Jérôme Segal (ICCR Vienna) & Monica Sassatelli (University of Sussex) Art Festivals and the European Public Culture Jérôme Segal, ICCR Vienna, Austria

Jérôme Segal (ICCR Vienna) & Monica Sassatelli (University of Sussex)

Art Festivals and the European Public Culture

Jérôme Segal, ICCR Vienna, AustriaMonica Sassatelli, University of Sussex, UK

Presentation at the EFRP Workshop Urban Impact of Artistic Festivals Helsinki, 11-12 April 2008


A contribution to a comparative cultural sociology of contemporary European society


Aims of the project:

Examine the role of festivals as sites of trans-national identifications and democratic debate

Identify and focus on the (aesthetic) public sphere

Consider its role not only as containing depictions of social reality but as autonomous social fields



Festivals are an important expression of aesthetic public culture

1. Festivals are sites to analyse trans-national identities and gain a

better understanding of the meaning of Europeanization

How do festivals frame the discourse of identity in relation to arts, with particular attention to the local /European and local/global interfaces as well as the issue of cultural diversity?

How can we interpret trans-national /cosmopolitan identifications as seen through festivals?

Two hypotheses:


2. Festivals can be seen as places enhancing democratic debate


How do festivals use aesthetic forms to symbolize, represent and communicate social and political life (European / national / sub-national) from the perspective of different actors, including programme directors, funding promoters, performing artistsand the audience?

How do festivals provide sites of competition for access to resources, status and power and how this competition impacts on debates about representation, openness and the public sphere?


Urban impact of festivals: cosmopolitanism and the city


They provide a viewpoint on current urban identities and on cosmopolitanism seen not as an abstract or exclusively élite driven phenomenon, but as it enters the public debate and culture.

In contemporary major art festivals different elements are drawn together from different cultures, including global culture.

Whilst drawing on and creating place distinctiveness, urban festivals also emphasise the encounter with outside artists, cultures and publics.

They display, draw on and enhance a cosmopolitan character that urban theories have always connected to the city.

Their official rhetoric often supports the idea of cosmopolitan transcultural exchange and its relevance for contemporary identities.


1895

1946 19511951

1966

1973

19821987

1991

1993 2001

2006

The corpus


Urban mixed-arts festivals

These festivals are key components of the urban imagination in the new global condition.

The Biennale claims to promote avant-garde and experimentation in all the arts with a “multidisciplinary model which characterizes its unique nature”. (Venice Biennale website)

One of the most renowned festivals in Europe. Among its characteristics is the search for innovation and new (mixed) forms of arts.

“The Festival prides itself on innovation and invention, whether it’s re-imagining the city's traditional spaces with extraordinary performances or reinventing the art of performance itself in the city’s unexplored landscapes”.(Brighton Festival website)

Some of the major European festivals are mixed-arts and multi-thematic, with a strong focus on the urban milieu.

Our case studies:

Wiener Festwochen (Austria)

Venice Biennale (Italy)

Brighton Festival (UK)


Also literature and music…

Film festivals

Cinema shapes consciousness more than any other medium.

The first, established in 1932 and largely marked by the fascist years. Since the 1950s, it is more focused on the cineast public.

The history of the major film festivals reflects the history and economy of the 20th century

Jewish Film Festival in Vienna (Austria)

Cannes (France)

Berlin (Germany)

Venice (Italy)

The most important from the economic perspective. It was launched twice in 1939 and 1946 as an alternative to the Venice festival.

Founded in 1951, this festival tries to balance the interests of the general audience with those of professionals.

The notion of identity is at the core of this festival. It has grown into the biggest Jewish film festival in Europe.


Research phases


Case studies research methods

1. Background research

3. Case Studies

Interviews

Fieldwork observation

Focus groups

2. Historical Analysis

Media analysis

4. Analysis and Comparison

Network and organizational analysis


How we are to accomplish this ? Who is involved?


The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences (ICCR, Vienna, Austria)

School of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies University of Sussex (Brighton, UK)

Fondazione di ricerca Istituto Carlo Cattaneo (Bologna, Italy)

Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris,

France)


What will anthropology, sociology and history bring?


Interdisciplinary approach

New insights for tourism studies, urban studies; suggestions for the promotion of European arts…

Dissemination

Two external workshops

Arts and Cultural Sociology, Vienna, ICCR, 26-27 February 2009

Creativity, Culture, Democracy and European Art Festivals, Bologna, Istituto Cattaneo, Autumn 2010

Project website

www.euro-festival.org

Documents

Jérôme Segal (ICCR Vienna) & Monica Sassatelli (University of Sussex) Art Festivals and the European Public Culture Jérôme Segal, ICCR Vienna, Austria