This season will see some amazing outdoor performance within this Olympic year. A great showcase took place as part of Greenwich and docklands festival this year. Here are some images of this years festival coming here soon.
“A Theatre which makes no contact with the public is a nonsense” Brecht
This literature review looks at both the academic and policy publications around outdoor arts produced over the last 20 years. This includes the Arts Council Policy New Landscapes (ACE 2008) and publications such as The Radical in Performance (Kershaw 1999). The aim of this review will be to provide an historical context to developments within Outdoor Arts and how current literature relates to the work produced for contemporary outdoor performance. The review will also aim to outline the theoretical context in which the sector exists.
Outdoor arts practice can be said to have its roots in the community arts movement, counter-culture, protest movements and radical thinking about performance practice. Hewison and Holdon provide an overview of the history of the combined arts movement within their book Experience and experiment (2006). This provides a history of the work of the Gulbenkian Foundation and its work between 1956 and 2006. Hewison and Holdon provide a detailed overview of the Foundation’s support for community art development and its role in supporting the development of policy and programmes around this area. Key to this was support for studies such as Community Arts and the State Storming the Citadels (Kelly 1984)
This work also outlines the ability of the Foundation to react to emerging new ideas and support areas of developing practice that are supported by traditional funders at that time. This includes support for organisations such as Circomedia to develop circus training and The London International Festival of Theatre that presented the programme of international, site specific, and outdoor work (including The Rising The Titanic, mentioned below). Developments within the sector at this time show how targeted support can enable exciting new work and support emerging forms of practice.
One key programme introduced by the Foundation in the 1980’s was The Big Idea “the Foundations Large-Scale Events Scheme. At a time when the limitations of arts funding were shrinking ambitions and narrowing horizons, it was felt that there was a need for a grand gesture, a performance or event of the kind that was taking place in Europe but seemed to be beyond the capacities of British funders” The programme received 299 applications and supported a number of projects including large-scale work by Welfare State “ a gigantic scrape and firework sculpture in Burrow-in-Furness by the towns resident artists” (Hewison and Holden 2006:157-158).
One proposal for funding was given by Emergency Exit Arts who’s artistic director, Deb Mullins” has been interviewed for this study. “A group called Emergency Exit Arts wanted to turn the demolition of a block of council flats into a performance, and demonstrated their plans by blowing up a scale model on the foundation’s boardroom table” (Hewison and Holden 2006:158). This work support the idea of key developments within outdoor arts accrued outside of the mainstream funding system and often in partnerships with local communities.
The Radical in Performance (Kershaw 1999) looks at performances outside of traditional spaces, the context and constraints of traditional theatre and the role of street theatre/ outdoor theatre within radical performance. The study is important within the debate of audience engagement and interaction because it discusses how radical performance in street theatre practice is used to raise political issues and question the perceived forms of practice. Kershaw looks at radical performance in many contexts including site specific, community performance, parades, street performance and large-scale outdoor performance. The book includes a striking description of Welfare States “Rising the Titanic”. This was a large-scale outdoor theatre performance commissioned by London International Festival of Theatre. This is given as a good example of both community engagement and epic theatre. Kershaw also discusses the commoditisation of theatre and its relationship to audiences
As with cinema, to gain access to the performance we agree to be to be channelled through an ever more limiting physical regime, until we are seated to focus within a narrow angle of vision, normally to remain there for a period we do not determine. Moreover, once the actors begin their work the audience is under greater injunction than can ever occur in cinema. Anyone who has felt like leaving in theatre during its course will know what constraining forces are built created for its consumption: the live actor is like a visceral magnet pulling on the human fillings of the audience. (Kershaw 1999:50)
Kershaw goes on to discuss the monopoly of modern theatre spaces over the form and content of performance stating “ Within the theatre walls, consumption of theatre is increasingly an abdication of authority and a relinquishing of power, especially when performance succumbs to commodification” (Kershaw 1999:52). Kershaw looks at the process of the commercialisation of subsidised theatre during the Thatcher Government and compares this with performances from The Wooster Group and Welfare States performance Glasgow All lit Up. This saw a glowing giant puppet of Lady Thatcher paraded through the centre of the city as a highlight of the Glasgow City of Culture. He cites this in comparison to the development of Les Miserables by the RSC as a direct effort to develop earned income as part of a more commercial model for state supported organisations. Kershaw covers site-specific work, immersive theatre, reminiscence theatre, and protest as performance.
Kershaw’s other work on this subject is The Politics of Theatre, covers the history of the development of theatre using performance forms as direct protest. Companies such as Red Ladder used direct political outdoor performance whilst other’s developed the use of carnival and procession as statement of community and diversity. Through this they attempted to look at the sign and semiotic meaning of performance. These works are important as they outline how current practice within the sector has developed and highlights the political, counter culture, nature of the work that is produced. Whilst many companies developed to provide political or community performance, outside of the traditional system many, such as Welfare State and Red Ladder, eventually received regular funding from ACE for their work. However, disillusionment with this funding system was one reason that John Fox, of Welfare State, gave when the company ended in 2005.
The above publications also provide an interesting context for the development of outdoor arts and performance. One publication produced with support of Arts Council England was Beyond Their Walls (ACE 2009). This contains conversations with artistic directors of major London arts institutions and looks at how outdoor performance can challenge and change this relationship of buildings and institutions and attract new audiences. The publication was developed by Bill Gee, an established outdoor producer and contains conversations with artistic directors from organisations including The South Bank Centre, The National Theatre and The Royal Court. In this publication, outdoor performances programmes such as Watch This Space (National Theatre), The reopening of The South Bank Centre to reflect its original use in the Festival of Britain and theatre performance The Caravan, a site specific production at The Royal Court, are given as new ways of working and attracting new audiences and widen public engagement, in what can sometimes be seen as elitist venues.
