Existing research recognizes art’s role in environmental awareness, but seldom examines participatory art as both method and engagement. This study explores how participatory art practices can foster ecological awareness in the context of wildlife tourism. Conducted at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the research invited over 1,000 tourists to draw circles representing their perceived relationships with nature, giant pandas, and pets—an activity inspired by Schultz’s Connectedness to Nature (CNT) scale. Although the task was initially designed as a visual survey, it quickly evolved into a shared, creative experience that generated spontaneous participation, meaningful conversations, and emotional engagement. What began as a scientific investigation revealed itself to be an ecological art project. Participants were not merely data contributors but co-creators, offering their own cultural and personal narratives to the panda-human coexistence. Drawing from Timothy Morton’s theory that art can foster non-coercive, relational experiences with the more-than-human world; this paper frames the drawing activity as an act of ecological art. Here, the giant panda is not simply a passive subject but an active participant in shaping a shared affective space, prompting reflections on conservation, interspecies coexistence, and emotional entanglements. This art-based approach illustrates how cultural and affective dimensions can be integrated into environmental communication through the engagement of both pandas and tourists. It highlights the value of participatory creativity as both a research method and a meaningful form of public engagement. As environmental challenges intensify, this study suggests that ecological art offers a promising pathway for fostering inclusive, grounded, and emotionally resonant environmental discourse. It contributes not only to research on CNT but also to the broader work of reimagining human relationships with the natural world.
Present mainstream artificial intelligence painting models and platforms exhibit a fundamental difficulty in comprehending the defining characteristics of classical Chinese painting: The emphasis on capturing the spirit (Xie Shen) or evocative essence over literal depiction, as well as its characteristic flattened esthetic paradigm. This paper reviews the evolutionary trajectory of artificial intelligence painting technology and delineates its fundamental principles. By applying this technology to restore ancient poet portraits into three-dimensional lifelike representations, it provides technical pathways and parameter references for poet portrait restoration. This exploration charts novel application paths for artificial intelligence technology, enabling it to contribute more effectively to Chinese cultural studies. Furthermore, utilizing Stable Diffusion to restore ancient poet portraits bridges the psychological distance between historical poets and contemporary audiences, thus advancing the dissemination of ancient Chinese poetry culture.
While the living conditions of the Anthropocene pose dangerous consequences for humanity, they have also heightened our attention and sensitivity to nature, that is, our natural environment, even when looking back into the past. Scientists and literary scholars have discovered that ecocriticism strongly contributes to a deeper, refined insight into the interaction between human actors and natural agents. Many medievalists have thus begun to focus on how pre-modern poets reflected on water, the forest, mountains, animals, and plants as they impacted human life. This paper reviews a range of medieval heroic epics where specific aspects of nature matter extensively in shaping the protagonists’ characters, experiences, and struggles. Activities, such as crossing a body of water, traveling through forests, climbing mountains, staying in caves, landing and fighting on islands, or living in wilderness areas assume critical functions in narrative development. Although the ecological concerns in these medieval texts may differ from those found in post-modern literature, close readings of major representatives of this genre indicate that medieval poets already demonstrated significant awareness of the close connections between humans and their natural environment.
Contemporary architectural discourse often prioritizes material permanence and formal completion, overlooking how spatial meaning dynamically emerges through lived events. Challenging this paradigm, this study employs a tripartite hermeneutic/phenomenological methodology-visual deconstruction, mythological-historical criticism, and ethnographic hermeneutics - to argue that architectural space materializes through event-based “dwelling” rather than static structures. Analyzing four cases, we demonstrate how spaces self-produce through curated incompleteness, while ideological completion destroys their capacity to be dwelt in. Behzad’s Beggar at the Mosque Gate (1489) redefines sacred space through insurgent dwelling-by ignoring ablution rites and prayer times, the beggar exposes architecture as an existential negotiation rather than a ritual container. Conversely, the Tower of Babel’s geometrically perfected ziggurat precluded dwelling by reducing human agency to mechanical execution, while Constant’s New Babylon became “undwellable” through its frictionless abstraction, erasing resistance essential to lived space. The Great Mosque of Djenné, however, sanctifies imperfection via annual “crepissage”-a communal plastering ritual where decay and renewal coalesce, embodying Heidegger’s “fourfold” (earth, sky, mortals, divinities) through cyclical labor. Our findings reveal that spaces thrive as “mnemonic ecosystems” when embracing the Zeigarnik Effect: Djenné’s unfinished walls and Behzad’s open-ended visual narrative compel engagement, whereas Babel and New Babylon’s ideological completeness fossilizes meaning. This duality challenges contemporary preservation-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s “mummification” severs Djenné’s “chain of memory,” while its ritual adaptation sustains resilience through collective “dwelling-in-decay.” We conclude that spatial vitality depends on “architecture as event,” where meaning arises through harmony with transience (mud, cracks, erosion), epistemic humility (resisting ideological finality), and embodied acts (plastering, transgressing, storytelling). For contemporary spatial production, Djenné’s model-spaces that “breathe, bleed, and are reborn”-offers an antidote to Western permanence fetishes: To dwell is to participate in imperfection; to build is to surrender to time. Future practice must cultivate “dwellable” spaces through events, not monuments.
