Urban Art as Political Resistance: Murals, Memory, and Justice in Public Space
Arte urbano como resistencia política: murales, memoria y justicia en el espacio público
Keywords:
Urban art, Political resistance, Collective memory, Public space, Post-conflict citiesAbstract
This article explores the role of urban murals as instruments of political resistance and collective memory in post-conflict cities. Focusing on Latin American urban contexts, the research investigates how public art becomes a powerful medium through which marginalized communities reclaim visibility, confront historical erasure, and demand social justice. Drawing on visual ethnography, field observations, and interviews with artists and community members, the study analyzes murals as spatial interventions that challenge dominant narratives and reconfigure public space as a site of historical reckoning. The novelty of this research lies in its framing of muralism not only as aesthetic expression but as a grassroots strategy of memory politics and urban activism in transitional societies. This article contributes to interdisciplinary debates on memory, justice, and the right to the city by highlighting how art in public space facilitates processes of healing, resistance, and socio-political engagement.
Este artículo analiza el papel de los murales urbanos como herramientas de resistencia política y memoria colectiva en ciudades postconflicto. Centrándose en contextos urbanos de América Latina, la investigación examina cómo el arte público se convierte en un medio poderoso a través del cual las comunidades marginadas reclaman visibilidad, confrontan el olvido histórico y exigen justicia social. A partir de una etnografía visual, observaciones de campo y entrevistas con artistas y habitantes locales, el estudio interpreta los murales como intervenciones espaciales que desafían narrativas dominantes y transforman el espacio público en un escenario de memoria activa. La originalidad de este trabajo radica en su conceptualización del muralismo no solo como expresión estética, sino como estrategia comunitaria de resistencia, memoria y activismo urbano en sociedades en transición. El artículo aporta al debate interdisciplinario sobre memoria, justicia y derecho a la ciudad al mostrar cómo el arte en el espacio público facilita procesos de sanación, resistencia y participación sociopolítica.
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