Milena Dragicevic-Sesic

Interculturalism in the arts and
cultural life: new challenges for arts
policy and cultural managers
Translating in-between cultures
or, is it all about funding?
Milena Dragićević Šešić
Presentation held in Cable Factory Talks 3: “INTERCULTURAL
DIALOGUE” - Challenges for the arts, cultural management and
cultural policy, Helsinki, 13 May 2008
International cultural cooperation
"Cultural projects are the important part of transnational cooperation. I think they should be the
integral work for promoting tolerance,
strengthening civil society and supporting
democratic changes in transition countries, and
for old European democracies a source of
inspiration and “new breath”, seeking new ideas
and forms in art.”
http://www.felix.meritis.nl/peoplenetwork/index_2006.htm
Territorially driven cultural policy
Ethnic (constructed community) driven
cultural policy
Main focus – key research
questions
• Interculturalism in
the arts
• Acculturation
processes since
Helenistic period
• Europe as a space
of contacts and
hybridity
M. Dragićević Šešić i S. Dragojević
Interkulturna medijacija na Balkanu
Erzen Shkololli, Peć: Transitions 2001
(Circumcision, Pioneer, European)
Član 46.
Jemči se sloboda mišljenja i izražavanja, kao i
sloboda da se govorom, pisanjem, slikom ili na
drugi način traže, primaju i šire obaveštenja i ideje.
Cenzura bez cenzure • Politička korektnost
• Indiferentnost
• Politikanstvo
(partijski
interesi)
• Strah
(cenzura ulice)
Z. Jevremovic – Balada o
devojačkom odelu...
NGO cenzura
Artistic projects - AES
MarinaAbramovic
Challenges for art managers
(programmers)
• How we integrate the challenges of
contemporary world (i.e. globalization) in
our cultural programs?
• In what extent we give our audience
another vision of the world (national vs
international context of operation)?
• controversial issues?
Cultural cooperation - policy of
inclusion - policy of exclusion
• Processes of integration – harmonization?
• Knowledge transfer or patronizing
• Policy debates – defining values (CoE, EU)
__________________________________
• Forgotten enclaves – has somebody ever met Nagorno
Karabah artist?
• A cultural embargo (past),
• restricted cooperation toward and with Belarus,
• limitations of visas for artists & art students (Ukraine,
Moldavia…)
• “Recognition” of Armenian genocide???
• Non-coherent Bosnian “cultural policy”/practice status…
Curricula vocabulary – area and
values – evolution since 60’
Cultural pluralism
Accessibility
Ethno music
Exchange
Animation
Foreign cult. policy
Co-productions
Associations
Nation state
Multidisciplinary
multiculturalism cultural diversity
inclusivity
world music
cooperation
collaboration
mediation
translation
cultural diplomacy
partnership
network
collaborativ net.
Region
territory
intersectorial
transsectorial
Processes of interaction
• Processes of politically
stimulated interactions
- transition
- Harmonization of laws
(policy arguments)
- cultural cooperation
• Processes of
globalization
- free trade
- new technologies…
Paradigm change - Europe
•
•
•
•
Pluricultural Europe (cultural pluralism)
Multicultural Europe
Intercultural Europe
Europe of cultural diversities (cultural
diversities)
• Transcultural Europe
Luggage for Europe?
De Valigia – Balint Szombati
Vocabulary
Key words missing:
i.e. le musee imaginaire
(the imaginary museum),
political correctness,
the heritage of others
Working internationally – major interest
Cultural policy concepts:
• understanding (implicit) EU cultural policy
• understanding the differences in national/
regional/local cultural policies in Europe
• defining priorities in foreign cultural policies;
advocacy arguments/analysis and research
• active participation in policy reconceptualization and implementation
• Understanding the global context (GATT,
WTO, TRIPPS. Europe within global world)
Working internationally – secondary place
arts management concepts:
• Working abroad (making
the movie, rehearsing
the play, etc.)
