From Cabaret to International Festivals

I write not as an academic, but as a singer, writer of works for the stage, festival director, and arts advisor. The word curator first entered my understanding as the role of those working in art galleries and museums: those skilled individuals who “cared for” their collections. The word has now spread to many of the things that I do, including the way I have “put together” large international arts festivals.

The Geographies of Artists and Stall holders at Afrikaans Arts Festivals, South Africa

South African arts festivals have been the subject of considerable research, with a focus on the economics, attendee patterns and impacts on local communities. Importantly, numerous role-players (stall holders, artists, festival attendees, amongst others) contribute to the diversity, origin and character of these arts festivals. Despite this, little is known of their mobility, spatiality and geographies. To this end, artists and stall holders across five large Afrikaans Language Arts festivals were interviewed to establish their itineraries, travel behaviours, festival involvement and cultural expression. On this basis, this study hopes to enable a better understanding of the geographies of Afrikaans arts festivals. Results suggest that artists and stall holders contribute significantly to shaping the geographies of these arts festivals as they are the most mobile of all participants. Their mobility creates a shared or communal festival geography – albeit now severely disrupted by COVID-19 – across Afrikaans arts festival boundaries. Unfortunately, this shared geography may also undermine the local flavour, authenticity, and regional diversity of such arts festivals.

Performing Arts Festivals, Festivalization and Global Public Sphere: Locating DNT Performances of India and the Māori Performances of Aotearoa/New Zealand in Post-colonial Asia-Pacific

<p>The project aims at theorising the idea of ‘festivalization’ of the local and global public sphere generated by performing arts festivals. The thesis challenges the concept of ‘festival’ in its popular framework of a celebratory event that is well-planned, culture specific and entertaining. I provide three different study models to accommodate my theoretical conceptualization and discuss the theory in detail in context of selected case studies. The research also seeks to investigate the politics around (re)presentation of indigeneity through the medium of theatre within various socio-political contexts through case studies from several Indigenous theatre groups located in Oceania and beyond. The project offers detailed discussion of the first two theoretical models developed by me in context of case studies from India and Aotearoa/New Zealand followed by an exploration of the artistic festivals and their implications within and beyond Oceania in context of my third and final study model. The theoretical models study theatre performances in the contexts of their representation, reception and efficacy within the festival generated space as well as the initiatives of Indigenous communities across the globe to create artistic festivals to celebrate their Indigeneity and authority over Indigenous arts. These two focuses together will locate the reception, representation and (re)production of Indigeneity through the medium of theatre within the festivalized space locally and globally. The third study model finally locates the festival itself within both local and global space to explore its political implications within the socio-political context. I also aim to investigate the politics behind provisions of ‘space’ and ‘funds’ for the international display of indigeneity through international performing arts festivals; and juxtapose the tourist centred performing arts festival against the festival created by the Indigenous communities through funding generated though ‘donations’ made by local communities. The discussions on this segment is focused on the politics of (mis)presentation of indigeneity through hybrid performances alongside exotic traditional indigenous performances on international stages. As an Indian citizen, crossing multiple boundaries between the so-called third world, indigenous world and metropolitan culture, I am aware about, respect and acknowledge the Indigenous intellectual and cultural property rights. Being a non-Indigenous researcher working with Indigenous communities, I followed the principles of ‘decolonising methodologies’ (Smith, 1999). I am aware and adhered to the matters including self-determination, cultural aspiration, socio-economic mediation, culturally preferred pedagogy, collective philosophy, extended family structures, respect to Treaty of Waitangi and growing respectful relationships as essential aspects of conducting this research. I have applied collectively chosen pedagogy and philosophy when I conducted the interviews within Indigenous communities and when wrote about them in my thesis. Indigenous theatre within the context of performing arts festival is a rarely explored area of post-colonial studies which makes the present project significant in itself. The project will document original ideas directly from indigenous theatre practitioners and their experiences of participation in international performing arts festivals. And finally, I believe this study could contribute to a better understanding of the politics of international performing arts festivals in (re) producing indigeneity, distinct from their conventional reception as an exotic 'other' culture.</p>

Performing Arts Festivals, Festivalization and Global Public Sphere: Locating DNT Performances of India and the Māori Performances of Aotearoa/New Zealand in Post-colonial Asia-Pacific

