Perus, Perus — By Day No Water, by Night No Light: Collectivities, School, Art, and Territory

Abstract

This article examines established and seemingly immutable forms of knowledge, articulating reflections grounded in the recognition of the peripheral neighbourhood of Perus, located in the north-western zone of the city of São Paulo. This territory has historically been marked by the stigma of water and electricity shortages, while simultaneously standing out for the creative vitality of artistic collectives such as Ocupação Artística Canhoba — home to the Grupo de Teatro Pandora — and Comunidade Cultural Quilombaque. These collectives offer multiple possibilities for connecting art, community, and public education, in dialogue with a symbolic and material element of the territory: the Fábrica de Cimento Portland Perus. Theoretical references include Henri Lefebvre (1968/2011) and Tiaraju Pablo D’Andrea (2013, 2020), the text engages with the urban, artistic, and educational fields of peripheral studies in their broadest sense, seeking to relate peripheral subjects — still underrepresented — at their intersection: basic education students, cultural projects developed in and by the “quebradas” of the city (a colloquial term commonly used in Brazil to refer to peripheral neighbourhoods), collectivities, and possible new horizons. Methodologically, the reflections derive from practices developed in a public school, involving participants and mediated through artistic languages. The findings suggest that actions involving art and local collectivities can be fundamental in disrupting the logic that frames the periphery solely as a place defined by historical deprivations.