The artistic work of street musicians in Barcelona and Rio De Janeiro : interstices of work and leisure.

Abstract

This paper explores the social practice of musicians who play in the

streets and public spaces of Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona. We investi- gated the appropriation of these social spaces, the commodification of

art on the streets, and the work/leisure relationship in the daily lives of these artists. Ethnographic methods were used for 24months and included observations and interviews with 23 street musicians in these

two cities. The interviewed musicians develop strategies aimed at meet- ing the need to survive from their art. The work/leisure relation is config- ured strangely in the social practice of these subjects and differently in

the two cities. Nevertheless, the time/social space in which work and leis- ure are materialized in the daily life of the researched street musicians is

directly related to the possible overlapping of one realm over the other.