In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly intersected with traditional art forms, introducing new modes of creativity that challenge established esthetic frameworks while expanding the boundaries of artistic expression. Against this backdrop, this study explores the transformative role of AI-generated randomness in Chinese calligraphy, an art form deeply rooted in the philosophical ideals of harmony and balance derived from Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. By leveraging models like Stable Diffusion, AI infuses unpredictable elements into calligraphic creation, challenging established esthetic norms while unlocking novel artistic possibilities. Employing a cross-case comparative and textual analysis approach, this research examines visual-semantic contrasts between representative traditional scripts and AI-generated works, while also investigating the historical evolution of calligraphic esthetics, cultural practices, and cross-cultural reception. The findings reveal that such technological interventions enhance the global accessibility of calligraphy, resonate with younger audiences, expand its dimension of expression, and redefine human engagement with the art form. Results indicate that AI not only democratizes calligraphy but may also stimulate public interest in, and a deeper understanding of, traditional techniques and cultural depth. This study advocates for a dynamic balance between cultural heritage preservation and technological innovation, proposing AI as a cultural gateway to traditional practice, and calls for further exploration of its global cultural implications.
The role of the arts in society and politics was of profound concern to Herbert Marcuse in his philosophical work. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Herbert Marcuse - a prominent member of the Frankfurt School - became increasingly insistent on the fundamental importance of the arts for the well-being of both the individual and society. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in the philosophy and social thought of Marcuse. This paper highlights that Marcuse’s conceptualization of the significance of the arts - especially their social and political roles - offers valuable insights for contemporary theorists, artists, and their supporters. This paper particularly focuses on the implications of Marcuse’s work for understanding the role of the arts in fostering social change. It outlines Marcuse’s ideas on political economy - his claim that technological development under capitalism has produced an abundance of output that could provide the basis for radical social and political change. In addition, this study examines the philosophical grounding of Marcuse’s ideas regarding the role of the arts through the aesthetics theories of Kant and Schiller. Some objections that might be raised against Marcuse’s theories concerning the arts are considered critically. Finally, the affective potency and value of Marcuse’s work are underlined.
The rapid expansion of digital technologies has transformed educational landscapes, compelling educators to rethink how emerging tools can cultivate deeper learning, creativity, and innovation. Within this shift, the Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a transformative force, connecting physical and digital environments to enable interactive, data-driven, and learner-centered experiences. In mathematics education, IoT technologies invite new forms of exploration that blend computational thinking with artistic expression—an intersection increasingly recognized as vital for developing 21st-century teaching competencies and advancing the goals of sustainable and creative education. This systematic review explores how the IoT is being integrated into mathematics teacher education through the lens of artful thinking and creativity. Building on technological, sociocultural, and esthetic learning frameworks, the review critically synthesizes research published between 2015 and 2025. Findings revealed that IoT not only serves as a technological innovation but also as an artistic medium to foster imaginative, design-based mathematical practices among preservice and in-service teachers. Benefits identified include enhanced mathematical modeling, spatial reasoning, and interdisciplinary inquiry, while challenges include technological resistance, limited creative assessment models, and infrastructural inequalities. The review also emphasizes the potential of artfully connected IoT practices to advance Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 9. Recommendations are provided for future research, teacher education practices, and policy reforms aimed at embedding esthetic and technological creativity in mathematics instruction.
Azurite is a key blue pigment in historic art, with well-studied physical and chemical properties; however, a comprehensive synthesis that connects analytical characterization, degradation processes, and provenance studies across diverse contexts remains lacking. This review addresses this critical gap by providing an interdisciplinary synthesis of current research on azurite, a prominent blue pigment extensively used in historical artworks and cultural heritage artifacts. Based on a comprehensive survey of scholarly literature, the article consolidates findings on the pigment’s physical, chemical, optical, and mineralogical properties as examined through diverse analytical techniques. Studies employing methods such as X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and infrared (IR) spectroscopy are critically evaluated to highlight how azurite has been identified, characterized, and differentiated from related copper-based pigments. Particular emphasis is placed on the influence of particle size—categorized as coarse, medium, and fine—on optical performance and visual appearance in artworks. The review also addresses degradation phenomena, notably azurite’s transformation into malachite and cupric oxide under thermal and environmental stress, with implications for pigment stability and material authenticity. Case studies, including notable examples such as the Tomb of Murongzhi, are discussed to illustrate real-world applications of these techniques in heritage science. In addition, the identification of mineral inclusions and impurities is examined in the context of geological provenance and sourcing studies. While the Tomb of Murongzhi is cited as a key example, this review considers the use and transformation of azurite across a range of cultural and geographic contexts.
This article examines the territorial dynamics shaping the festivalization of culture in France. Moving beyond the traditional focus on the impacts of festivals on their host territories, this investigation explores how local contexts influence both festival audiences and governance. Based on two large-scale surveys—SoFEST! (n = 26,002) and CoFEST! (n = 1,237)—we analyze variations in audience composition, motivations, and attendance patterns across urban and rural settings, as well as the sociological profiles and intentions of festival creators. Findings indicate that, while the social makeup of audiences remains relatively consistent, behaviors and motivations vary significantly across different territorial contexts. Conversely, the identity and trajectories of festival organizers differ more starkly, with urban settings favoring professionalized, artistic-driven initiatives, and rural areas emphasizing social cohesion and territorial promotion. These results challenge homogeneous views of festivalization by highlighting its localized configurations. The study argues for a re-territorialized understanding of cultural policy, recognizing the interplay between social structures, local governance, and cultural practices.
Biennials (also known as biennales) have proliferated globally, becoming key platforms for the international agenda of contemporary art. As central institutions of the art system, biennials serve as public arenas where cultural and foreign policies intersect with market dynamics—an archetype shaped by the Venice Biennale in 1895. This study analyzes the role of public-private collaboration in Chile’s participation at the Venice Art Biennale between 2009 and 2019. Drawing on public-private partnership (PPPs) theory, dossier analysis, and interviews, the study adapts Johanson et al.’s methodology to assess the impact of this participation, commonly referred to as the “Venice Effect,” and to examine the factors influencing this impact. The findings reveal that Chile’s participation evolved from informal, network-based arrangements to more structured and transparent processes. Outcomes varied across cases depending on artists’ career stages, international positioning, support structures, and the specific curatorial approach of each exhibition. Only one case resembled a formal PPPs. By treating the Biennale as a pivotal moment for artistic validation, this study contributes to ongoing debates on symbolic capital, cultural policy, and international projection. It highlights the need for cohesive cultural strategies and data-informed policies to support Chilean art on a global yet hierarchically unequal stage.
In many countries, “big surveys” on cultural participation are now part of the landscape. Yet they are rarely considered as subjects of study. Necessary for cultural policies, eagerly awaited by the media, and readily used by the social sciences, the national surveys carried out by governments on the cultural activities of their populations are a blind spot in the analysis. This article proposes taking a closer look at the measurement of cultural participation in different national territories. Its corpus comprises around 40 European countries, 15 of which have such a “big survey.” The analysis describes the origins of these surveys in the 1960s, in the context of the emergence of cultural democratization policies. It identifies the unexpected variety of statistical approaches used in different countries to capture attendance at cultural institutions, amateur activities, and media practices, often indirectly, avoiding a single, costly survey on the subject of cultural participation. Among the 15 “big surveys” identified, the article examines the diversity of institutional frameworks and methodologies used, highlighting their impact on the results, their representativeness, and their range. It investigates their denominations and, above all, the scope and type of activities covered by these surveys, which vary considerably from one country to another. Ultimately, these “big surveys” reveal how participation in the arts and culture is apprehended in various national territories and, consequently, how their measurement is conditioned by cultural policy paradigms—their symbolic territories—and, finally, about what they do not measure. In conclusion, the text considers the pertinence and the future of these “big surveys.”
