Cultural policy and participatory art practices in Flanders

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Rutten ◽  
Helena Calleeuw ◽  
Griet Roets ◽  
Angelo Van Gorp
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Participatory Art ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Art Practices ◽  
Politics Of Resistance ◽  
Art Organizations

Purpose In Flanders, the subventions in the cultural sector are mainly divided and decided upon within the framework of the Arts Decree. Within this policy framework, art organizations may choose in their funding applications for “participation” as one of the five possible functions to describe their artistic and cultural practices. However, questions need to be raised about the different interpretations of the notion of participation within this policy framework. The growing trend of evidence-based policy-making implies that participation risks to become a “target” that needs to be achieved instrumentally, which paradoxically ignores the fact that participatory practices within culture and the arts are very often diverse, multi-layered and context-specific practices. Starting from this paradox, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the current policy framework is translated into different “participatory” art practices by art organizations and specifically how cultural practitioners themselves conceptualize it. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors discuss the results of a qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with cultural practitioners about how they grapple with the notion of participation within their organizations and practices. Findings The results clearly show that practitioners use micro-politics of resistance to deal with different, and often conflicting, conceptualizations of participation in relation to this cultural policy framework. Research limitations/implications The implications of the findings are vital for the discussion about cultural policy. These micro-politics of resistance do not only have an impact on the development of individual participatory art practices but also on the broader participatory arts landscape and on how the function of participation is perceived within the renewed policy framework. Originality/value The original contribution of this paper is to explore the perspective of practitioners in cultural organizations about the function of participation in the Arts Decree in Flanders and specifically how the notion of participation is operationalized in their practices in relation to this cultural policy framework.

Conclusion: between image, act, body and language

2018 ◽  
pp. 136-141
Author(s):  
Sruti Bala
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Participatory Art ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Art Practices ◽  
Participatory Practice ◽  
The One ◽  
Historical Legacies

I have argued throughout this study that participatory art practices need to be understood in conjunction with the anxieties and contradictions that accompany them. Whether or not this is a formally constitutive characteristic worthy of naming as a genre is, in my view, less important than finding ways to account for and be responsive to the questions it poses. This is the place that this study departed from, yet oddly, it also the place it finds itself arriving at. For if this study has inquired into some of the conditions for and articulations of participation in the arts, it has also turned out to be an investigation of the ways in which participation is already circumscribed by the questions we ask of it, such as the social impact of participatory art, or its specific aesthetic features. The frictions in this endeavour will have become apparent to the perceptive reader: on the one hand I attempt to identify commonalities and systematic coherences in a field named as participatory art, and on the other hand I seek to analyse it in terms of its deviations from, and incommensurability with, a systematic narrative, in the emphasis of unruly, subtle, non-formalizable modes of participation. I treat participatory art as an inherited category, looking at its diverse, specific operations, or disciplinary routes and historical legacies. At the same time, I try to alter the terms of received wisdom by extrapolating principles and observations from the confines of one disciplinary arena into another. I search for ways in which affiliation to a given type of participatory practice might be described, only to find that formal coherences are perforated by aspects that exceed those same terms of affiliation. The analysis of participatory art and the conceptualization of participation in and through art thereby become intertwined in complex ways....

‘Picture It If Yous Will’: Theatre and Theatregoing in Rural Scotland

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Hamilton ◽  
Adrienne Scullion
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Television Studies ◽  
Film And Television ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The University

In the following article, Christine Hamilton and Adrienne Scullion review the system of theatre provision and production that exists in the rural areas of Scotland, most especially in the Highlands and Islands, assessing the policy framework that exists in the nation as a whole and in the Highlands and Islands in particular. They highlight the role and responsibilities of volunteers within the distribution of professional theatre in Scotland, challenge the response of locally based theatre-makers and nationally responsible agencies to represent rural Scotland, and raise issues fundamental to the provision of culture nationally. In doing so, they question what we expect theatre policy to deliver in rural areas, and what we expect rural agents to contribute to theatre provision and policy. Finally, they suggest that, in the system of rural arts in Scotland, there are wider lessons for the development of arts in and the arts of other sparsely populated and fragile communities. Christine Hamilton is the director and Adrienne Scullion the academic director of the Centre for Cultural Policy Research at the University of Glasgow, where Adrienne teaches in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Television Studies.

