Esta tese procurou contextualizar e analisar as reverberações, em Vitória, capital do Espírito Santo, dos debates que movimentaram o campo artístico contemporâneo, sobretudo, a partir da década de 1990, vinculando os termos arte e democracia. Tal vínculo pode ser associado tanto à emergência de um vocabulário novo no universo da arte (participação, colaboração, extradisciplinaridade etc.) quanto às expectativas criadas em torno da noção de globalização e das novas possibilidades de comunicação propiciadas pela internet. Embora seu caráter retórico ou apenas potencial já tenha sido apontado em estudos críticos, somente nos últimos anos isso ficou notório. A tese adotada nesta pesquisa, portanto, é a de que os mecanismos democráticos amplamente difundidos na virada do milênio, ao contrário de sua aparente função transformadora, atuavam como formas camufladas de apaziguamento, preservando o estrato hierárquico clássico. O recorte espacial selecionado para a discussão foi uma capital periférica brasileira, enquanto o recorte temporal considerou que um momento expressivo dos debates envolvendo arte e democracia em Vitória ocorreu na primeira década do século XXI. Adotando as ações e projetos desenvolvidos por coletivos e pelo poder público como guia, identificando suas referências, propósitos e limitações impostas ou autoimpostas, em cada um dos capítulos, o microcosmo do campo artístico capixaba constituiu um exemplo emblemático de que quanto mais distante dos pontos hegemônicos se observam tais práticas democráticas, tanto internacionais quanto nacionais, melhor podem ser detectados seus traços míticos, entre as quais a noção de que as fronteiras entre centro e periferia estavam sendo redesenhadas. / This dissertation sought to both contextualize and analyze the reverberations in Vitória, Espírito Santo\'s capital city, of the debates that moved the contemporary artistic field, especially since the 1990s, linking the terms Art and democracy. Such a link can be associated with both the emergence of a new vocabulary in the art universe (participation, collaboration, extra-disciplinarity etc.), and the expectations created around the notion of globalization and the new possibilities of communication provided by the Internet. Although its rhetorical or just potential character has already been pointed out in critical studies, it has only become apparent in recent years. The thesis adopted in this research, therefore, is that democratic mechanisms widely diffused at the turn of the millennium, contrary to their apparent transforming function, acted as camouflaged forms of appeasement, preserving the classical hierarchical stratum. The spatial cut selected for the discussion was a Brazilian peripheral capital, while the temporal cut considered that the most expressive moment of the debates involving art and democracy in Vitória occurred in the first decade of the 21st century. By adopting the actions and projects developed by art collectives and by the public sector as a guide, the identification of references, purposes and limitations imposed or self-imposed in each of the chapters, the microcosm of the art field of Espírito Santo was an emblematic example that the more distant from the hegemonic points one observes such democratic practices, both international and national, the better its mythical features can be detected, including the notion that the boundaries between center and periphery were being redrawn.

This thesis contributes to an EU Policy Lab project entitled The Future of Government 2030+. The aim of which is to generate knowledge in the context of the rapidly changing relationship between citizens and government.Using a co-design and speculative design process this thesis specifically looks at informing a citizen centric perspective on envisioning and formulating the design of new interactive tools and forms of engagement. Looking at the potential of art’s role in rethinking the way democracy and governments operate and exploring how citizens could interact, participate and engage in democracy. Investigating how new forms of debate and decision making could unfold in both domestic and public spaces in a future model of participatory democracy.A framework for a future model of government is presented in this thesis through prototype scenarios. This framework emerged from citizens visions of communication and interaction with a future government. The framework focuses on two key areas where artistic expression is used: 1: The formulation and communication of issues of concerns. 2: Community organising for creative participation in addressing these issues.The discussions on art and democracy by philosophers John Dewey and Bruno Latour were influential in the formulation and selection of the methodological approach. Culminating in a sequential design research process conducted through public probes, cultural probes and co-design workshops.

This thesis examines the relationship between the three artists' workshops Røde Mor (Red Mother), Folkets Ateljé (The People's Studio) and GRAS, who worked between 1968 and 1975 in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Røde Mor was from the outset an articulated Communist graphic workshop loosely organised around collective exhibitions. It developed into a highly productive and professionalised group of artists that made posters by commission for political and social movements. Its artists developed a familiar and popular artistic language characterised by imaginative realism and socialist imagery. Folkets Ateljé, which has never been studied before, was a close knit underground group which created quick and immediate responses to concurrent political issues. This group was founded on the example of Atelier Populaire in France and is strongly related to its practices. Within this comparative study it is the group that comes closest to collective practises around 1968 outside Scandinavia, namely the democratic assembly. The silkscreen workshop GRAS stemmed from the idea of economic and artistic freedom, although socially motivated and politically involved, the group never implemented any doctrine for participation. The aim of this transnational study is to reveal common denominators to the three groups' poster art as it was produced in connection with a Scandinavian experience of 1968. By ‘1968' it is meant the period from the late 1960s till the end of the 1970s. It examines the socio-political conditions under which the groups flourished and shows how these groups operated in conjunction with the political environment of 1968. The thesis explores the relationship between political movements and the collective art making process as it appeared in Scandinavia. To present a comprehensible picture of the impact of 1968 on these groups, their artworks, manifestos, and activities outside of the collective space have been discussed. The argument has presented itself that even though these groups had very similar ideological stances, their posters and techniques differ. This has impacted the artists involved to different degrees, yet made it possible to express the same political goals. It is suggested to be linked with the Scandinavian social democracies and common experience of the radicalisation that took place mostly in the aftermath of 1968 proper. By comparing these three groups' it has been uncovered that even with the same socio-political circumstances and ideological stance divergent styles did develop to embrace these issue.