In defense of art education: arguments and limits from the Brazilian context

Abstract

Taking into account that, in Brazil, we are often called upon to act and argue in defense of art at school, we developed this article, in the light of a perspective that seeks to understand the unnatural character of the presence of art in education (Martins, 2012; 2014 and Sabino 2020; 2021) and the constant advocacy movements in order to guarantee their insertion and obligation in school (Hernández, 2000; Errázuriz, 2019; Honorato, 2018; and others). In this movement, we have been through the main Brazilian legislation (since 1961) regarding the insertion of visual arts teaching in the basic education curriculum. It is an exercise in exposing evidence of the historically constructed character of art education and in understanding that this also articulates with the localized conceptions of education and subjects that it is intended to form. In the final part of the text, we point out some of the different rationales that have supported many of our arguments, paying attention to their denaturalization and, therefore, their limits and the need for new elaborations. If we understand that it is still necessary to act in defense of art at school, we believe that, perhaps, it is necessary to reinvigorate our ways of doing so and, from this, strengthen our teaching performance as a political practice.