Since 2002, Instituto Tomie Ohtake has been developing an intense program that promotes access, fruition and learning of the arts by a number of different audiences.

Through this work  thousands of people have taken part in mediated visits to exhibitions, in courses, debates and social projects.

Given the growing presence of Instituto Tomie Ohtake in the cultural field, and a vision that stimulates new ways of engaging the public in its activities, this department now begins to run under the name of Culture and Participation.

Dedicated to its educational mission, the Culture and Participation Department researches and elaborates dialogue processes and activities among children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly during the exhibitions held at Instituto Tomie Ohtake, through guided visits, educational devices and publications, and poetic activities offered in the ateliers. Teacher and educator training programs are also offered regularly, stimulating these professionals to develop their own research and ways of working with their students in the classroom, such as the “Cultural Experiences with Educators” and “Contemporary Art Moments” projects. Additionally, two study programs offer artists, researchers and the general public the possibility of investigating and further developing themes within culture and contemporary art: Espaço do Olhar (Viewing Space) and Escola Entrópica (School of Entropy) .

In the field of cultural activities, the Culture and Participation Department has been developing projects in which different audiences - especially those in vulnerable social conditions such as a homelessness, disabled people, children living in shelters, youth on probation, etc. - can participate in the São Paulo’s cultural life and be the protagonists of critical and creative experiences, expanding their say in the world. The projects, which take place both at the Instituto or in other institutions in São Paulo and other cities, unfold in activities such as training programs, workshops, visits to cultural venues, urban expeditions, film screenings, musical performances, debates, seminars, artistic interventions, publications, audiovisual productions, etc. Examples of these projects are the “Poetic Dialogue and Education in Contemporary Art”, “Morning Stories”, “Art and Taste”, “The Youth and Culture”, “Woodwork for Children and Teenagers”, among others.

Celebrating new talents in the fields of visual arts and architecture are also part of the program and are carried out through national prizes: Energies in the Art Prize (Energias nas Artes), dedicated to artists up to 27 years old, and the Instituto Tomie Ohtake Akzonobel Architecture Prize, dedicated to architects up to 45 years old with executed projects. Both awards are organized by the Culture and Participation Department.

Through these initiatives, Instituto Tomie Ohtake seeks to build a social transformation space, creating democratic forms of enjoyment and participation in arts and culture, territories of equalities and diversity, where people are the focus and the reason for all actions.

The Department encompasses: 

Guided Visits 

Free guided visits to exhibitions, which include poetic activies in the studios, to students of private and public schools as well as other educational institutions formal and informal; 

Seminars 

Seminars, workshops, talks and publications on arts and culture;

Courses 

Art courses for teachers and educators;

Cultural Projects

Carried out in partnerships with NGOs, Institutions and Companies, who offer experiences in arts and culture  for an audience with social vunerabilities;

The Gazing Space

Study program focused on the improvement and further development of artistic languages such as fotography, painting, drawing, illustration, collage and among others, video. 

School of Entropy

Study program comprised of laboratories and investigative study groups on contemporary art that encourages students to percieve aspects of the artistic practice which are not fully  diffsed and are not in the field of certainties.