Transforming Power Through Cultural Humility in the Intercultural Contact Zone of Art Therapy

Abstract

This article conceptualizes art therapy as an intercultural contact zone or social ecotone, defined as the liminal space that emerges when two or more habitats overlap. In the unresolved tensions of their interaction, negotiation of power through cultural humility is an ongoing, profoundly ethical process. This premise is illustrated with examples from a high-contrast contact zone the author experienced as an art therapist in collaboration with a social justice-oriented organization serving marginalized communities in their emancipatory goals. The implications of cultural borderlands are discussed as transgressive zones of transformative power and exchange.

Keywords:

• Art therapy
• contact zone
• cultural humility
• power
• cultural boundaries
• ecotone

Dedication

This article is dedicated to Anabel Torres and in solidarity with all who have created with joy, courage, and beauty in the face of suffering and oppression. Cantera was abruptly closed by the Nicaraguan government in April 2022, joining more than 700 non-profit and humanitarian organizations that have been terminated since the political crisis began in 2018.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lynn Kapitan

Lynn Kapitan, PhD, ATR-BC, HLM, is a Professor Emerit of Graduate Art Therapy at Mount Mary University, Milwaukee, WI.