Political and decolonial dimensions of art and theater education

Abstract

The article addresses intersections between art and politics in theater, examining how artistic production is mobilized to reproduce social hierarchies, drawing on Augusto Boal, Luis Camnitzer, and decolonial approaches. Based on critical discourse analysis of theoretical excerpts and testimonies, such as that of Chief Ubiratã, it discusses three dimensions: an epistemological one, which questions Eurocentric criteria of artistic validation; an educational one, which considers the effects of the BNCC’s disciplinary fragmentation on traditional knowledge; and an economic one, approached as a key to understand art’s circulation as a cultural commodity. The study argues that claims of artistic neutrality function as political strategies to maintain the status quo, while also distinguishing the idea of a necessarily political theater from the disputes surrounding the label of political theater. Finally, it proposes dismantling expressive hierarchies and valuing community models, including those of Indigenous peoples, to reinforce theater as a space for dialogue and cultural emancipation. Keywords: Theater; Decoloniality; Cultural policy; Social hierarchies.