Counterspells in the pandemic: art and body in care actions in occupational therapy

Abstract

This article is the result of PhD research that mapped the field of occupational therapy at the intersection of the body, arts, and culture, through the trajectories, actions, and mobilizations of 12 interviewed occupational therapists. We worked with cartography as research-intervention method. The research integrated the pandemic event, mapped the actions developed during this period, and analyzed the contributions of practices involving art and the body in a context of radical isolation and a weakening of vital potency. We present in this article some of the initiatives developed by two of the interviewed professionals, highlighting their reinventions during this period and analyzing the contributions of these practices in the face of the pandemic's impact on people's lives. As results we highlighted the potency of creativity, the mobilization of other forms of affection through artistic experiments, and the production of relationships facilitated by group settings