El arte como expresión de la memoria individual, memoria colectiva y evocación de recuerdos significativos para la reconstrucción de la historia de vida de los adultos mayores de la casa de Sabiduría Caminos de Vida en la localidad de Kennedy, Bogotá, D.C

Abstract

Population aging poses growing challenges in terms of well-being, inclusion, and memory, compounded by age-related cognitive decline and the social isolation faced by many older adults in Colombia. In response to this context, the present study aimed to analyze how participation in artistic workshops —narrative, music, and painting— facilitates the evocation of significant memories and contributes to the reconstruction of life history, both individual and collective, among older adults at Casa de Sabiduría Caminos de Vida, in the Kennedy locality of Bogotá, D.C. The study was carried out under a qualitative-interpretive approach with a constructivist orientation, integrating the biographical-narrative method with principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR). Thirty-one older adults participated, and information was collected through field diaries, semi-structured biographical-narrative interviews, and the analysis of artistic productions created across six workshop sessions. The findings, organized into six analytical categories, show that artistic practices functioned as an alternative language that fostered the evocation of significant memories, the resignification of personal and collective experiences, and the projection of future goals, thereby challenging the predominantly retrospective and passive view attributed to old age. The study concludes that art constitutes a pedagogical and social tool capable of strengthening memory, identity, and community fabric, restoring older adults' status as historical subjects.