• co-producing
• partnership
• Selling (performing,
touring…)
• Promoting (festivals,
foreign cultural
centres…)
• artist mobility
Working internationally – minor interest
Cultural mediation concepts:
• intercultural mediation
• intercultural dialogue
• programming “the other” (the arts of other
cultures – how?)
• translating the other (contextualization
within programmation)
?Understanding the other?
yugomuzej ©
000016: Memorandum, 90x130x70cm,1999.
g stola I.Garasanina; olovni sanduk (4.9 T); gipsani reljef: "Planine i reke SFRJ",rad ucenika VII3, OS Gavrilo Princip,
poklonjen J.B.Titu povodom izbora za pocasnog clana SANU, aklamacijom; pisaca masina na kojoj je otkucan
Memorandum; staklo, neon.
Donator: Academy of Sciences, SANU, Beograd
How to exhibit in
international
context?
Limits of
understanding
Accepting the difference
Intercultural competence
“cooperation” – international
relations
•
•
•
•
National interest or international solidarity?
Wish to know, or wish to influence?
Cultural or economical interest ?
Cultural interest or wish for better
positioning of the country (image)?
• Subtle method of political influence?
• Cultural trade or cultural diplomacy?
cultural cooperation ethical
challenges
RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD:
•
•
•
•
ARTISTS & ARTS
“NATION”?, tradition, identity ...
REGION – AND ITS VALUES
SOCIETY - PROMOTION OF CORE
SOCIAL (CULTURAL VALUES)?
• OTHER “MARGINS” AND “OUTSIDERS”… ETC
Artistic challenges? – can we understand scandals of international cooperation
•
Sanja Ivekovic
Rosa Of Luxembourg
Transcultural Europe
• West - East knowledge transfer
• Body of research – no specific research
programs. Partial use of results in:
– cultural anthropology & cultural studies
- policy studies
- sociology (of culture, migrations…)
- management – intercultural competence
- conflict resolution - mediation
Appadurai Arjun
Key notions:
• modernity,
• cultural dimensions of globalization,
• the social imaginary (composed of five dimensions of
global cultural flow: ethnoscapes; mediascapes;
technoscapes; finanscapes; ideoscapes),
• consumption (commodities in cultural perspective),
• Culturalism (from culture as substance to culture as the
dimension of difference; to culture as group identity
based on difference; to culture as the process of
naturalizing a subset of differences that have been
mobilized to articulate group identity…
New challenges in cultural policy
– politics of memory and
oblivion
Budapest
• Museum of Terror
Definitions of contemporary society
•
•
•
•
•
Society of consumption
Society of spectacle
Society of “success ideology”
Society of competitivness, entrepreneurship
Society of cultural dialogues and tolerance (new
utopia – replacing social justice)
• Society of distopia
• Society of normatives and standards
(mcdonaldization)
Nomadism - mobility
Travel metaphores
- path
- Crossroad
- Bridge
- horizon
mediation – Macbeth in front of
police – January 1996
Listen little man – homage a W.R. (September
1997) – 10 00 - inclusivensess
Listen little man – in the municipality
11 00
Listen little man – In the shopping mall
12 00
Dalmatian ball game – Mirijevo
17 00
Dijalozi:
“Pitanje identiteta je pitanje
umetničke produkcije”
Maurizio Cattelan “La Nona
Ora” (The Ninth Hour),
«Pope Struck By a
Meteorite” (Papa
pogodjen meteoritom)
1999.
Zivko Grozdanic Meteorska
kiša, CZKD
Art statement
or Cultural Policy statement
Dah teatar - sećanje na Srebrenicu
• Izostanak finansijske
podrške
• Izostanak
moralne
podrške
• Javna kritika
• Bez komentara
• Ignorisanje
• Marginalizacija
Dren Maliqi - Hope
Public opinion censorship in
Europe
• Sensation, London, 1997
• "Myra“ (children killer)
Marcus Harvey
• Painting attacked
with eggs and paint
• Put under glass
• removed
Sanja Iveković – Roza od Luksemburga
Berlin's Deutsche Oper removed
staging of a Mozart opera Idomeneo
Hans Neuenfels's production of "Idomeneo", a
1781 drama set in ancient Crete, « for fear of
enraging Muslims », because authorities warned
it could present an "incalculable security risk".
