A (universal) culture of human rights The power of visual arts and the aesthetic of law, applied to the ‘25 de Abril’ Portuguese democratic revolution

Abstract

This thesis explores the extent to which (visual) arts can contribute to the enforcement of human rights, by promoting a (universal) culture of human rights and democratic citizenship. The central research question is: ’To what extent can the (visual) arts contribute to the realization of a universal culture of human rights and democratic citizenship?’ The interaction between art and law is part of the Law&The Humanities movement and shed a light on how art can play a crucial role in legal awareness and need for legal change. The creation of a universal culture of human rights and democratic citizenship is monopolized by legal language, rooted in law. However, despite legal foundations, implementation of human rights in practice fails, revealing significant gaps between legal ideals and societal realities. Human rights face increasing threats, action is limited to rhetoric and human rights awareness is declining. What if the ultimate tool to reach a (universal) culture of human rights lies within a force that goes beyond abstract laws and reaches the real factor to social change? What if instead of looking for solutions within the law -an abstract, rational system of objectively applicable rules- we turn to other disciplines such as arts, a subjective/individual appreciation towards original creations? This thesis researches the power of arts, as carriers of an intrinsic force that empowers/activates people for human rights through active/democratic citizenship and operates as engines of legal, political and social change. Following this theoretical foundation, the thesis applies the conceptual framework to a concrete case study: the role of visual arts in Portugal’s Carnation Revolution (25 de Abril 1974). It will be examined how visual arts functioned under authoritarian rule, acted as a form of civic resistance, and contributed to the reimagining of law and justice before, during and after the revolution. Concretely, it will be researched how visual artists, under the constraints of dictatorship, were fuelled and inspired by the repressive political, legal, and institutional structures to create works that actively challenged the regime. These artists not only resisted authoritarian control through their art but also played a critical role in anticipating and empowering civic action in the lead-up to the Carnation Revolution. Departing from Erwin Panofsky iconological methodology, the oeuvre from Portuguese sculptor Margarida Santos will be analysed. As a female artist working before and after the Carnation Revolution, she broke several established social, political, legal and cultural conventions. By deliberately creating sculptures that directly went against expected conventions, she exercised civic resistance and by this, imagined a path towards freedom. In doing so, her art became a form of civic engagement serving as both a medium of resistance and a catalyst for collective rupture with the dictatorial regime. This research advances a critical rethinking of the relationship between the artistic practice (visual arts) and the human rights discourse and contributes to the rich and dynamic dialogue between art and law in the field of democracy, rule of law and human rights.