Caleidoscopio: Redefiniendo el proceso de envejecimiento a través de la exploración artística

Abstract

For a moment, close your eyes and imagine a 60-year-old person. What would they look like? How would they move, what would they believe, and how would they contemplate life? Take a moment to form that image. Then ask yourself whether you see yourself reflected in it: does that vision narrate your own life story, or is it supported by deeply rooted social beliefs about aging? It is likely that many of the imaginaries we construct about older adults are shaped by symbolic and social discourses that, over time, become the foundation from which each person begins to relate to their own aging process. This tension between the socially constructed and the personally experienced when facing older adulthood is the core of the present research. Its aim is to develop a methodology for the Caleidoscopio course that allows participants to analyze and understand, through their own life experiences, how they wish to continue living their aging process. This research is an ode to the concept of aging: ever-changing, socially permeated, and adaptable to each person's experience. It is an invitation to reflect on how individuals see themselves within this topic and within its social stigmatization. Concepts such as “new older adults” emerge and transform throughout the process, demonstrating that theoretical perspectives are not the only valid ones—practice itself can reshape these approaches. The Caleidoscopio course is based on observing the multiple ways in which aging can be understood and the various factors influencing these views. To achieve this, artistic explorations are proposed within three categories: (1) bodily memory, (2) reconfiguration, and (3) redefinition. Through this framework, participants are invited to approach art as a means to creatively engage their life experiences and redefine their personal concept of aging. If there is something inevitable from the moment we are born, it is that human beings are constantly aging. However, it is only upon reaching older adulthood that we become fully aware of this process. For this reason, it becomes essential to create creative spaces where aging can be discussed and embraced with the confidence that it is a natural and deeply personal experience.