Making More Meaningvs

Making More Money

thoughts on audience development and marketing from an EU perspective

Escenium, Bilbao, 10 Feb, 2010

Is arts marketing “making more meaning”?

• contemporary art = differing perspectives on our existence

• Maslow was wrong : people need meaning and intellectual/spiritual stimulation on all levels, at all times

• arts marketing and audience development = making art more accessible / ensuring “engagement” is a positive experience

• Combat simplistic populist messages by giving people positive experiences with complexity, analysis and reflection (= contemporary art)

The EU’s current debate: EU 2020economics or values?

• how to follow the Lisbon Agenda (a creative and thus competitive workforce = an economically competitive Europe)

• EU 2020, a new policy framework : so far still centred on economy : “citizen as consumer”.

• 1500 NGO’s responded! the EU should “put the economy at the service of its people and the planet and not the other way round” (the Spring Alliance) . “The EU must refocus its action around the values underlying its existence, developing policies that go beyond a short‐term exit strategy to the current crisis, and beyond GDP as the sole indicator of growth. (Culture Action Europe)

The Spring Alliance is a network of members from civil society managed by four leading European civil society organisations: the European Environmental Bureau, the European Trade Union Confederation, the Social Platform and Concord.http://www.springalliance.eu/

The EU’s Cultural Policy Context

• Agenda for Culture : reflecting political concerns

• Intercultural dialogue

• Creativity and Innovation

• Foreign Affairs

• Civil Society Platforms: reflecting the profession

• Access to Culture (incl Creation and Creativity)

• Cultural and Creative Industries

• Intercultural Europe

• Open Method of Coordination: reflecting the Member States

• Civil Society Platforms: reflecting the profession

• Access to Culture:• Education/Participation• Participation• Creativity and Creation

• Cultural and Creative Industries:• Context• Use and re-use of culture• Method• Content

• Intercultural Europe

Mobility and the International

• the ‘contemporary’ is de facto international •“face to face” is crucial: direct experience of being

confronted, being surprised

•for artists : new publics•for presenters: raising (local) standards •for local audiences: stimulating curiosity, opening

windows, reflecting their glocal environment

“It is only when the visitor and the visited get to know how each other ‘work’ that something new can emerge.” (James Tyson, Chapter Arts

Mobility of artists and artworks“no one lives only in France : we all live in the world!” (Nicolas Bertrand; Image Aiguë)

• 2004 : sector demands collaboration with EU and MS

• 2006 : DG Employment : Year of Worker’s Mobility

• 2007/8: Eur. Parliament voted 1.5 M

• 2009: 4 mobility pilot projects (+ 9 in 2010)

• OMC mobility working group

2 Mobility Pilots

•SPACE :

• statistics and data

• training for programmers,

• training for journalists

• and for policymakes

• PRACTICS

•arts mobility info points:• answering questions

re: legal, fiscal and social issues.

• training• exchange of staff • identify key

mobility stimulators & recommendations

★ Belgium, ★ Spain (Interarts), ★ Wales and ★ the Netherlands★ (Finland, Italy)

IETM members’ highlights : evolution

Drivers for evolution in the context of social networking:

• political / financial pressures

• artists’ evolutions

• evolutions of artistic formats

• evolutions of audiences

• evolutions of arts spaces

• importance of mobility and the international

Internet and social networking tools : making meaning accessible

“The most remarkable aspect is the pluralisation : we have integrated the online communities and thus have a wider audience than ever before.” (James Tyson, Chapter Arts Centre)

• enormous increase in use of internet (sites, downloads, production info, documentaries on making the work, interviews, podcasts, facebook, twitter, blogs. Artists recommending favourite restoʼs, holidays spots, art etc)

• also different types of print: ʻcarnets de voyageʼ : editions with text/images/cd/dvd...

• .....to inspire a dialogue with the public ( = purpose of art!)

• ... to make the work more understandable and accessible to the audiences.

