Towards a relational autonomy: contemporary urban cultural movements

From the late seventeenth century to the present day the idea of the autonomy of art and its pursuit of emancipation from the authorities in each historical period has gone through a long and intense evolution, with plenty of successes and failures, which is still alive today spurring the cultural and artistic activity in our cities. During the Enlightenment self-determination of the individual was sought beyond the power and control of the Absolutist State and the field of aesthetics was finally decoupled from theological purposes. Later on modernity focused on exposing and fighting a certain atmosphere of boredom and false morality typical of the bourgeoisie by interfering with the prevailing notion of normality and its unifying tendency. However, all the stimulating potential of the first formulation of autonomy disappeared and artistic practices ceased to have sociopolitical implications, becoming a mere and tasteful ornament. From then until now many movements have struggled to propose an alternative to the prevailing culture, dealing and negotiating simultaneously with the vulgarity and the invasion of mass culture and the voracity of the art market. This work, linked to the research group Urban Derives. Artistic interventions in the territory, intends to discover and add value to current artistic practices connected to the tradition of countercultural movements. Strategies such as occupation, self-management or co-management are employed to promote critical debate around issues such as the function of public space or the ability and the right of citizens to actively participate in the production, diffusion and reception of culture. This way it is provided a contribution to the definition and articulation of relational aesthetics.