Engineers of the Imagination (Coult, Kershaw (ed) 1997) is a collection of essays, worksheets and interviews based around Welfare State, the pioneering outdoor arts performance company that closed in 2006. The book is designed to work as both an academic study and a street arts handbook for artists. This work contains essays on outdoor performance and music, the use of ritual and folk stories and clowning. Other areas also include the commissioning of new work and how the organisation worked with local communities to develop tales and create performances that had local importance as well as appealing to larger audiences. The book also contains an interesting overview of the history and development of Welfare State. Many current companies such as Walk the Plank and Emergency Exit Arts have their roots within this company and have developed this work into their current practice. This book also contains illustrated examples of how to construct giant puppets, create fire displays and set design and construction for outdoor work.
Street Theatre and other outdoor performance (Mason 1992) provides a history and context for the development of outdoor theatre including reference to classical Greek and Roman outdoor performance, court performance and patronage and radical performance movements such as Dada. The work covers street performers, clowns and buskers and large-scale performances. It includes performers such as Chris Lynham, who are classed as “provocateurs” and used transgressive ways of performance to engage (or offend) audiences to epic performance such as Royal de Luxe’s Napoleon Burns Moscow. This show provided a large scale enactment of this event complete with epic explosions and fireworks. This company went on to create The Sultan’s Elephant that performed in London in 2006 and provided context for current outdoor arts development.
Radical Street Performance (Cohen-Cruz (ed) 2005) is a collection of essays that outlines the poignant use of street performance as protest, often during times of great oppression. The book provides insight to how even simple ritual, group and community performance can prove effective. The book also includes essays that cover the role of people’s theatre during the Chinese revolution of the 1930’ and 40’s (Snow 2005) and the value of the performance as protest, community theatre in India and the work of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed in Brazil. Also mentioned is the role of silent protest and performance within oppressive regimes. These examples support the idea of independent action or protest having an impact on wider society. Recent protest events in England have included performance and music and organisations such as Green Peace have dressed as Gorillas to protest against global warming. Mahogany Carnival Arts, an organisation supported by Arts Council England, produced the costumes. (Durland 2005)
The Europe of Festivals (Autisser (ed) 2009) provides a good over view of festivals and outdoor performance throughout Europe. The publication includes studies of urban development and festivals in Europe and the role of festivals and their economic impact on communities. An interesting area covered is the development of festivals and street arts within Eastern Europe and their role in creating a new cultural identity. An example of this is Stockton International Festival. This festival is supported by Stockton City Council and aims to provide the community a new sense of place and provide a different image to an area often associated with inner city decline.
Arts in Urban Spaces (Circostrada 2003), Street Arts In Europe (EU 2007), Street Arts: Distribution is Dead, Long Live Distribution (Circostrada 2010) are all publications produced by Circostrada, a European-wide network of organisations working within circus and street arts. These publications are produced by the network and provide insight into the development of outdoor arts throughout Europe. Arts in Urban Spaces looks at how outdoor arts can be used within cities to reclaim the public realm, of high streets, town centres and parks, and create areas of community through performance. It looks at the regeneration of urban spaces and using performance to allow audiences to see their cities in a new light. Street Arts In Europe, provides a policy overview of outdoor arts practice across Europe and was commissioned by the European Union to help provide a policy context for this work. Street Arts: Distribution is dead, Long Live Distribution is a report produced after a meeting to discuss touring of street arts. This provides discussion on commissioning models and the development of touring networks and the mobility of artists with the EU.
Strategy and report on Street Arts (Hall 2002) Street Arts Health Check (Micklem 2006) and New Landscapes (ACE 2008) are all publications produced by Arts Council England to provide updated information and policy on developing and supporting street arts and both will be explored discussed in more detail in the following chapter. These policies have also to be looked at alongside the Arts Council’s current policy Achieving Great Art for Everyone (ACE 2010). This is Arts Council England’s new 10-year policy to develop the arts within England. Achieving Great Art for Everyone provides five over-arching goals and lists priorities for the development of the arts and is meant to provide common process for the development across l the arts and is intended to replace the place of separate artform policies. These are discussed in detail in the following section.
Common Culture (Paul Willis 1990) and Distinction, A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (Bourdieu 2000) provide a contextual overview of how people and audiences perceive and consume culture. Willis’s work was a result of an investigation supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation into youth culture. Within this work Willis discusses how young people create and express personal culture through clothing, musical choices and personal interactions that are often not perceived as traditional cultural activity. The work cites ways that youth culture adapt and create cultural meaning through what they wear, listen to and where they meet. Pub culture is covered as a common place for youth activity. Willis’s work highlights the importance of created culture to Black and Asian youth communities in creating a meaning within the UK as second and third generation members of immigrant communities searching for a place within the UK. He goes on to describe the development of UK styles of black music and fashion and its impact and the wider culture. Much of this can be seen in the development of events such as Notting Hill Carnival and the place it now plays within the current cultural life of London and across the country.
Bourdieu’s work is based on the idea that levels of education and social position can influence the way that culture is consumed. He argues that high art is more easily consumed and accepted by consumers that have achieved a higher educational standard but that others may just see through some assumption made for modern contemporary arts.
The above works Arts Audience: Insight (ACE 2008) and the Taking Part surveys conducted by The Department of Culture Media and Sport. Arts Audience: Insight provides a method of audience segmentation and an indication of those who attend the arts, possible life styles and why they may attend. The publications audience segmentation range from the highly engaged “Urban arts eclectic” to the lower engaged “Time-poor dreamers” and “A quiet pint with the match”. The report describes the highly engaged as being well educated and healthy whilst the less engaged as being “educated to a lesser degree” (ACE 2008:48).