<p>The project aims at theorising the idea of ‘festivalization’ of the local and global public sphere generated by performing arts festivals. The thesis challenges the concept of ‘festival’ in its popular framework of a celebratory event that is well-planned, culture specific and entertaining. I provide three different study models to accommodate my theoretical conceptualization and discuss the theory in detail in context of selected case studies. The research also seeks to investigate the politics around (re)presentation of indigeneity through the medium of theatre within various socio-political contexts through case studies from several Indigenous theatre groups located in Oceania and beyond. The project offers detailed discussion of the first two theoretical models developed by me in context of case studies from India and Aotearoa/New Zealand followed by an exploration of the artistic festivals and their implications within and beyond Oceania in context of my third and final study model. The theoretical models study theatre performances in the contexts of their representation, reception and efficacy within the festival generated space as well as the initiatives of Indigenous communities across the globe to create artistic festivals to celebrate their Indigeneity and authority over Indigenous arts. These two focuses together will locate the reception, representation and (re)production of Indigeneity through the medium of theatre within the festivalized space locally and globally. The third study model finally locates the festival itself within both local and global space to explore its political implications within the socio-political context. I also aim to investigate the politics behind provisions of ‘space’ and ‘funds’ for the international display of indigeneity through international performing arts festivals; and juxtapose the tourist centred performing arts festival against the festival created by the Indigenous communities through funding generated though ‘donations’ made by local communities. The discussions on this segment is focused on the politics of (mis)presentation of indigeneity through hybrid performances alongside exotic traditional indigenous performances on international stages. As an Indian citizen, crossing multiple boundaries between the so-called third world, indigenous world and metropolitan culture, I am aware about, respect and acknowledge the Indigenous intellectual and cultural property rights. Being a non-Indigenous researcher working with Indigenous communities, I followed the principles of ‘decolonising methodologies’ (Smith, 1999). I am aware and adhered to the matters including self-determination, cultural aspiration, socio-economic mediation, culturally preferred pedagogy, collective philosophy, extended family structures, respect to Treaty of Waitangi and growing respectful relationships as essential aspects of conducting this research. I have applied collectively chosen pedagogy and philosophy when I conducted the interviews within Indigenous communities and when wrote about them in my thesis. Indigenous theatre within the context of performing arts festival is a rarely explored area of post-colonial studies which makes the present project significant in itself. The project will document original ideas directly from indigenous theatre practitioners and their experiences of participation in international performing arts festivals. And finally, I believe this study could contribute to a better understanding of the politics of international performing arts festivals in (re) producing indigeneity, distinct from their conventional reception as an exotic 'other' culture.</p>

The World turned Upside Down? Cities, Festivalization and Uncertainty

The rapid proliferation of festivals experienced by cities round the world over the last four decades was brought to a sudden halt in early 2020 by the coronavirus pandemic. Planned gatherings ranging from local arts festivals to global megaevents were summarily abandoned, postponed, or converted to digital alternatives. This paper opens with a contextual introduction. The ensuing section considers the reasons for the seemingly unfe ered proliferation and festivalization that had occurred pre-Covid-19, but indicates that problems had already arisen over appropriation of public space, overtourism and security before the current crisis. The next part surveys the pandemic's impact on the urban festival sector to date. With reference to the megaevents planned for 2020 and a series of case studies of arts festivals, it notes responses ranging from whole or partial cancellations to implementation of wholly digital options. The conclusion argues that the continuing importance of physical congregation in designated places must be recognized, contending that this is enhanced rather than challenged by the rise of digital alternatives.

Research on the Theoretical Innovation of Chinese Land Art from the perspective of Internet+

At the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, artists used the countryside as a stage for their artworks. The Echigo-Tsumari region has also taken this opportunity to revive its economy and rural culture. And the inspiration from this case is something that cannot be ignored in China today. This article analyzes the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial and some Chinese local arts festivals, go a step further and taking advantage of the advantages of China's Internet in logistics and information dissemination to extend the cultural strategy of combining rural culture with art.

Exploring the Relationship Between Arts Festivals and Economic Development in Rural Island Regions: A Case Study of Scotland’s Orkney Isles

This paper explores arts festivals in terms of their relationship to local economic development within the rural island region of Orkney in Scotland. Fourteen qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with arts festival organisers, tourism representatives and local volunteers during the summer festival season. The findings offer new insights into the factors affecting how arts festivals impact the local economy; the areas of the local economy that are affected by arts festivals; and the implications of funding from awarding bodies on the endogenous development of arts festivals. For instance, it is concluded that supporting the cultural values of locals is vital to the economic success of rural arts festivals through a strategic design in the combined integration of minimised paid staff and maximised volunteers. Furthermore, it is revealed how in certain cases the initial retention of funding may benefit start-up arts festivals in terms of strategic development of their social approval and natural progression. Through the provision of an original theoretical framework for the relationship between arts festivals and economic development in a rural island context, the paper also makes substantive contributions to theoretical development and knowledge advancement in this field, whilst offering future research directions for rural studies researchers. Ultimately, island community practitioners such as festival directors, local authorities and merchants could benefit from using the findings to develop enhanced strategic operations, which could generate greater synergies and sustainability for the local arts festival sector and ultimately contribute towards greater economic prosperity.