Formal and Conceptual Content Analysis of the Results of the Didactic Workshop of the Pluri-identitat Exhibition at the Museum of the University of Alicante

Abstract

The research is carried out at the Museum of the University of Alicante (MUA), during the academic year 2022-23 with the participation of 23 students in the 4th year of ESO of the Figueras Pacheco Secondary School in Alicante. The aim is to evaluate the creative results at a formal and conceptual level of the workshop carried out after the visit to the exhibition ‘Pluri-Identitats. III Convocatoria Bienal de Artes Visuales’. This group show of 12 artists is the framework that allows us to dive into multidisciplinary creations, linked to identity issues that address concepts such as affective-sexual diversity, the plurality of abilities and expressions or multiculturalism. The works of one of the artists, Araks Sahakyan, serve as a trigger for reflecting on one's own identity and incorporating creative resources in young students through strategies and guidelines proposed by the museum's didactic team. The result of the workshop is the joint creation of a mural based on two pictorial creations by each student. The first creation is figurative drawings in square format, which make up the central part of the mural. The second are abstract creations in rectangular format that make up the perimeter. The methodology used is content analysis. On the one hand, the formal analysis of the mural is developed in a quantitative way, both in the central part and in the perimeter, including aspects linked to the use of chromaticism and graphics. On the other hand, the conceptual analysis of each of the individual creations that make up the central part of the joint mural is developed in a qualitative manner. The results show: images that are not very stereotyped, despite using common or simple symbolic codes, these are creatively combined; an effort to develop self-knowledge and express it effectively; the predominance of cultural and psychological reflections to define identities; the self-concept expression of sporting, musical or nature-related interests; the contagion of ideas between peers; an evident parallelism between the works appreciated during the visit and the technical, conceptual and graphic strategies employed; the dependence on the use of text to delimit meanings due to lack of artistic training. We conclude by highlighting the social and psychological benefits that an exhibition on identity can have for young people thanks to cultural mediation focused from a perspective based on the promotion of creativity and reflection; and the importance of didactic workshops to increase students' audiovisual literacy for aesthetic appreciation and self-expression.