Richard Florida and the Coolness, Gay and Bohemian Index
Florida has developed a number of statistical indicators within his work on cultural class (2000) (2002) (2004) (2005). These have been drawn from sources such as the 1990 Decennial Census Public Use Microdata Samples which was used in the case of the Bohemian index to measure the number of creative workers in each area. (Florida 2002.58). These indicators are used within Florida’s work to judge the how and why regions and areas attract and retain a creative workforce. This statistical approach is supported by qualitative research to gain insight into these findings. Florida states that:
Qualitative research including interviews and focus groups was initially conducted to better understand the structure and mechanics of these relationships and to generate testable hypotheses. Unstructured open-ended interviews were conducted with more than 100 people who were making or had recently made location decisions. Structured focus groups were conducted with the assistance of a professional focus group organization to further assess the factors involved in personal location decisions. (Florida, R. 2002.58)
This approach allows for a triangulation of results by comparing both the qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Jane Ritchie in her essay “The Applications of Qualitative Methods to Social Research” describes triangulation as follows:
Triangulation involves the use of different methods and sources to check the integrity of, or extend, inferences drawn from data. It has been widely adopted and developed as a concept by qualitative researchers as a means of investigating the ‘convergence’ of both data and the conclusions derived from them. (Ritchie and Lewis 2003.43)
This method is used throughout Florida’s work to support the findings and development of the index’s used. The method is also said to provide validity to findings. However, the subject areas of Florida’s index’s can often be seen as subjective. Area’s such as the ‘Coolness’ index is subject to the judgment and definition of what is cool. Who decides that the number of jazz clubs within an area makes it cool or if jazz is no longer seen as cool?
Language
Firestone (1987) discusses the use of rhetoric within quantitative and qualitative research. This is an important area highlighting how findings are expressed within research reports and writing. The author uses two studies on the same subject area to contrast the different approaches and language used within these studies. Firestone states of the two studies:
The quantitative study portrays a world of variables and static states. The text refers to levels of centralization or principle support, but one can only infer from the questionnaire items what a principal does to centralize or how he or she provides support. By contrast the qualitative study describes people acting events. A director tells how he uses hiring interviews to encourage staff to actively sell services or an informant tells about the political battles that led to the legislation governing IUs. (Firestone 1987.19)
This style of writing can be seen in the work of Florida and the Adult Participatory Arts Report. These writings use antidotes and case studies from study participants to highlight findings. The approach allows viewpoints to be expressed within studies and a full picture expressed within findings. However, this approach places a high ethical responsibility on the authors of such reports. What to include from a range of conversations and how the context is provided is important. Again, as with the points made above, information can be weighted to support preconceived ideas about the outcome of a study.
Conclusion
Qualitative research is currently used widely in cultural practice, policy development and academic research. The examples used from Florida and the Adult Participatory Arts Report show the range of this use and can highlight the pros and cons of such approaches. Qualitative research can provide a scientific methodology to studies and reports within culture and the arts. However, it could be said that there is a need to avoid subjectivity and an ethical responsibility to this approach. And is you have read this far check out something less thoughtful here @ in god we trust
Bibliography
1. Crabtree, B.F. and Miller, W.L. (1999), Doing Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications
2. Florida R. (2004), The Rise of the Creative Class, New York, Basic Books
3. Florida R. (2005), Cities and the Creative Class, New York, Routledge. 55–71
4. Florida R. (2000), The Economic Geography of Talent, Carnegie Mellon University
5. Florida R. (2002), Bohemia and Economic Geography, Journal of Economic Geography 2 p 55-71
6. Firestone W.A. (1987), Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research, Educational Researcher, Vol.16. No. 7, 16-21
7. Huberman, A.M, Mathew B.M. (2002), The Qualitative Researchers Companion, Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications
8. Kavale, S (1996), Interviews: an introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage. Ch. 1 ‘Interviewing as Research
9. Kirk, J and Miller, M.L. (1986), Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research, Newbury Park, California, Sage Publications
10. Patton, M.Q. (2002), Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications
11. Ritchie, J. and Lewis, J. (ed) (2003), Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers, London, Sage Publications
12. Robson, Colin, (2002 edition) Real World Research. Oxford: Blackwells.. Ch 2 ‘Approaches to Social Research’
As Adorno and Horkheimer indicate, this approach to innovation, the idolization of the maverick individualist and the delight in novelty for its own sake, do not in fact change anything. New ideas crackle like fireworks, but they provide only a temporary spectacle, distracting us from the underlying monotony. The real work of innovavation and change is more laborious and less spectacular, based on gradual, almost imperceptible shifts in perception and on the reconfiguring of existing elements into new patterns (Bilton, C. 2007.135)
Cultural regeneration programmes have been criticised for being too focussed on property development in the last decade. How can regeneration be more integrated into other policy priorities, and what are the leadership challenges that this presents?
Cultural Regeneration has taken many forms over the past few decades. This has included the development of building led projects such as Rich Mix and Stratford Circus in London, European Cities of Culture, Garden Festivals and regeneration projects using culture at its heart. Other community development organisations such as The Westway Development Trust and the Coin Street Community Builders have used culture as part of their development offer for the community. Cities, such as Newcastle and Gateshead, have used cultural-led development to improve post-industrial economies and city centres. Cultural organisations have also undertaken regeneration projects as part of their work, developing properties and spaces for artists use and becoming redevelopers in the process. These have included Space and ACAVA. Both organisations started out to develop workspace for visual artists have since expanded into property development and management.
Policy makers and thinkers currently see culture as part of economic development. This has included regional development agencies, European Structural Funds, local authorities and regional government to support the development of cultural industries, cultural clusters and hubs to support economic development. In the 1980’s and 90’s Economic Development Zones where developed by the then Government. These also saw culture as means of economic development.
The past 15 years has also seen a large investment in the development of arts spaces supported by the Arts Council England via the National Lottery. The development of the National Lottery in 1994 has allowed the investment of tens of millions into new capital buildings for the arts. These have often been funded in partnership with some of he above organisations and have often included regeneration and economic development as the aim or rationale of the project.
The development of cultural projects has also had other policy aims to address other than economic development. These have included diversity, social inclusion and the development of excellence. These aims have been challenged by writers such as Mirza (2009), current cultural advisor to the London Mayor, as miss guided, politically motivated and unachievable.