scholarly journals Cultural Ecology and Cultural Critique

Arts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowan Bailey ◽  
Claire Booth-Kurpnieks ◽  
Kath Davies ◽  
Ioanni Delsante
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Production ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
Place Studies ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Policy Information

In 2015, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) commissioned John Holden, visiting professor at City University, London, and associate at the think-tank Demos, to write a report on culture as part of its Cultural Value Project. The claim within the report was to redirect culture away from economic prescriptions and to focus on ecological approaches to ‘value’. Holden considers the application and use of ecological tropes to re-situate culture as ‘non-hierarchical’ and as part of symbiotic social processes. By embracing metaphors of ‘emergence,’ ‘interdependence,’ ‘networks,’ and ‘convergence,’ he suggests we can “gain new understandings about how culture works, and these understandings in turn help with policy information and implementation”. This article addresses the role of ‘cultural critique’ in the live environments and ecologies of place-making. It will consider, with examples, how cultural production, cultural practices, and cultural forms generate mixed ecologies of relations between aesthetic, psychic, economic, political, and ethical materialisms. With reference to a body of situated knowledges, derived from place studies to eco-regionalisms, urban to art criticisms, we will consider ecological thinking as a new mode of cultural critique for initiating arts and cultural policy change. Primarily, the operant concept of ‘environing’ will be considered as the condition of possibility for the space of critique. This includes necessary and strategic actions, where mixed ecologies of cultural activity work against the disciplinary policing of space with new assemblages of distributed power

scholarly journals Resilient companies in the time of Covid-19 pandemic: a case study approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Acciarini ◽  
Paolo Boccardelli ◽  
Mario Vitale
Keyword(s):  
Policy Framework ◽  
Organizational Resilience ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Strategic Responses ◽  
Unexpected Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Integrated Policy

PurposeThe Covid-19 pandemic represents an extraordinary and unpredictable event influencing the whole economy and society. Using a case study approach, the authors explored how big companies operating in Italy were able to respond to the crisis to ensure business continuity. Therefore, the authors discussed different business disruptions caused by Covid-19; in addition, they developed an integrated policy framework in which they proposed specific strategic responses for increasing the level of organizational resilience. The aim of the paper is to discuss and reflect on the ability of specific companies to increase their level of organizational resilience when unexpected events happen.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted semi-structured interviews with target CEOs of four major companies operating in Italy in different industries. Especially, the authors focused on multiutilities, media and communications, investment banking and mobile telecommunications. The interviews were based on questions dealing with Covid-19 implications and strategic responses to navigate this complex scenario.FindingsBased on the CEOs' contributions, the authors presented short-term actions and long-term strategies planned and implemented by each Italian company. In particular, the authors emphasized similarities and dissimilarities in terms of strategic responses and future business development.Originality/valueThe analysis of practical cases was helpful for increasing their knowledge on organizational resilience and for providing the managerial community with a policy framework to navigate unexpected events like the Covid-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals From “great expectations” to “hard times”

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hanage ◽  
Jonathan M Scott ◽  
Mark A.P. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Entry Barrier ◽  
Great Expectations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how digital creative graduates develop new businesses on graduating from university, and how their creative, business and personal lives interact until their nascent ventures fail financially. Design/methodology/approach – Seven digital creative nascent graduate entrepreneurs were followed for up to five years. Although independently assessed as having promise of business success, they were young and lacked business experience. They were followed through six-monthly semi-structured interviews which investigated their business, creative and personal development. The interviews were transcribed and key statements manually coded and extracted for analysis to identify issues, tipping points and outcomes. Findings – The primary contribution is the finding that, despite a promising beginning and very generous start-up support, all seven nascent ventures failed financially and most were closed down in favour of employment, particularly when personal issues such as parenthood sharpened the need for stable levels of income. The graduates demonstrated weaknesses in their commercial skills, especially selling (human capital) and insufficient utilization of networks (social capital) so that in the mainly mature low entry-barrier markets they were entering they were at a disadvantage from the outset. The research has also demonstrated the value of a real-time longitudinal qualitative approach to investigating businesses from business start-up to eventual exit. Practical implications – The insights gained have practical implications for start-up and survival support for creative graduate businesses, as well as raising issues about the effectiveness of postgraduate entrepreneurship education and cultural policy relating to this economically important sub-sector. Originality/value – The longitudinal approach has brought new insights and indicates several areas where more research would be valuable, especially in dealing with the consequences of unsuccessful nascent business ventures.

