Artist by technology: experiences of mature and older adults in Brazil during the pandemy

Abstract

ISSUE  “We don't just want food, we want food, fun and art”, are singing The Titãs, a famous rock group in Brazil. In the same way, live of older people is not just about health and basic services, quality of life is crucially related to doing activities that are creative, that open up opportunities for expression and are also be just fun. Active participation in cultural, artistic or leisure activities is not easy for most older people even under normal circumstances. Under pandemic conditions, which imposed strict social isolation especially on older people, it seems almost impossible. CONTENT In this pandemic situation, Information and communication technology (ICT) and artistic inspiration together can open new horizons for mature and older adults. This symposium will present three studies in which older people discover, learn and practice artistic activities using ICT. STRUTURE The first study, realized by Slodkowski, presents a course for 60+ making stop motion films. In a distance learning course, 32 participants learned how to plan a stop motion film, work out the scenery and characters, deal with recording and software and finally add text, music and language to the film. The study shows the relevance of the digital authorship competence for the participants, as well as the challenges, they faced. The second study, realized by Teixeira, presents the creation of the audio drama podcast entitled “Sexagenarte - life does not stop”, a project developed virtually, together with eight older people, including 4 with visual impairments. Using elements of theater exercises, the project consists of seven stages: comprehensive interviews; awareness dynamics; story scripting; essay; recordings; collective edits and listening and lead older people into the artistic-virtual field. The last study, presented by Kohlrausch, discusses the importance of leisure activities based on the theoretical background of Stebbin's theory of serious leisure. The eight participants in this qualitative study are amateur musicians who started to use information and communication technology as a possibility to maintain their leisure. Using ICT changed their way to rehearse, learn, share, disseminate their musical activities. CONCLUSION The three studies conducted during the pandemic show the potential of ICT for artistic activities by older people, who usually have little experience in the digital world. On the one hand, it becomes clear how cultural and artistic activities can contribute to well-being, the preservation of identity and social standing. On the other hand, they show ways of using technology to help older people with reduced mobility practice social participation and cultural activities even if they are physically far away.