However, current government policy regarding public spending has seen changes. This includes the closure of regional development agencies and a change in priorities for national and regional government. The idea of “Big Society” and smaller government is being introduced leading to less central and regional intervention within the economy and Local Authorities commissioning programmes for work.
The drivers for economic and social developments have also been questioned. Richard Florida, in his work The Rise of the Creative Class (Florida 2002), outlines the evolving creative class and highlights wider reasons for creative organisations and businesses moving to cities or regions. His work furthers the discussion by Scott (1997) on the place culture and diversity has on economic development.
The above work also looks the ways in which ways in which creative people and organisations work. This area has also been discussed by Leadbeater and Oakley (1999) in their work The Independents: Britain’s new Cultural Entrepreneurs. Here they discuss how creative Entrepreneurs work in a dynamic, networked way within cultural hubs, student communities and creative areas.
This essay aims to look at the above and discuss the leadership and policy challenges included within this area. It will aim to discuss the new type of Entrepreneurial leader needed to meet the political and economic challenges that are to come. Many of the buildings and projects developed receive funding support through ACE. However others, such as the Westbourne Studios have been set up to be commercial ventures based around cultural organisations. Present and future cultural projects may have to adjust their business models and ways of working to remain sustainable given the above. This essay will look at differing ways culture projects can respond to changing policy agendas that vary from gentrification and property development.
Methodology
Research methods used for this project have included desk research, literature review and experience working with some of the organisations mentioned. This includes work with Arts Council England, Stratford Circus, Rich Mix and the Westway Development Trust. Other experience includes working in partnership with Development Zones, Single Regeneration Budget projects and European Regional Development Fund Projects. Experience was also gained through studying and working in Newcastle and Gateshead during the early discussions on the use of culture to redevelop the city.
Cultural Regeneration
The idea that culture can contribute to economic development and social change has grown over the last few years to support the use and development of large cultural projects within cities and nations. This has been driven by the growth of the idea of The Cultural Industries (first referred to by Adorno) and later the creative industries. The expansion of the term and its use within regeneration was highlighted by Evens and Shaw in their DCMS report The Contribution of Culture to Regeneration (2004)
The advancement within cultural regeneration and cultural policies reflect changes in governments and economic climates. These have developed from the social aims of the 60’s and 70’s to economic aims of the 80’s and 90’s. Bianchin and Parkinson’s (1993) Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: The West European Experience highlights these changes from the social policies of diversity and access to economic policies that took place in the 1980’s.
In the field of cultural policy, as in many other policy areas, the changing national political climates and the pressure to reduce local government expenditure led to strategic shift from social to economic objectives. This was initially a defensive strategy aimed at preserving levels of cultural expenditure. It was accompanied by efforts to encourage private sector sponsorship of cultural events and activities. (Bianchini, F. Michael Parkinson 1993:12)
Policy changes within a European conservative climate in the 1980’s had an impact on cultural regeneration and the partnerships needed to support large capital and cultural events. This period saw the growth of economic development zones, urban development agencies and the introduction of lottery funds for cultural projects. This led to many cultural projects being developed based on economic rather than artistic goals. This move to align with economic outputs has resulted in partnerships with property developers (including gaining section 106 support from Local authorities), and the support of projects with wider aims such as city branding, economic regeneration and national profile.
Banchni and Parkinson show how both regional and national government have developed cultural policy to support economic regeneration and use culture to rebrand cities and place them on an international platform. This includes cities such as Barcelona using the 1990 Olympics, European cities of culture and the growth of capital projects such as The Sage Gateshead and Guggenheim Museum in Bliboa.
Pratt (2008) out lines the place of culture within the development of the Hoxton area of London. This area has been used as a case for culture led regeneration and has grown from an area of poverty to the home of Young British Artists. Pratt argues against the idea that the development of culture as part of regeneration cannot be planned.
In short, I want to counter the laissez-fair and a-causal notion of cultural regeneration that can best be characterised as ‘light the blue touch paper and retire’. The problem for the cultural industries is that they briefly’ shine and burn’ (Pratt 2008:1043)
The essay outlines the way that areas such as Hoxton have urbanized. The movement of artists and creative companies to areas that have cheap rents, a growing social life and the development creative venues have all played a part.
Cultural cluster is the term given to an area or grouping of creative businesses and organisations. Cinti (2008) describes these clusters in his essay “Cultural Cluster and Districts: The state of the arts:”
They range from simple aggregations with no form of co-ordination, to more ordered forms of activities, or even to well-planned projects; from geographical combinations of various actors to basic multifunctional buildings like art centres; from well defined city areas with streets accurately outlining their border to vast areas going even beyond provincial borders. Their purpose may go from the enhancement of cultural heritage to that of urban regeneration. (Cooke, Lazzeretti ed. 2008:70)
Many of the projects mentioned in this essay have been developed as cultural clusters with economic regeneration as their aim. Rich Mix was developed to house a number of creative organisations as well as its performance spaces and cinemas, Stratford Circus was developed as a venue but also to house East London Dance, Urban and New Vic Collage. Westbourne Studios was developed as a cultural cluster. The building houses a number of differing creative organisations ranging from record companies and graphic designers to web designers and hairdressers.
Such buildings are developed with the notion of common needs and economic benefits of creative organisations working in close proximity or moving to particular areas or cities. Florida (2002) discussed the reasons that creative industries may cluster. Within Cities and the Creative Class Florida discusses the power of place, how areas attract members of the creative class through having a particular life style, music scene and nightlife. He also discusses the issue of human capital. Creative business will move to areas where they are able to have workers with experience of their creative business. In regards to Westbourne Studios this development took place near Ladbroke Grove, an area full of record companies and creative individuals. The building has also been developed to provide an internal market for organisations. Many of the organisations may use others services (i.e. record labels using graphic designers). Also the building has a communal bar and restaurant that provides a meeting space for all. This gives an opportunity for creative organisations and individuals to meet. Many of these organisations are reflect the new entrepreneurs as discussed in Leadbeater and Oakley in The Independents (1999).
