During the last few years, public space went through a deep crisis. Anti-pandemic preventive measures have dictated severe restrictions to the use of public space. Access to everyday activities, as well as simple leisure moments, or even circulation, have been harshly restricted, both indoors and outdoors, including the access to schools, universities, museums or libraries during the confinement periods.
Nevertheless, can we say that cultural activity had ceased? Has, or has not, the restricted access to outdoors public space fostered a massive exploration of virtual public space? In fact, creating and sharing artistic work, attending and participating in cultural activities and online programs seems to have had a wide and general boom, expanding our notions of public space and public art.
Addressing these questions, the International Conference Public Art as a Bridge over Troubled Places intends to capture and debate the memory of the resilience of public art during pandemic times, as well as to reflect about the impact of the means and methods that were used during those periods.