Conference Program

Art, in its many forms of expression, is a privileged educational tool for promoting training courses from an intercultural perspective. Its nature as a universal language allows it to transcend the cultural boundaries within which it is produced, opening up spaces for encounter and dialogue between individuals with different experiences, identities and affiliations. Like a game of mirrors, a work of art is born from the mind of the artist but, once created, it becomes an autonomous entity that lends itself to multiple interpretations, conditioned not only by the originally intended message, but also by the experience, emotional state and cultural background of the viewer.

Within this system of references, artistic products take on the characteristics of universal assets, part of humanity's heritage to be protected and passed on. Art thus becomes a space for mediation, a privileged place for encounter—and sometimes confrontation—between different cultures, religions, historical periods and social positions. Over the centuries, these encounters have generated continuous cross-fertilisation, constituting the lifeblood of artistic evolution. As Favaro and Luatti point out, “in visual art, cross-fertilisation is the encounter of elements that were originally unrelated, which coexist to give rise to new horizons of meaning” (Favaro & Luatti, 2004, p. 321). From this perspective, cross-fertilisation becomes an educational resource: “the proximity of the other, if we allow ourselves to be cross-fertilised, becomes a stimulus for the growth of each individual and for the enrichment of their identity” (Pastò, 2005, p. 131).

The experiential dimension of art, emphasised by Dewey, makes it a powerful tool for knowledge: it is inseparable from everyday life, which “intensifies the sense of immediate living” (Dewey, 1995, p. 9). Hernández also reiterates that knowledge can derive from artistic experience, understood as a genuine form of learning (Hernández, 2008, p. 90). In education, this link makes art a privileged context for developing observation, imagination, critical thinking and creative skills.

This is the backdrop against which street art has emerged, transforming itself from a marginal and often illegal practice into one of the most incisive artistic languages of our time. Unlike museum works, urban art is created in public spaces, interacts with the city and reaches a diverse and unselected audience, becoming an immediate, accessible and democratic means of communication. Banksy, in particular, emblematically represents this process: through the use of iconic, easily recognisable images charged with political and social tension, the artist has transformed local walls into global symbols. The online dissemination of his works amplifies the intercultural potential of street art, making visible issues that are shared on a global level—from inequality to migration, from armed conflict to environmental protection—and promoting the construction of a transnational collective imagination. Street art, therefore, is not only an aesthetic expression, but a universal

language capable of stimulating critical awareness, connecting different communities and confirming the role of art as a bridge between cultures, generations and experiences.