• its premiere in December 2003, sparked
audience protests as King Idomeneo presents
the lopped-off heads of Poseidon, Jesus,
Buddha and the Prophet Mohammed and
displays them on four chairs.
• German critics saw the show at the time as « a
radical attack on religion and religious wars ».
Karikature Muhameda
• Jyllands-Posten, 2005. - 12 karikatura
proroka Muhameda
JyllandsPostenpg3-article
Sept.30.
2005
April 2, 2007
Banned in the USA
The Profit, a feature film written
and directed by Peter N.
Alexander in 2001. Little seen,
it is notable primarily because
worldwide distribution of the film
is prohibited by an American
court order, the result of a
lawsuit by the Church of
Scientology.
The Profit is one of only two films
currently banned in the United
States. The other film is
Superstar: The Karen
Carpenter Story, for copyright
infringement.
Jimmy Wales,
• Wikipedia, a hugely popular reference tool in the
West, has been banned from China since
October 2006. Whereas Google, Microsoft and
Yahoo went into the country accepting some
restrictions on their online content, Wales
believes it must be all or nothing for Wikipedia.
• Wales said censorship was ' antithetical to the
philosophy of Wikipedia. We occupy a position
in the culture that I wish Google would take up,
which is that we stand for the freedom for
information,
Use of the image in the Wikipedia article JyllandsPosten Muhammad cartoons controversy is
believed to qualify as fair use since:
• It is not of sufficient resolution to facilitate easy reading
of the article
• It is a single page, not part of a systematic mirror of
Jyllands-Posten's articles or images, and thus should not
inhibit them from selling.
• It is politically significant, as the page depicted sparked
controversy lasting several months, death threats
against the cartoonists, boycotts of its country of origin,
many violent protests and deaths as well as causing
several politicians to resign from their posts.
• It adds significantly to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad
cartoons controversy article and is being used there for
information only.
• Jyllands-Posten's copyright policy for the "E-paper“: the
copyright of the individual drawings belong to their
cartoonists; otherwise, copyright belongs to JyllandsPosten.
Behtzi, Birmingem
• Behzti ( "dishonour“), written by a young female
Sikh, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatt, (depiction of murder
and sex abuse in a temple)
• was said to have been inoffensive to many
younger Sikhs.
• However, religious leaders, including the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, had urged a
boycott of the play.
• The theatre said some protesters managed to
get backstage, where they smashed equipment
and destroyed a foyer door.
Birminghem repertory theater –
Behzti (December, 2004)
The theatre : We refused
to censor the work and
abandon it purely on
safety grounds.
Stuart Rogers, the
executive director of
the Rep: “the decision
had been taken after
discussions with police
and Sikh community
leaders”
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent
Nichols, said: "Such a deliberate, even if fictional,
violation of the sacred place of the Sikh religion
demeans the sacred places of every religion."
Mohan Singh, welcomed the
decision who “came too late”
• "Free speech can go so far. Maybe 5,000
people would have seen this play over the
run, but are you going to upset 600,000
thousands Sikhs in Britain and maybe 20
million outside the UK for that?“
• The play's author has revealed threats had
been made against her and she has been
advised by police not to say anything in
public.
Dijalog?
"We sincerely hope that
the play will be
produced again as we
are certain that it is a
work that should be
seen and discussed.
"It remains a matter of
great concern to us that
illegal acts of violence
can cause the
cancellation of a lawful
artistic work."
A spokesman for the Sikh
community, Councillor
Chaman Lal, predicted
there would have been
larger protests had the
play's run continued.
He said: "The theatre has
made the right decision
in response to a peaceful
protest.
There are no winners or
losers - common sense
has prevailed."
Future?