Cinti (2008) outlines the problems of clusters and their use within regeneration, highlighting the conflicting aims and goals of developing cultural clusters as a mans of regeneration:
A large number of studies agree on the separation the ‘production’ and ‘consumption’ side of culture and on the observation that they are both present within a cluster of district. They also underline the propensity of local administrations to look at culture as an economic instrument of territorial exploitation; culture and urban policies recurrently use the cluster/district for aims that are not – strictly speaking- cultural, and culture is converted into instruments of projects aimed at regeneration or revitalization of city areas – as in the case of Manchester, Tilburg, the Ruhr region, Glasgow, Bilbao and Dublin. (Cooke, Lazzeretti ed. 2008:78)
This highlights the differing demands and policy priorities made for culture and its use within regeneration. Often the placing of culture at the centre of development projects puts a large demand on the economics and sustainability of a building or development. For example the pressure of providing affordable workspace or rehearsal space can place pressures on the finances of buildings and undermine the overall cultural output. Often the developments sustainability has not been thought through. This was the case of the development of the Music Centre in Sheffield. This development was one of the early projects support by National Lottery Funds from the Arts Council. The building was to house a national museum for popular music and was placed at the heart of the regeneration of Sheffield. However, the centre failed to attract visitor numbers and was closed within two years. Ciniti summarizes the use of cultural clusters within planning and urban development and provides five main reasons for their use.
The intervention goals of cultural clustering can be can be encapsulated into five general classes:
1. Urban regeneration (as a step in urban development) which is meant to:
(a) recover degraded areas
(b) attract tourists
(c) attract external investment
(d) give a positive image of the city.
2. Support to cultural sector.
3. Enhancement of artistic and cultural heritage
4. Support to creativity and innovation.
5. Formation/strengthening local identity (Cooke, Lazzeretti ed. 2008:84)
These factors are common to many of the cultural regeneration projects. Often projects are developed not only to provide infrastructure to an area and to the arts, but also to provide a positive image and an attraction to a region or area. The largest project currently to use culture at its heart to change perceptions is the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This international sporting event has also aimed to change the world’s perception of South Africa and highlight how the country has developed since the days of apartheid.
However, not every cultural thinker or policy maker agrees with the development of cultural clusters or cultural regeneration projects as a means of economic development. James Heartfeild (2006) in his essay “A business solution for creativity, not a creativity solution for business” states there is a need for real business instead of cultural regions.
Just because new media took off in East London, it does not follow that other cities in the UK should try to do the same thing. Yet for the residents of these cities, much-needed economic regeneration has been put on hold. Aerospace is a lot more important, and distinctive to the North West, as is industrial equipment and chemicals to the North East, and oil and gas exploration and computer manufacture to Scotland. Instead of renewing infrastructure, every municipal government has prettified cities with flowers, festivals, paintings and sculptures- and then gone on to mouth off about how its offering is, of course, unrivalled, completely unique and all that. (Mirza(Ed) 2006:84)
The above essay is contained in the collection Culture Vultures (2006). Edited by Munira Mirza. She is the London Mayors current cultural advisor. This collections aim is to look at current cultural policy and see if there is factual support for the claims made. Although the essays are often wide of the mark, this collection, and others, may gain influence with current UK policy makers.
Creative Class
Florida (2002) introduced the idea of the Creative Class. He outlined the growth of a class working within the creative and software industries that had wider a impact on regional economic development. This class was said to be mobile and influenced by what regions and cities could provide in the way of life style and facilities that could contribute to their quality of life. Florida uses index such as “The Gay Index” and the “Tolerance Index”. Florida also looked at how and why cities attracted creative communities and what he termed “Human Capital”. His work underpins the idea that this new “creative class” is attracted to areas that have a bohemian community and are tolerant to diversity and difference. This work was further discussed in Florida’s work Cities and the Creative Class (2005)
Recall the main hypothesis is that the presence of a large concentration of bohemians signals a regional milieu that is attractive to and supportive of other types of human capital. To get at this, I look at the direct relationship between bohemia and human capital, and then turn to other measures of openness and diversity. (Florida 2005:123)
Florida has also outlined the differing ways that the creative class work and develop careers. Rather than working for life within an organisation or in one place the “creative class “ may work for a number of organisations and develop an independent career path. This thinking has influenced the use of culture within regeneration and the facilities that are developed to support this. Creating creative hubs within areas that have bohemian communities such as East or West London has been seen to be beneficial to those areas and attract companies from further away. A good example of this can be seen in the organisation “The HUB”. The Hub provides facilities for cultural business and social enterprises. It has sites in King Cross and Angel and provides a space to network both physically and via IT. Beunderman (2010) out lines this within the report on the HUB
As Nicholson puts it, “the path of any young business owes as much to the input of people you find yourself sitting next to, and at the HUB we sit next to amazing people. Before too long, people start to see what they would be capable of doing working together. Then they do it. (NESTA 2010:43)
The HUB would highlight the case of human capital for creative organisations. Organisations and individuals have progressed through partnership working and gain from working within a shared environment.
Leadbeater and Oakley (1999) have outlined the importance of the cultural entrepreneurs with the area of cultural regeneration within their book The Independents. This essay highlights how many creative independents have progressed and highlight technology, sheared values and economics as key drivers to development. The networks described above also support the new cultural entrepreneurs. The work discusses the role that independent producers have within cultural development. Cultural entrepreneurs often move to under developed areas for cheaper rents and can affect local economies supporting bars and restaurants around developing areas. The essay also highlights the gap in policy to support cultural entrepreneurs highlighting how larger funding bodies have no capacity to support this emerging sector. The new cultural entrepreneurs are described as highly independent and wanting to remain running their own business or remaining self employed rather than work for larger organisations. But the essay goes on to state:
However, this antipathy to life in large organisations does not mean these independents want a life of leisure supported by public subsidy. On the contrary, they are often suspicious of public sector grants and subsidies, in part because these come with too many ‘strings’ attached. They want to prove themselves in the commercial market. They recognise that making on their own, in the market, is perhaps a critical test of their ability, whether in pop, computer games, design or fashion. (Leadbeater, Oakley 1999:22)
This highlights again the gaps between traditional funding bodies and development organisations. Creative Entrepreneurs often seek to develop outside of the established funding networks. Projects such as Westbourne Studios aim to operate more within the creative sector and outside established development networks. However, such projects are often supported through partnerships such as the Westway Development Trust supported with European Funding. Projects such as this have been developed to support independent cultural business directly.
