Much more than 2 cents!
On 15/06/2011 14:44, "Christopher Salter" <csal...@gmx.net> wrote: > Dear All, > > I have just returned from the Netherlands (in residence at STEIM, which is one > of the institutions which will be affected by the cuts) where I was engaged in > many discussions with artists and curators about the Zijlstra announcement. > The slash and burn cultural policy from Zijlstra and the VDD is another > neo-liberal attempt at privatization, not only of subsidized culture but all > other public goods. The policy is both reckless and, at the same time, divide > and conquer. By shifting the larger majority of funds to the established > cultural institutions, Zijlstra can argue that he is supporting Dutch culture > (and national heritage) while at the same time, creating a Social Darwinist > hierarchy among institutions. An across the board cut effecting all cultural > institutions would enable the potential for lobbying between the high cultural > institutions (the Nederlands Oper, the Rotterdam IFF, the Rijskmuseum, etc) > and the alternative scene. By funding the big institutions (who also know that > they depend on the alternative scene for talent), he creates a two tiered > system and weakens the possibility of a united front. > > Despite everyone's best intentions, it is unlikely that Zijlstra will be > convinced by online petitions from artists and arts organizers. This is his > chance to make history for himself by reversing a Dutch cultural policy that > has been long in place. Polticians (at least those nowadays) only care about > votes. So the only way to reverse these decisions is to make Zijlstra look > like a fool in front of the other politicans and the Dutch, European and > international public based on European and international pressure. This > article in the NY Times from last October provides a somewhat useful overview > of the situation: > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23iht-edbickerton.html > > The main thing to keep in mind through all of this is that the media arts are > not being singled out. ALL small and medium scale institutions (including post > graduate education programs) are. The situations for the visual and performing > arts is equally disastrous, especially since these fields (particularly the > performing arts) have no chance whatsoever at even connecting to the so-called > "creative industries." In other words, this is not the time to argue for the > benefit of the media arts and continue a ghettoization that makes such > cultural policy's as Zijlstra's so easy to implement. In the face of cuts to > the public welfare system in general, the arts budget is peanuts. The larger > question is one of the necessity of subsidized heterogenous culture, in > general, across all different scales and areas. > > If one wants to organize a letter writing and email campaign (such as what > happened when the City of Frankfurt tried to shut down the Frankfurt Ballet), > then it should come from united and more influential fronts rather than just > the media arts sector. > > 1. From the international perspective, we need to marshall the connections we > have as leaders of festivals, institutions, etc. to try and encourage the > directors of international (and particularly, european) cultural institutions > (both public and private (the alliance francais, the goethe institute, the > british council, the canadian and quebec art councils and many other > organizations) to write letters to the Dutch parliament and to get those > letters out there as much as possible. Furthermore, there has not been a > single story since the Zijlstra announcement in the international press (for > example, the Herald Tribune). Why is this? > > 2. What does the EU Commission's cultural policy body think about Zijlstra's > proposal? > http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/doc411_en.htm. Can the > argument be made that the Dutch arts cuts will have a strong effect on Dutch > institutions to participate in European cultural policy and projects (again, > across all institutional scales, from small to large) due to the lack of > diversity across scales and types of cultural practices? It seems to make > sense that the letters should also go to the Commission DG urging a response > from Brussels > (http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/vassiliou/contact/commissioner/index > _en.htm_ > > 3. The Dutch situation is far more complex because none of us outside of the > Hague really knows what is going on but one strategy is to have the heads of > the large institutions write in the press and to the government that the > policy will affect ALL cultural institutions and general cultural life in the > Netherlands. Letters from Pierre Audi (the director of the Nederlands Oper and > the Holland Festival), the head of the Rijksmuseum, etc. will go less on the > deaf ears of the politicians than letters from unknown institutions. Do any > of us have those connections or, thinking six degrees of separation, do we > know people that do? > > Furthermore, if new media is to be merged with architecture and design into a > "creative industries" fund, then at this point, (and this is the Faustean > bargain), dutch cultural institutions that are seen as Topgebieden (this is > what was framed by Zijlstra) because they have the potential to connect to > industry, should begin to gather as much support from the business community > as they can. I know that Virtueel Platform has these ties as a start so they > should start to be marshalled. This doesn't mean that everything should be > dissolved into business. It means that there are smart people in the business > community out there who know that a vibrant alternative culture is necessary > for general economic growth and development, particularly a cultural sector > like the new media art that can bring about new ways of thinking about > technical tools and processes (this is not just instrumentalizing language - > after all, we are all entangled in larger social-technical structures whether > we use open source software or prioprietary tools). Richard Florida's rather > despicable arguments in The Rise of the Creative Class are one place to start > and even though I abhor them, there might be something there at this time when > the politicans are so eager to please the business community. What would the > Dutch politicians and public say if those in the creative industries (whom > they wish to support) should make it known that the cuts to the broader > cultural sector would have a larger economic impact than at first seems > apparent (not just the ancilliary income that culture as part of the leisure > dollar/euro generates) and that there should be the attempt to support a > diversity of institutions. > > One might learn from what is taking place next week in Montreal. At a time > when European countries are debating the necessity of subsidizing culture and > particularly, the new media arts, the CALQ (the Quebec Arts Council) is > engaged in a massive focus study to see if they should funnel even more longer > term funding and support in terms of research, production, dissemination into > new artistic practices involving technologies. The CALQ has invited a large > group of artists, organizations, curators and people from the business sector > together to discuss the necessity of a new kind of funding structure and > strategy for "digital culture" in general. Why is this? Perhaps, because there > is a bit more of an understanding of a larger ecology at play in Montreal and > Quebec (which is more European in its cultural policy than the rest of Canada > and certainly the US) among the digital arts, the business community, the > academic institutions who have a stake in the training of artists and > designers for the different "industries" (commercial and non) and > artists/designers in recognizing the cultural and economic advantages of > having a rich culture, whether one sees it as a feeder for the creative media > industries (people after all have to pay their rent) or just having a vibrant > climate that encourages people to move to the city to work and live. > > Again, this a Faustean bargain but face it, in the stages of late capitalism > and an international neo-liberal uprising in which we are in, none of us can > afford to take sides. > > my two cents. > > cs. > > > ---------------------------------------- > > Christopher Salter, PhD > Director, Hexagram Concordia Institute for Research-Creation in Media Arts and > Technology > > Associate Professor, Design + Computation Arts > Faculty of Fine Arts > Concordia University > > Mailing Address: > 1515 St Catherine St. W > EV6-789 > Montreal,QC > H3G 2W1 > CANADA > T: 001-514-848-2424, x 5261 | F: 001-514-848-4252 | > e: chris...@alcor.concordia.ca > w: http://www.chrissalter.com > > ------------------------------- > > .de > Christopher Salter, Ph.D. > Lausitzer strasse 6 > 10999 Berlin > Germany > t: +49 030 814 92898 > m: +49 179 700 8528 > e: clsal...@gmail.com > w: http://www.chrissalter.com > > > > > ______________________________________________ > SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe > Info, archive and help: > http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre Simon Biggs si...@littlepig.org.uk http://www.littlepig.org.uk/ s.bi...@eca.ac.uk http://www.elmcip.net/ http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre
