STRAMURALES STREET ART INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL (STORNARA LIFE APS) ON PUGLIAVIVA

Описание: Magaldi Sardella-Mantuano" Stornara's Stramurales Street Art Festival Case Study on the Harvard Health and Human Rights Journal.

It is with unfeigned delight and scholarly pride that I announce the publication of my latest article, co-authored by Prof. Matteo Mantuano, “Street Art as Public Health Infrastructure”, in the distinguished Harvard Health and Human Rights Journal (HHR).

Link Source: https://www.hhrjournal.org/2025/11/08...

I thank so much in advance such eminent figures as Joseph J. Amon, PhD, MSPH, Editor-in-Chief, and Carmel Williams, PhD, MA, Executive Editor: it is nothing short of an honour of the highest order. Their stewardship of HHR has ensured that the journal remains a beacon of intellectual rigour and moral clarity in the ever-evolving discourse on global health and human rights.

My article interrogates the oft-overlooked nexus between participatory street art and community mental health, situating cultural expression not merely as aesthetic embellishment but as a legitimate form of public health infrastructure.

Drawing upon the case of the Stramurales International Street Art Festival in Stornara, Apulia, I argue that democratically curated art interventions operationalise both Article 12 (the right to health) and Article 15 (the right to participate in cultural life) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

In an era where structural violence and rural decline imperil collective wellbeing, the evidence suggests that walls adorned with democratically chosen murals may serve as canvases of resilience, hope, and empowerment. Indeed, such interventions embody the very essence of visual health activism, challenging exclusionary policies and restoring community agency.

I extend my profound gratitude to the editorial team of HHR for recognising the merit of this inquiry, and to the community of Stornara for exemplifying how art can transcend its conventional boundaries to become a determinant of social health.

May this publication serve as a modest contribution to the broader reimagining of what constitutes health infrastructure, reminding policymakers and practitioners alike that sometimes the most efficacious interventions require not clinics or prescriptions, but canvases and collective imagination.