scholarly journals (Counter) accounting for hybrid organising: a case of the Great Exhibition of the North

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Ferry ◽  
Richard Slack
Keyword(s):  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
The North ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Social Logics ◽  
Great Exhibition

PurposeHybrid organising faces a fundamental challenge in managing multiple and conflicting logics. Prior studies have evidenced the performative role of accounting within such a context largely in support of neoliberal hegemony and economic logic. Mindful of such conflict and the support towards economic logic, drawing on universal accountings, this study provides insights from counter accounting and its potential to serve pluralism and the emancipation of marginalised constituencies.Design/methodology/approachThe research examined The Great Exhibition of the North (GEOTN), England's largest event in 2018, which utilised themes of art, design and innovation to support a regeneration and economic growth agenda. This was led by NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) a hybrid organisation combining logics for economic and social legacies, whose accounts are contrasted to counter accounts from a social movement; The Other Great Exhibition of the North, “OtherGEN”. The study involved 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews, detailed observation and documentation review providing account and counter account of the event.FindingsThe findings reveal that GEOTN promoted an agenda offering a duality of economic and social logics through the arts and culture delivering a lasting economic and social legacy. This employed traditional accountings and associated performance targets and measurement through a formal evaluation framework. Emergent tensions were apparent evidencing a more dominant economic logic. The purported use of culture was portrayed as artwashing by a counter account narrative enmeshed in a backdrop of austerity. This wider accounting highlights the need for reflection on logic plurality and enables challenge to the performative role of traditional accounting in hybrid organising.Originality/valueUniversal accountings, such as counter accounting, can be advanced to unpack “faked” logics duality in hybrid organising. This reveals the emancipatory potential of accountings and the need for dialogic reflection. Hybrid organising requires careful consideration of accounting as a universal praxis to support social and economic pluralism and democratic ideals.

“I thought I lost my home”: resource loss, distress and recovery after the Manaro Voui volcanic disaster on Ambae Island

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Clissold ◽  
Karen Elizabeth McNamara ◽  
Ross Westoby ◽  
Ladonna Daniel ◽  
Elizabeth Raynes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cultural Continuity ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Resource Loss ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Psychological Harm ◽  
Recovery And Healing ◽  
Personal Accounts

PurposeThis paper builds on existing studies by drawing on Conservation of Resources theory to explore the losses, psychological impacts as well as recovery processes of the 2017/18 volcanic disaster on Ambae Island, Vanuatu.Design/methodology/approachThis discussion is based on local perspectives and personal accounts collected through a series of eight semi-structured interviews (five males and three females).FindingsThe volcanic activity and subsequent displacement and evacuation led to significant resource loss which had a spiralling nature, causing psychological harm. Locals invested resources to recover and protect against future loss in diverse ways and, as resource gains were secured, experienced emotional relief. Key to recovery and healing included returning “home” after being displaced and reinvigorating cultural practices to re-establish cultural continuity, community and identity. Resource gains spiralled as people reconnected and regained a sense of place, optimism and the motivation to rebuild.Originality/valueNumerous studies have drawn upon the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory to explore how resource loss can trigger psychological distress during environmental disasters; however, it has not been applied in Vanuatu, the most at-risk nation globally to natural hazards. This paper builds on existing studies by exploring personal accounts of resource loss, distress and recovery, and providing insights into resource spirals, caravans and passageways.