• Neal Foster, actormanager of the
Birmingham Stage
Company prepared to
stage Behzti at a
multicultural centre in
Birmingham. "The
story cannot end
here. I think freedom
of expression is more
important than health
and safety," he said.
The human spirit endures through the magic of
storytelling. So let me tell you a story.
I believe that drama should be provocative and relevant. I wrote
Behzti because I passionately oppose injustice and hypocrisy.
And because writing drama allows me to create characters,
stories, a world in which I, as an artist, can play and entertain
and generate debate.
The writers who I admire are courageous. They present their
truths and dare to take risks whilst living with their fears.
They tell us life is ferocious and terrifying, that we are
imperfect and only when we embrace our imperfections
honestly, can we have hope.
Over the years there have been many robust dramas about
world religions. Sikhism is a relatively new entrant to this
arena and I am aware of the sensitivity around such
discussion.
GURPREET KAUR BHATTI
Neal Foster
• “Official organisations need to be involved to
help theatres make the right decision. The
staging of Behzti is the first thing that needs to
happen - we lost the battle and we are now
suffering the effects. The artistic community put
up its white flag - now we need to support
whatever organisations are suffering the
consequences.”
• “the industry needs to make a stand in the face
of increasingly militant opposition from both
religious and secular groups.”
Posledice
• Felix Cross, director of
NITRO black theatre
company organised
discussions by ITI members
• the decision to hold further
talks came when Janet Steel,
director of Kali Theatre - the
company behind the original
production of Behzti revealed at a recent ITI
conference that she was
concerned about the
physical risks of putting on
future productions.
• I can’t believe that the
protests around Jerry
Springer - the Opera
would have happened
before Behzti. (Foster)
• Stephen Green of
Christian Voice cites the
successful religious
opposition to Behzti, as
inspiration for his
damaging campaign
against Avalon musical
Jerry Springer - the
Opera.
Tanja Ostojic: Origine de monde –
hommage a Courbet – billboard in
Vienna
Sejla Kameric – Maja Bajevic
Slučaj Handke - 2006
Bozonnet, direktor Komedi Fransez (Comedi-Francaise)
saopstio je krajem aprila da se predstava Putovanje kroz
zemlju zvuka ili umetnost pitanja (Voyage to the Sonorous
Land, or the Art of Asking) otkazuje zbog Handkeovog
prisustva sahrani Milosevica 18. marta u Pozarevcu i
njegove izjave medijima da je “srecan sto je uz tog coveka
koji je branio svoj narod”.
“To nije cenzura. Na direktoru pozorista je da odluci da li ce
neka predstava biti igrana ili ne, ali drugi teatri mogu da je
postave?, rekao je on, predstavljajuci program naredne
sezone teatra Comedie-Francaise, na cijem je celu od 2001.
godine.
Handkeu je dozvoljeno mnogo slobode, pa dajte i meni,
takodje”,
Slučaj Handke - Elfride Jelinek
• I am "horrified" that the Comédie-Française
had acted like a "censor." "By not putting on
this play, the Comédie-Française, with its
rich past, is following in the worst tradition of
cultural institutions under dictatorships, who
throw out artists who cause trouble and
condemn them to silence“
• ....Referring to the decision to cancel Mr.
Handke's play, Ms. Jelinek said, "Behavior
like this is the worst possible way of doing
justice to the victims of the Milosevic
regime."
Slučaj Handke
• Peter Handke, cija je predstava nedavno
povucena sa planiranog repertoara Komedi
Fransez zbog prisustva sahrani bivseg
predsednika SRJ i Srbije Slobodana Milosevica,
dobitnik je ovogodisnje knjizevne nagrade
“Hajnrih Hajne”, koju dodeljuje grad Diseldorf.
