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Arts & Communication Cognition and cultural mediation

when the experiment group was confronted regarding to facilitate students’ learning, contributing to cultural
the inconsistencies between text and image, the students mediation and bringing students closer to works of art. This
were able to understand what the inconsistencies were study proposed a reflection on how mediation interventions
after further reading. Therefore, the priming influence in visual arts can influence viewers to appreciate works of art.
can be broken when there is a confrontation regarding This discussion can be valuable for planning educational and
information. expographic projects for exhibitions, as well as mediation
strategies through teachers and art/educators to stimulate
However, when comparing the group that received the
original text and the group that did not receive any text reflection and interpretation by students and the public.
in our study, it was possible to perceive that there were Visual arts education may converge with the training
no statistically relevant differences between the number of educators. School visits represent a great potential
of original figurative elements. This suggests that there is, for fostering cultural education for students, promoting
in some respects, no need to present a complex text about appraisal of artworks and the world around us through the
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the work. It also suggests that an artwork can express perception of what they can discern. Martins asserted that
information independently of an indirect mediation thinking about cultural mediation based on the training of
through text. Nevertheless, the presence of the text could educators is an approach to seeking ways to enter the world
potentiate the comprehension of the figurative elements of culture and art and boost interdisciplinary connections.
in artwork. Therefore, it was possible to understand that, Therefore, understanding the effects of priming can
for the text to have a real influence on the image, this text help teachers prepare material for art education so as to
must be easy to understand and simple with no conflicting modulate their students’ learning. For educators, it is
information. important to understand the effects of mediation and
priming in the interpretation of a work, using them to
The analyses between groups indicated that there was a provoke perception.
group effect on the answers in the different word categories,
mainly for the answers in fictitious words. The fictitious text 6. Conclusion
group scored more words in fictitious text when compared
to the other groups (original text and control groups). This From this research, we were able to verify that the
means that there was a strong semantic priming effect. The priming stimuli presented influenced the perception of
participants perceived the presence of objects that were not the figurative elements of an artwork. We observed that
in the painting because of the previous presentation of a the study of semantic priming made it possible to identify
fictitious text, which influenced their perception. how the information contained in a text influences the
interpretation of an artwork and how this could be related
Through the analyses between groups, we can see that it to the field of cultural mediation. The priming’s presented
is possible to understand an artwork even without the aid influenced the responses of the groups that received the
of text or cultural mediation; however, with the presence texts, demonstrating how the interpretation can be affected
of texts, this effect is enhanced. We also noticed that, by by a text.
presenting texts that are not related to the artwork, these In an exhibition, mediation can be achieved either
texts can influence and lead to other perceptions of the
artwork. Through this, it is important to understand that by a text or by an educator, and in this process, the
cultural mediation plays a fundamental role in the way information passed on to the spectator can influence how
information is presented, as this can considerably alter the people perceive the works. In this sense, mediation can be
thought of not only as information but also as provocations
understanding of the artwork.
about the works, such as the context in which they were
Consistent with our results, Knoos et al. described that produced, the techniques used, the materials, and the
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additional information that explains the work can help lay possible meanings that the works can have from their visual
people gain more knowledge about it and instill in them elements, such as the colors, shapes, and figures presented.
some interest toward the artwork. At the same time, if It is important to emphasize that the study sample is
complex information is added, only those with knowledge limited, both in size and distribution. However, the results,
in the area will become interested. Therefore, cultural although not as robust as those from a large sample, are
mediation can arouse interest in an audience toward a promising in relation to the priming effect. The scarcity of
work if he/she does not have any interest at the outset.
specific research in this area presents challenges. During
This research aimed to contribute to the knowledge of the course of the research, we also noticed a lack of
cultural mediation in visual arts. Within the educational priming studies focused on the fields of art and education,
scope, teachers and educators can use semantic priming especially involving cultural mediation in museums and

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 8 doi: 10.36922/ac.2105