The election of a Conservative/ Liberal coalition government in May 2010 has provided a new policy context for the arts and culture. Chief amongst these has been the support by new prim minister, David Cameron, of the Big Society. A Cabinet Office (2010) statement issued in July outlines the aims of Big Society. Policy aims include 1. Giving communities more powers 2. Encouraging people to take a more active role in their communities 3.Transfer power from central to local government 4. Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises 5. Publish government data. These policies have seen immediate affect with the abolition of the regional development agencies under point 3.
The idea of “Big Society” is part of the policy argument of Big Society, Small Government discussed by Boychuk (2007) and the Rise of the Red Tories (Blond 2009). Boychuk states the term “Big Society Small Government was first used by the Communist Party of China to describe their policy of supporting the countries developing non profit sector to undertake roles traditionally delivered by government. The idea of shrinking the state is taken further by Blond. He outlines the rise of state sponsored Keynesianism and neo-liberalism as being at the heart of the spread of the state and at the centre of current problems such as the credit crunch. Blond argues that local investment and the power of communities should move from the centre and be given to communities. Blond outlines the development of local trust to hold funds and run local amenities. He states:
The trusts would own the local Post Office network, and each trust could work to invest and develop local economies. Instead of the wasteful regional development agencies (RDA’s), which spend over a third of their £10-12bn budget on administration and help less than 1 per cent of all small businesses, this could create a genuinely local form of venture capital. The regional trust network, meanwhile, could facilitate new guilds and cooperatives. With a common finance centre, and the use of modern technology, these could do anything from research and development to export drives to running local schools and hospitals. (Blond 2009)
This de-centralisation can already be seen within policies for the National Health Service and the creation of GP led trusts . However, these policies could support cultural regeneration. Within this essay some community trust have been mentioned. These could benefit from a policy of local commissioning. Many arts organisations are charities and could begin to look at services that they could deliver. The cultural industries also have many independent or community focused business that could also benefit from this decentralisation.
The last labour government introduced local authority commissioning. The aim was to develop a strong partnership between communities, local and national government. Creating strong, safe, prosperous communities (2008) out lines the aims of the program and its importance to local communities.
Local authorities will generally be better able to meet their best value duty by adopting a commissioning role. A commissioning role is one in which the authority seeks to secure the best outcomes for their local communities by making use of all available resources – without regard for whether services are provided in-house, externally or through various forms of partnership. Commissioning involves user and community engagement and needs analysis
• strategically planning for services which deliver sustainable outcomes
• implementing plans, shaping markets, securing services and outcomes
• monitoring the delivery of outcomes, evaluating and challenging services. (HM Government 208:46)
Partners listed include Local Strategic Partnerships, education intuitions and the Arts Council England. Local authority commissioning could be seen to support the ideas of “Big Society” as mentioned above. This process is already affecting arts organisations and could become more central to the area of Cultural Regeneration in the coming years. Regeneration projects could look at delivering services through the commissioning process, providing community programmes and arts services.
Diversity and Social Inclusion.
Diversity and social inclusion have been policy aims sometimes aligned to cultural regeneration. Projects such as Rich Mix in Tower Hamlets have had diversity at their core. The use of the arts to tackle social exclusion, defined as those excluded from the centre of society through poverty or unemployment, has been central to arts policy since 1997 election of new labour. Belfiore (2002) outlines the growth of social inclusion policies within the arts and highlights its failure within the context of instrumental, output driven arts policies. The essay notes that the growth of participation within the arts dates back to the community arts movement of the 70’s and 80’s. ACE have had polices of engagement and participation as one of its key aims. Problems of quality of product and work are outlined within the article and how these lead to differing judgments as to the worth of this work and associated funding decisions.
Rich Mix is a multi use arts centre situated near Brick Lane. It contains 3 cinemas, a performance space and a bar and café. The development also contains a number of units and offices for creative industry organisations. This includes the BBC, Asian Dub Foundation, Bigga Fish and other business with culture at its core. These organisations reflect the initial aim and funding support received by the organisation. The was a £27m development funded by a mixture of Arts Council England, London Development Agency, Millennium Trust and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The organisation was developed as a diverse, BME led, organisation with focus on the local Asian community. The support from the London Development Agency was direct support for the development of the venue as a creative industry hub. The building has been developed in an area that has a large Bangladeshi community (Oakley 2010) and had diversity at the heart of its development.
Mirza (2009) uses the example of the development of Rich Mix to show the contradictions within policies aimed at developing projects with diversity at their heart. Mirza outlines the conflicting arts policies of the organisation, the disconnect with local communities and the lack of leadership as key to the problems at the centre. The organisations aim for excellence within the arts is also questioned and the conflict between engagement and quality within the arts is again discussed. Mirza uses the work of Bourdieu (1984) to argue how notions of quality have been eroded or made redundant by the left because of the way that culture is consumed and judgments of taste and quality are made. Both these arguments miss the wider context of cultural regeneration and the case for diversity. Mirza acknowledges Florida’s ideas around diversity and the creative class but these are given as asides. The key elements of community empowerment supported by the community arts movement and the rise of intrinsic, rather than instrumental, value judgements are not included. The development of Rich Mix as a creative hub is also ignored. Oakley and Pratt (2010) gives a more upbeat analysis of the development of Rich Mix in their case study “Brick Lane: Community-driven innovation” (NESTA 2010) stating that it is almost fully occupied with cultural industry organisations and the centre plays a key role in the inward migration to the area.