Modern poetry often reinterprets classical literary theories to address historical trauma, identity, and collective memory. This paper examines how Ocean Vuong’s poem “Aubade with Burning City” utilizes the objective correlative literary device to convey emotional and historical trauma. Drawing on T.S. Eliot’s theory, which argues that emotion is best expressed through a set of symbolic objects and images rather than direct statement, this research analyzes Vuong’s imagery—snowfall in Saigon, the sound of “White Christmas,” and the motif of a burning city—as emotionally charged corollaries to love, war, and loss. By blending personal memory with national catastrophe, Vuong expands the objective correlative beyond Eliot’s original conception, situating it within a transnational and post-colonial framework. The study employs a close reading approach alongside insights from trauma theory and modernist criticism to demonstrate how Vuong’s sensory and formal techniques engage the reader in an embodied experience of dislocation and remembrance. Ultimately, the paper argues that Vuong reinvents the objective correlative to reflect the complexities of diasporic identity and collective memory, offering a powerful model for how contemporary poetry can ethically represent trauma.
The daily experiences of local populations in tourism hotspots are increasingly characterized by feelings of alienation, resulting in polarized and sometimes ambiguous attitudes toward the tourism industry within these communities. In that context, this article explores, using an ecocritical and new materialist lens, how Magaluf Ghost Town (Miguel Ángel Blanca, 2020) creates an alternative affective image of the Spanish town of Magaluf. Blanca’s film, a hybrid of fiction and non-fiction, follows the lives of real individuals residing in this resort and offers an ironic critique of some consequences of mass tourism and gentrification. Through close reading and audiovisual analysis of selected sequences, the study concludes that this innovative and daring portrayal of Magaluf can reaffirm the local identity through its detailed depiction of various characters that depend on tourism. At the same time, the prestige associated with a more authorial rather than commercial perspective entails the possibility of shaping new mystifications that the tourism industry could incorporate to support a rebranding of Magaluf. The findings point to new grounds in the fertile intersection between film studies and tourism studies when approached from ecocritical perspectives.
In the aftermath of the unprecedented surge in screen tourism, numerous European cities have developed initiatives offering visitors alternative ways to explore urban environments. This article examines the evolution of cultural tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the growing offer of film itineraries in Spain’s main urban destinations. To this end, it analyzes the potential of the film itineraries proposed by the Seville City Office to decentralize visitor flows, extending new narratives of heritage discovery to other parts of the city. Thus, this work explores, on the one hand, the key characteristics of the locations and neighborhoods suggested by the selected films and, on the other hand, the success of the films in terms of audience, as well as the awards they have won and the confirmation of the itineraries according to a “cine-mapping” strategy. An analytical-descriptive investigation is presented using the technique of scientific observation, studying the locations and cinematic reception with a clear and precise objective. Combining the analysis of tourism in the city of Seville with the results obtained, it can be seen that these itineraries, although proposed by an entity whose objective is tourism governance, appear to lack local consensus and show limited alignment with the city’s tourist dynamic—an aspect which limits their acceptance by both residents and tourists—despite being part of a cine-mapping strategy.
Children’s writings from the Terezín Ghetto embody both historical testimony and literary creativity. These texts reveal how young authors documented daily life while imaginatively responding to trauma, preserving voices that resonate as cultural as well as historical records. The main aim of this paper is to highlight the literary creations made by children and adolescents interned in the Terezín Ghetto as both historical records and works of literature. These texts, preserved thanks to the efforts of adults, invite historically situated readings that engage with the ghetto environment while also revealing expressive strategies and imaginative responses to trauma. Through qualitative content analysis combined with attention to literary devices, we examine three texts published in Vedem—reproduced in their entirety—and show how they document lived conditions while also shaping meaning through metaphor, imagery, and narrative perspective. The study demonstrates that these writings function as “living archival material,” as they preserve factual traces of ghetto life while simultaneously resisting reduction to mere testimony by asserting aesthetic and cultural value.