Urban living and the search for new societal metaphors: Insights from Brussels participatory arts practices

In recent years, the relation between participatory arts practices and urban living has been a topic of debate. In an increasingly plural urban society, the co-presence of different social and cultural groups has created an urgent need for new ways to relate the right to individual freedom and hence diversity, to the necessity of social coherence. In this search, participatory art has gained in relevance. By addressing missing artistic forms and taking into account cultural reference patterns from the people involved, participatory arts practices are deemed to play an important role in producing new societal metaphors that go beyond the discourse of living together on the basis of a common, national history. Whereas in academic literature this has often led to ambitious social and political claims, this article turns to the social pedagogical mandate of these practices. How does participatory art concretely intervene in the social relations between people, which challenges are being addressed and which individuals are at the heart of these challenges? By reporting on the findings of semi-structured interviews with practitioners in Brussels, the–unofficial–capital of Europe, we aim to gain an empirical understanding of how these new societal metaphors may look like.