Ziri je naveo u kratkom obrazlozenju da Handke
“sledi na sebi svojstven nacin, poput Hajnriha
Hajnea, sopstveni put ka istini. On baca svoj
poetski pogled na svet ne obaziruci se na javno
mnjenje i njegove rituale”, May 23, 2006
Blog comments
• So basically the Comedie is saying, blatantly, this guy
Handke is a political outlaw, and we don't want to be
associated with him. Fair enough, you might say. But
when plays start getting cancelled we have indeed
entered into the realm of that c-word. Note the statement
from Friday's piece by Marcel Bozonnet, described as
the "administrator" of the company:
• Mr. Bozonnet told Le Monde, "The theater is a tribune;
its effect goes far beyond the audience at a single
performance." He went on to say that even if "Voyage to
the Sonorous Land," originally scheduled for January,
was not a piece of propaganda, a performance would
lend the playwright visibility.
The Playgoer
Theatre Reviews, The Life of the Drama & other
passing glances at the current cultural scene
No, I don't think blackbanning an artist for
their political beliefs is the way to go.
Handke is easy to criticise; but where do
you stop? It's a really good precedent for
McCarthyism.
– Monday, May 01, 2006 5:38:00 PM
• Alison Croggon said...
• Le Monde /26. maj 2006 Biljana Srbljanović:
"Handke neće biti ništa manji pisac zbog toga što
Comedie-Française neće igrati njegov komad. Ali, svaki
put kad bi njegov mrtvi prijatelj Milošević odlučivao da
zabrani nekog, on je to učinio efikasno i sa manje buke,
metak u potiljak, obično na kućnom pragu, ili pred nekom
iskopanom, unaprijed pripremljenom rupom, negdje u
šumi, rupom u koju bi cenzurisani nakon cenzure upao,
a da ga više nikada niko njegov ne nađe."
• "Biti za Miloševića nikada, a posebno sada, nije značilo biti za Srbiju”.
Finale u Francuskoj?
France's culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, has
named a woman, the actress and stage director Muriel Mayette,
42, to run the Comédie-Française (first time since 1680).
She will succeed Marcel Bozonnet, who is said to have hoped to
remain in the job until 2009. Mr. Bozonnet, 62, has won plaudits
as general manager of the company, France's national theater.
But this spring he provoked a storm of criticism when he
abruptly canceled a scheduled new play by the Austrian writer
Peter Handke after Mr. Handke attended the funeral of the
former Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.
In an interview with Le Monde, Mr. Donnedieu de Vabres denied
that the Handke affair had influenced his decision to replace Mr.
Bozonnet. He said he named Ms. Mayette to seek ''a
generational change.''
ALAN RIDING
• Handke wrote a letter to Joachim Erwin,
the mayor of Düsseldorf, to inform him that
he would not accept the prize dutifully
quoted part of Handke's letter: "'I am
writing to you to spare you and the world
from the upcoming sitting of the city
council in which they will decide not to give
me the prize.' (June 9, 2006)
Three Faces Of Ostracism Bruno Bayen,
Peter Handke, and Ward Churchill
•
Bruno Bayen did not deserve any coverage at all. He was supposed to
direct Handke's play, which he had translated in French. He also was
supposed to appear on February 10, 2007, at a "Saturday of the VieuxColombiers," organized by François Regnault, the literary adviser of
the Comédie Française, and dedicated to the "history of theatre at the
Comédie Française“, but: "since you [Bayen] have taken a public
position against the decision of the Comédie Française, and since you
went with Peter Handke to [see] the secretary, the situation between
the two of us has changed." In other words, Bayen became a collateral
victim of this sordid affair.
• Ward Churchill, a professor of ethnic studies at the U. of Colorado
called the 9/11 victims at the World Trade Center 'technocrats' and
'little Eichmanns,' and blamed Americans for what he called the
'genocide' of the Indian nations - Standing Committee on Research
Misconduct of the University of Colorado, Boulder: 124-page report
accused professor Churchill of "academic misconduct“, calling for
sanctions
• Professor of sociology Tom Mayer deconstructed the report in a 1900word article that he sent to local papers in Boulder to no avail. They all
rejected the article because "it was too long."
by Gilles d'Aymery, Swans Commentary , June 2006
Kiba Lumberg
Omara
Delaine lem Bas