Stratford Town Centre and Olympics 2012
The 2012 Olympics will take place in Stratford Newham. Along side the development of the Olympic park in Lee Valley is the development of a “shopping city” Next to the site by Westfield. The two developments combined have been described as the largest regeneration project in Europe. The Stratford Town Centre has already been subject to cultural development projects. This was a development that included Stratford Circus, an extension to Theatre Royal Stratford East and the building of a new cinema creating a cultural quarter for Stratford.
Stratford Circus is home to East London Dance, Urban Development and Theatre Venture. All these cultural organisations are also part of the Stratford Cultural Partnership and work in partnership with the Stratford Renaissance Partnership, the organisation formed as a partnership to oversee the whole development including Cross Rail and the International station at Stratford. The partnership employs a cultural manager/producer to bring arts and culture as part of the regeneration project. The aim is to engage the local community with the regeneration project and provide local bye-in to the project. The project aims to provide opportunities and events outside of the planned cultural Olympiad. Current developments have included the Stratford Rising festival and participation in Create, the 5-borough project to for the Olympiad.
However, there remains a problem with the Cultural Forum and how it works with the wider regeneration project. Although experienced arts producers, including the artistic director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, lead the culture project there is confusion as to the role of the arts within the wider regeneration context. There has also seen problems with rising funds from the commercial sector for large-scale engagement projects. The cultural forum is currently looking at how to take their activities beyond their venues and out to the wider communities.
Newcastle and Gateshead
Newcastle and Gateshead have played a leading role within cultural regeneration. Both cities have jointly engaged in a programme of culture led regeneration. This has centred on the development of the quayside areas building The Sage Gateshead, a multi purpose music venue, and the Baltic Gallery in the old Baltic Mill. Bailey, Miles and Stark (2004) discuss this development within a post-industrial landscape. The North East had suffered from a decline in manufacturing and the mining industry in the 1980’s. Economic Development Zones and a Gateshead Garden Festival in 1990 began the idea of regeneration. Bailey, Miles and Stark discuss the policy ideas of cultural democracy and the democratisation of culture and the need for the North East to develop national and international venues for the arts to provide wider access and create a focal point for regeneration. They also outline how culture can restore regional pride.
The redevelopment of the Quayside is marked and includes the building of hotels and restaurants connected on both sides of the Tyne by the Millennium Bridge. Their article highlights the role played by The Year of Visual Arts in 1996 in making the case for cultural regeneration. This event, supported by ACE, showed that national and international focus could be gain for cultural events within the region. Also discussed is the importance of lobbying by the region to retain funding during times of cuts in the 80’s and 90’s. The argument being this declining area needed to keep investment. The final discussion is on the lasting effect of cultural regeneration. This is being studied by longitudinal research being undertaken by the University of Northumbria. Covering a ten-year period, this study will try to investigate the true impact of this regeneration on audiences and participants for the arts, comparing them to centres such as London and Manchester to see if there has been overall change or impact.
Westway Development Trust and Westbourne Studios
The Westway Development Trust is the organisation that develops the land beneath the Westway. The organisation gained the rights to develop this land after a community campaign highlighting the effect that building the Westway would have on local communities. The organisation was formed in the 1970’s and aims to develop all the land under the Westway in North Kensington. The trust has developed a number of community offices, sports centres, climbing centre, bars, cafes and restaurants. The trust has a regeneration remit also provides small community grants and supports community projects.
Westbourne Studio’s was developed by Brothers Nick and Simon Kirkham (Glancey 2002). The brothers are creative entrepreneurs and aimed to generate a working space that encouraged creativity. The centre is built around the Westway had has a large communal courtyard at its centre. It includes 100 offices and the courtyard contains sofa’s, pool tables a bar and café. This acts like a central yard and meeting place for organisations and individuals within the complex. The building received European funding as was developed in partnership with Westway Development Trust. Although this is a property led development it has at its heart different ways of working and works with ideas expressed by Florida (2002).
Space and ACAVA (The Association of Advancement Through Visual Arts) are both organisations that provide support for visual artists. Both organisation started in the late1960’s and have their roots within the counter culture ideas of the time. Space provides support for 600 artists. Artists Bridget Riley, Peter Sedgley and Peter Townsend started space in 1968. Their idea was to provide support to artists and the loft movement in New York influenced them. ACAVA has been central to developing artist’s space in west London. They both have been successful in gaining funding for workspace. The organizations also have the ability to occupy spaces on short-term leases, gain section 106 support for developments and react quickly to opportunities. ACAVA has also gained lottery funding to build modern studios in West London. Both organizations offer an alternative model to building large, investment heavy, arts facilities. It can often be more cost effective to develop sites cheaply and contribute to the ideas of clustering and the knock on to local regeneration.
The above areas of cultural regeneration would suggest that an entrepreneurial style of leadership would be best within the area of cultural regeneration. Many of the projects and organisations mentioned have involved this type of leader. The “independents” involved within cultural business also adopt an entrepreneurial approach to developing there organisation and businesses. Gupta, Macmillan and Surie (2004) describe this sort of leader as follows:
This is a leader who can operate in a world that is highly unpredictable and in which competitive action inexorably and rapidly erodes whatever advantage the firm may currently enjoy. So instead of trying to develop detailed plans based on accurate predictions (futile in the face of increasing uncertainty) which lead to sustainable advantage (futile in the face of increasing competition) the entrepreneurial leader forges an organizational unit that is constantly repositioning itself to capture opportunistic rents. (Gupta, Macmillan and Surie 2004:241)
This could describe some of the issues that have been faced by many organisation mentioned. Organisations such as Rich Mix have to look to optimise income from varying sources of support. Their situation near the City of London has enabled them to gain funding from sources such as Bloomberg’s (NESTA 2010). However, given the current financial climate, a more entrepreneurial approach is called for. The organisation would need to maximise income from catering, hires, events and possible more commercial undertakings or performances. This has been at the heart of the leadership debate at the centre.
