Entre etnias, paraísos, sementes, morte e luto: artes visuais no ensino de geopolítica

Abstract

This undergraduate thesis aims to reflect on the use of art as a didactic tool in the teaching of geopolitics, grounded in a critical and emancipatory educational perspective within the discipline of Geography. Through the analysis of works by Mohamed Salem, Rosana Paulino, Eduardo Kobra, and Ai Weiwei, the study explores how art can promote a sensitive and politically engaged approach to complex topics such as territorial conflicts, identity, structural racism, forced migrations, cultural diversity, propaganda, and authoritarian regimes. The research is based on the understanding that art does not merely illustrate content but provokes thought, challenges dominant narratives, and broadens the geographical gaze toward power and resistance dynamics. This qualitative and bibliographic research draws on theorists such as Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Ana Mae Barbosa, Achille Mbembe, Edward Said, and Carlos Walter Porto-Gonçalves. Mohamed Salem’s photograph is examined in light of the Israel-Palestine conflict and concepts like contemporary colonialism and ethnocracy. Rosana Paulino’s Paraíso Tropical is interpreted as a critical portrayal of the African diaspora, environmental racism, and symbolic violence rooted in slavery. Kobra’s mural Etnias is analyzed as an expression of global cultural diversity and a challenge to homogenized identities. Ai Weiwei’s installation Sunflower Seeds is read as a political. The study concludes that teaching geopolitics through art enhances critical thinking, broadens students' worldviews, and fosters ethical engagement with global inequalities. In this context, art does not merely depict the world, it denounces, reinvents, and reveals it in its most profound layers.