Introductory Note: Constellations of the Sensible, Aesthesis and Cultural Frictions

Author Biographies

• Patricia Posch, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal/Grupo de Pesquisa Arte, Cultura e Poder, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  Patricia Posch holds a PhD in Cultural Studies. She is a collaborating researcher at the Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho, and a member of the Research Group Arts, Culture and Power (Postgraduate Programme in Social Sciences/State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Her research is interdisciplinary, spanning cultural studies and communication, and engaging with themes such as identities, social memory, media, migration, cultural representations and social imaginaries. She has participated in national and international research projects dedicated to the study of contemporary cultural dynamics, media activism and processes of social transformation. Alongside her academic work, she has professional experience in marketing, strategic communication and innovation. She is involved in projects that include trend analysis and reflection on possible futures, exploring the role of culture, communication and narratives in understanding and shaping social change.

• Alessandra Simões Paiva, Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia, Itabuna, Brazil/Associação Brasileira de Críticos de Arte, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  Alessandra Simões Paiva is a professor, art critic and researcher with a distinguished trajectory in the fields of culture, art and education, and is nationally and internationally recognised for her contributions to the study of the relationship between decoloniality and the arts. She is an associate professor at the Federal University of Southern Bahia. She was elected president of the Brazilian Association of Art Critics for the 2025–2027 term, a milestone that reflects her commitment to promoting inclusion and plurality in Brazil’s visual arts. In recent years, her research has focused on what she has termed the “decolonial turn” in Brazilian art. This movement has brought visibility and prominence to Black, Indigenous and gender-diverse artists who assert their place within artistic circuits in opposition to their historical erasure.

• Rosa Cabecinhas, Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

  Rosa Cabecinhas holds a degree in Psychology, a master’s degree in Social Psychology, and a PhD and Habilitation in Communication Sciences. She is a lecturer in the Department of Communication Sciences and a researcher at the Communication and Society Research Centre, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Minho, where she has coordinated the PhD in Cultural Studies and the master’s in Communication Sciences. She has been a visiting professor at several universities across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. Her research is interdisciplinary, engaging with intercultural communication, media, social memory, migration and diversity. She has coordinated several research projects with interdisciplinary teams. She currently coordinates the Communication group within the European research consortium CONCILIARE—Confidently Changing Colonial Heritage (Horizon Europe). Among her publications are Preto e Branco: A Naturalização da Discriminação Racial (Black and White: The Normalisation of Racial Discrimination; 2017, 2nd ed.), Comunicação Intercultural: Perspectivas, Dilemas e Desafios (Intercultural Communication: Perspectives, Dilemmas and Challenges; with Luís Cunha, 2017, 2nd ed.), and Living Memories & Media (with Isabel Macedo and Luiza Lins, 2026, 1st ed.).