Gupta, Macmillan and Surie (2004) also discuss the idea of “cast enactment” This is the process where a leader can take a “cast” of the organisation through a transformational process. They indicate the need for a leader to shoulder the predictions of the future as truth and enable the “cast” to have confidence in this process. This would enable “cast” to act as if the future plans can be achieved and the leader to take the burden of being right from the organisation.
Organisations also need to develop an entrepreneurial style to survive within a changing funding climate and the need to achieve diverse funding sources for projects. Dee (1998) discuses enterprising nonprofits. Within his article he outlines the areas where commercialisation has entered the non-profit sector in a time of changing support. However Dee also highlights the question of mission drift for organisations that can move away from their prime objective. This could be the case for trusts and arts charities that take on regeneration projects on large scale within the Big Society.
This essay includes many projects that have property developments. However many of these have differing focuses and are more than just projects that provide cathedrals to the arts. Projects such as Westbourne Studios, HUB and Rich Mix also have a focus providing working spaces for cultural industries. Other projects look at the impact they have on place. The lasting image of Newcastle and Gateshead when visited in the 1980’s was of an area in decline. A trip along the Tyne, or down the Metro, was marked by the number damaged, or out of work, cranes. The development of the Quayside is marked and has resulted in a change of image for the region. New priorities within policy have to be considered within cultural regeneration. The idea of Big Society could be seen as an opportunity for cultural regeneration projects. The plan gives community organisations more power could result in a shift of funding from central sources. However do local non-profit organisations have the capacity, or know how, to deliver complex cultural regeneration projects that are affordable and sustainable.
The opportunities provided by local authority commissioning are important to acknowledge. Projects and organisations will have the chance to tender to provide services for authorities. This includes Local Strategic Partnerships. These organisation often have an over view of regeneration projects and have a wide remit. The ability to influence the way that regeneration is conducted, placing culture at their heart, could influence the shape of UK cities in the future. However, there is still a need to provide evidence of the impact of cultural regeneration projects.
Evens and Shaw (2004) have produced a study of this impact for the DCMS and there have been studies produce by the GLA, NESTA and ACE. Many of these are based on case studies and it would be interesting to see the results of longer studies undertaken in this area. Cultural Regeneration will still remain a potent and exciting area. The leadership challenge within this area is to be entrepreneurial. The need to be reactive within the current climate and take advantage of opportunities and policy changes will be paramount as will the need to run projects cost affectively. This could be a deciding factor within the current economic climate. There also remains a need for cultural leaders to understand the role that culture can play within regeneration projects and how this can be supported. This has been highlighted in the Stratford development.
Bailey, C., Miles, S. and Stark, P (2004), Culture-Led Urban Regeneration and The Revitalisation of Identities in Newcastle, Gateshead and the North East of England, London, iinternational Journal of Cultural Policy, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2004. p 47–55
Belfiore, E. (2002), Arts as a means of Alleviating Social Exclusion: A Critique of Instrumental Cultural Policies and Social Impact Studies In The UK, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 2002 Vol. 8 (1) p 96-106
Blond, P. (2009), Rise of the red Tories, Prospect Magazine, issue 155 (http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/02/riseoftheredtories/)
Bianchini, F. and Michael Parkinson (1993), Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration :The West European Experience, Manchester University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1984) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Boychuk, T. (2007) Big Society, Small Government, Macalester International Vol.18
Cabinet Office (2008) Building the Big Society
Cooke, P. and Lazzertti, L (Ed) (2008) Creative Cities, Cultural Clusters and Local Economic Development, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, England
Dees, G (1998), Enterprising Nonprofits, Harvard Business Review, January- February, p 55 – 67
Evans G. (2005) Measure For Measure: Evaluating the Evidence of Culture’s Contribution to Regeneration, Urban Studies, Vol. 42, Nos 5/6, 959-983
Evens, G. and Shaw, P. (2004), The Contribution of Culture to Regeneration in the UK. DCMS
Florida, R. (2002), The rise of the creative Class, London, Basic Books,
Florida, R. (2005), Cities and the creative Class, London Rutledge
Furbey, R. (2009) Urban ‘Regeneration’: Reflections on a Metaphor, Sheffield
Hallam University.
Garcia, B. (2004) Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration in Western European Cities: Lessons from Experience, Prospects for the Future, Local Economy Vol. 19, no 4, 312-326
Glancey, J. (2002), A Road Runs Through It, The Guardian, Monday 26 August 2002
Gupta, V., Macmillan I.C and Surie, G (2004) Entrepreneurial Leadership: developing and measuring a cross-cultural construct. – Journal of Business
Hsmondhalgh, D and Pratt (2005) Cultural Industries and Cultural Policy, International Journal of Cultural Policy 11: 1, 1- 13
Leadbeater C. and Oakley K, (1999) The Independents: Britain’s new cultural Entrepreneurs, Demos
Mirza, M. (Ed) (2006) Culture Vultures: is UK arts policy damaging the arts? Policy Exchange London
Mirza, M (2009), Aims and contradictions of cultural diversity policies in the arts: a case study of the Rich Mix Centre in East London International Journal of Cultural Policy Vol. 15, No. 1, February 2009, 53–69
NESTA. (2010) Local Knowledge – Case Studies of Four Innovative Places
Newman, P. and Smith, I. (2000) Cultural Production, Place and Politics on the South Bank of the Thames, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Volume 24.1
Pratt, A,C. (2008) Urban Regeneration: From the Arts ‘Feel Good’ Factor to the Cultural Economy: A Case Study of Hoxton, London, Sage
Scott A,J. (1997) The Cultural Economy of Cities, International Journal of urban and regional research, 21.2 323 – 40
Space (2010) http://space.modernactivity.co.uk/space/the-space-story , 14/7/2010
clivelyttle 