Political / Policy / Financial pressures

“Politicians demand that the work they support also attracts audiences” (Ida Buren, Intercult)

• ...attract large audiences. • ...attract diverse audiences• Quantitative measurement • Need to show higher levels of earned income

“We do not any longer have a purely artistic cultural policy, in recent years it’s turned into something that is measured on statistics, economic result, how many people have gained a job etc.”

• SPACE / Home and Away• Need for more statistical data also to improve policies!• BUT: criteria and definitions differ from place to place

Artists’ evolving formats•more interested in other sectors and disciplines•more interested in issues•more partnerships with other organisations, whether local or int’l. •more deep collaborations •dialogue and exchange as forms of cooperation more meaningful than mere selling of a product.

•more long term developmental objectives. •moving to where the audience is

“Our theatre is constantly inventing itself: what is a performance? how to present it? how to organise it? (Nicolas Bertrand, Image Aiguë)

“We don’t produce ‘productions’ to ‘sell’, but rather projects and partnerships” (Nicolas Bertrand, Image Aiguë)

“Tours generate revenue, collaborations generate artistic practice, relationships, inter-cultural understandings. The value structure is completely different.” (David Pledger, Not Yet, It’s Difficult)

Evolutions of audiences

• pluralisation of publics

• many layers who occasionally crossover

• “waves” people who may wish to discover a scene, then leave

• niches, each with own marketing strategy

• communities with own interests stronger than the interest in the work

Evolution of arts spaces

“We are a real and a virtual social meeting place as well as a venue for live art......our brand is still to present the innovative/contemporary/important/significant/art which is engaged with something” (James Tyson, Chapter Arts Centre)

• the arts centre as a social centre where its also possible to see art

• a flexible, open space which may be used for and by many reasons

• a “non-space” which presents work elsewhere in the community

• a partner who brings local knowledge and contacts to an incoming partner

• pressure (or desire?) to ever-diversify

Evolution of the cultural manager : managing relationships

new demands on the manager:• interactions with how many new stakeholders?• collaborations with how many partners?• invention of new formats in own space• invention of new formats in the community

new demands on the team:• languages (literally and figuratively)• working more closely together• working more closely with a variety of partners

(intercultural competence)

internet/social networking:• new competences in the marketing department• new job descriptions : everyone feeds the internet!

Making More Meaning

• consumption = destruction. Do we want to destroy or construct?

• engagement, participation, interaction = a better match for artists’ intentions

• experience with intellectual and spiritual stimulation as desirable

• making engagement with complex issues a positive experience

• superficiality is only a shortcut : use the internet creatively; as a pathway to deeper understanding / not only opinion

• Chapter: one of Europe's largest and most dynamic arts centres. In Cardiff : 3 theatres, 2 cinemas, a gallery, studios, 2 bars, a cafe, over 60 cultural workspaces http://www.chapter.org

• Image Aiguë: Créations théâtrales professionnelles : comédiens adultes, enfants, adolescents de différentes nationalités habitant la France et l'étranger, qui parlent sur scène leur langue d'origine dans un désir de tolérance et de paix. Pas sur un texte préétabli, mais sur une alliance de la musique, du texte et de l'image. Training, research, workshops, productions, publications http://image-aigue.org

• Intercult: an independent production and education unit in Stockholm, Sweden.A hub of local, regional and international exchange. Own productions, co-productions, guest performances, training, collaborating with partners to invigorate cultural life in Sweden with international experiences and influences. Linking

• initiatives which develop cultural competence and increase diversity in the cultural sector.

• Theatre Cryptic: Scotland's only professional music theatre group, with a global reputation as pioneers. Own innovative music theatre productions engaging other media, experimenting with new technology and film, producing events, festivals and performances, including platforms for emerging artists. http://www.cryptic.org.uk

• Not Yet It’s Difficult: a unique presence in Australia: a research unit, producer of development programs, a maker of contemporary artworks and events. To make critically engaged artworks of high artistic and discursive quality arising out of ideas that reflect contemporary life; to develop artworks that incite narratives of enquiry in the minds of our spectators; to engage the spectator viscerally, intellectually and humorously about ideas, politics, art and the human condition. www.notyet.com.au