Articoli taggati con ‘cultural events’
The future art of storytelling: Future Fabulating in Madeira Island
Introduction The practice of predicting the future has a long history, ranging from personal consultation in the patterns of coffee grounds to global computational projections derived from vast sums of data. The longing for a vision of the future offering some certitude seems to cross cultural boundaries. Engineer Alan Kay stated that […]
The sound of poetry. The case of “Andata e Ritorno” Festival
We grow up being used to the idea that poetry is something boring. This scenario is luckily changing. There are a lot of poets who want to stay inside the modernity, want to write about it and above all they stare at the eyes of their audience, take their hands, fascinate their ears.
The Panagbenga: Ethico-Political Issues, Contestations, and Recommendations on the Cultural Sustainability of a Festival
The Panagbenga cultural festival of the popular tourist destination of Baguio City, Philippines, turns 20 in February 2015. Researching the sustainability of a 4-weeks festival held annually since 1995 is of academic and practical interest. Lessons can be learned for cultural policy and for more pro-active participation and collaboration between different stakeholders. Jumping off from issues and contestations on the cultural sustainability of Panagbenga, this descriptive-normative study argues for an ethics and politics of sustainable festivals, with focus on the difficult concept of sustaining culture. The study explores how cultural festivals become virtual and actual spaces for reflection, contestations, and consensual agreements on cultural tradition. “Cultural sustainability” or how cultures are dynamically engaged is distinguished from “cultures of sustainability”, or how cultures (mostly traditional) promote sustainable forms of living with the environment. The latter concept has been more discussed in the literature than the former concept.
Contemporary art fairs as new forms of cultural consumption and urban experience
Contemporary art fairs are commercial exhibitions where art dealers meet up over the course of several days at a specific event. Nowadays they are held around the world, offering attendees the opportunity to experience in just a few days what otherwise would only be possible by travelling all over the world. This study has selected some key aspects of the contemporary art fairs expansion, focusing on their historical background and on contemporary globalization aspects of the art system. While exploring the art fairs territory, the contemporary art system often finds common grounds with attitudes observed in more-encompassing cultural and creative industries. Art fairs, as many other cultural industry events, such as music and cinema festivals or fashion weeks, share the “show – spectacle” notion in the public culture. Within this context, some analogies can be made as regards the common networking necessities of these industries, but it is also worth highlighting the emergence of art fairs effectiveness in enhancing the contemporary arts and the consumption of creative products.
Eventful Cities: the relationship between city development and cultural events
In recent years slogans such as ‘festival city’ or ‘city of festivals’ have become common elements of the brand image of many cities. But why have events become so popular? What are the benefits of being ‘eventful’? What is the relationship between city development and cultural events? How do cities create, shape, manage and market events, and how can those events in turn shape the city, its spaces and its image? The creation and promotion of events such as festivals, shows, exhibitions, fairs and championships, have become a critical component of urban development strategy across the globe. No city believes it is too small or too complex to enter the market of planning and producing events, which have become central to processes of urban development and revitalisation, as cultural production becomes a major element of the urban economy. By adding an intangible component to the physical culture of the city, events provide a scenario in which human contacts are possible, however superficial, and there is the promise of communitas through the shared experience of ‘being there’.
Culture and development at a crossroads
The two articles featured in this issue of Tafter Journal by Mazuba Kapambwe and Johannis Tsoumas may inspire some further reflections on the difficult, ‘liquid’ relation between place, ideology and politics, which is so present in almost any debate on the role and use of culture in development. Both papers tell us something of the ways in which culture can serve local development. However, the later is basically about what can go wrong – unimaginative planning abiding hidden interests and business tactics, though the ‘missed opportunity’ from the Athens case is only an arguably minor example of a wider system failure which screams for change and inclusion in decision-making. The former discloses the emergence of a new paradigm, a ray of hope from the plentiful sorrow that plagues the developing world: in the breech of the global cultural economy, social innovation and protagonism has flourished from technology and has reached even the more backwards – but still connected – places.
Call For Papers on “Festivals: audience, funding and sustainability”. Deadline extended to 31 March 2014
Tafter Journal and LOOP Studies/University of Barcelona invite paper submissions which offer new and challenging research on trends within the management of cultural festivals. Get Involved! We welcome participants willing to share their research and experiences!