Beyond eventification: capacity building in post-disaster temporariness

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-101
Author(s):  
Cecilia Pasquinelli ◽  
Georgios Koukoufikis ◽  
David Gogishvili
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Local System ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Events ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Post Disaster

PurposeThe paper aims to explore cultural events in a post-disaster town cultural events in a post-disaster town, L’Aquila, Italy, facing a long-term process of adaptation and recovery after the 2009 earthquake.Design/methodology/approachA time-based conceptual framework is applied in a case analysis relying on primary and secondary data. In-depth semi-structured interviews with local actors, direct observations and participation in local events and public debates enriched the analysis.FindingsIn the absence of a clear-cut urban policy framework, an urban heritage of cultural events emerged from local actors’ initiatives, with some evidence of local capacity building. Elements of events’ institutionalisation and signals of a serious risk of vanishing in the post-disaster transitioning context are discussed.Originality/valueThe study involves development of a theoretical framework for analysing the temporal process of evolution of a local system of cultural events as instruments for place-making and capacity building in a post-disaster town. New light is cast on the meaning of “eventification.”

scholarly journals Public libraries, arts and cultural policy in the UK

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 570-582
Author(s):  
Richard Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Public libraries in the UK are increasingly expected to provide arts activities and events as part of their usual operations. The purpose of this paper is to summarise recent policy trends in this direction from both the perspective of libraries’ and the arts sector. A touring theatre project aimed at children and families is discussed in further detail to examine some of the outcomes of these policies. Design/methodology/approach The paper will present a brief history of policy developments and debate in this area. Mixed method findings from the research element of “Among Ideal Friends” will be discussed, having used surveys and interviews with audiences and librarians, geodemographic profiling, box office records and library card data. Findings Public funding across both libraries and the arts has decreased at a national and local level, though both sectors are encouraged to work together to share expertise and community knowledge. Research limitations/implications The primary funding for the project was an arts funding body. While a holistic approach to evaluation was taken, this limited any specific focus that might have been given to educational outcomes or cost-benefit analysis compared to other interventions. Practical implications Public libraries can see the results and challenges of a successful regional touring theatre project for consideration in their own activity planning, especially those related to families and younger users. Social implications Libraries and Arts organisations have different priorities in regards to these areas. Though co-operative, the situation is not without tension. The topic is illustrative of some wider debates around cultural value, everyday participation and cultural democracy. Originality/value This paper offers a timely discussion of cultural policy in relation to libraries, e.g. The Society of Chief Librarians “Universal Cultural Offer” (October 2017).

scholarly journals Experiences of inpatient staff meeting the religious and cultural needs of BAME informal patients and patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-125
Author(s):  
Kuldip Kaur Kang ◽  
Nicola Moran
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Specific Assessment ◽  
Staff Experiences

Purpose This paper aims to explore inpatient staff experiences of seeking to meet the religious and cultural needs of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) inpatients on mental health wards. Design/methodology/approach Nine semi-structured interviews were undertaken with inpatient staff in one NHS Trust in England to explore their views and experiences of supporting BAME inpatients to meet their religious and cultural needs. Anonymised transcripts were analysed thematically. Findings Inpatient staff reported lacking the confidence and knowledge to identify and meet BAME inpatients’ religious and cultural needs, especially inpatients from smaller ethnic groups and newly emerging communities. There was no specific assessment used to identify religious and cultural needs and not all inpatient staff received training on meeting these needs. Concerns were raised about difficulties for staff in differentiating whether unusual beliefs and practices were expressions of religiosity or delusions. Staff identified the potential role of inpatients’ family members in identifying and meeting needs, explaining religious and cultural beliefs and practices, and psychoeducation to encourage treatment or medication adherence. Practical implications Potential ways to address this gap in the knowledge and confidence of inpatient staff to meet the religious and cultural needs of BAME patients include training for inpatient staff; the production and updating of a directory of common religious and cultural practices and needs; local resources which can help to support those needs; and religious and cultural practices and needs being documented by mental health practitioners in community teams such that this information is readily available for inpatient staff if a service user is admitted. Originality/value This is the first study to consider inpatient staff views on meeting the religious and cultural needs of BAME informal patients and patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

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