Art and self-knowledge in the pedagogical use of masks – practice and research in the classroom

Abstract

This text is part of a dissertation, which was the result of a research-action carried out with a 7th grade group from an Elementary School in the Southern State of Rio Grande do Sul. It analyzes elements of students’ identifi cation with their artistic production. For this, manufacturing of masks and a writing text about them were used to explore what they were revealing and hiding in this production. Transcending space/time limits and by inserting them in processes of expression of their subjectivity, I attempted, through the pedagogical use of masks, to give the students spaces for artistic production and immersion, broadening their forms of expression, enabling them to generate knowledge about themselves and their classmates.