offered by the University of Milan-Bicocca. Since its inception, a key feature of this PhD programme – which was initially developed in collaboration with the Universities of Perugia and Basilicata on the strength of the investment programme provided for under the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) – has been active and meaningful engagement with local organizations, especially museums, local authorities, and cultural heritage sites. This has fostered ideas for new research endeavours based on inclusion, sustainability, an emphasis on heritage promotion, active participation, and the right to interpretation. The doctoral program has also been characterized by a strong emphasis on artistic languages, in terms of a wide range of interdisciplinary resources. This has been accompanied by inquiry into the practical workings of these languages and how they may be applied to document and conduct research (Barone, Eisner, 2011; Knowles, Cole, 2008). To date, artistic languages have played an invaluable part in mapping requirements and in implementing field research and cultural heritage actions. In this regard, the guidelines formulated by UNESCO concerning intangible heritage (Valdimar, 2018) bear considerable importance. Notably, the inevitable comparison with tangible heritage has become significantly more nuanced and enriched by multiple new perspectives. According to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, "‘intangible cultural heritage’ means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage (UNESCO Convention, Art.2). The research that is ongoing under the PhD programme is focused on individual, collective, and public memories of heritage, as well as on existing and developing artistic and crafts practices. It also explores community engagement and methods of sharing research outcomes. This paper highlights preliminary findings from the ongoing doctoral research projects, particularly from the vantage point of artistic languages.