How cultural policy incluences arts making

The restrictions caused by the pandemic have led to an unprecedented crisis in the art world and cultural policy. Since then, a number of new initiatives have emerged that attempt to put the relationship between state actors and the artistic field on a new footing. The federal government held out the prospect of a "New Strategy for Art and Culture"

The course aims to bring students closer to the cultural-political framework in which artistic production, its mediation and reception take place. The focus is on the cultural-political and cultural-business consequences that are emerging from the consequences of the pandemic for politics, administration, business and artists.

Basically, we want to pursue the question of the extent to which cultural policy (co)determines one's own artistic work or how this can be influenced by artistic forms of intervention. Particular attention is paid to a future orientation: What consequences does the crisis have on the artistic production and reception conditions and what conclusions can we draw from this.

Austria in particular is characterized by a strong tradition of state cultural policy and its institutional anchoring. The effects of various measures to shut down the cultural industry are correspondingly large, as are funding programs to maintain operations and at least to alleviate the increasing existential worries of artists. The focus is on the discussion of experiments in the design of a new relationship between artists and their users.

European actors such as the European Union should also be observed, but above all the market forces that do not stop at national borders, with them private buyers, sponsors, NGOs and foundations and change the cultural-political priorities. For this purpose, an action-guiding assessment should be found in the course of the course.

The aim of the course is to use your own artistic projects to sharpen your view of the cultural-political context. It is important to develop a manageable concept of cultural policy in order to better assess one's own artistic work in relation to the existing cultural-political balance of power and learn to use it for oneself.

Willingness to research the specific cultural-political context on the basis of one's own artistic project and to exchange the experiences made in the ongoing discussions. The results will be presented at a joint closing event.

As far as the pandemic conditions allow, the course will take place as a face-to-face event in SR 5, 1010, Kokoschkaplatz 1 at the Angewandte. If this is not possible, the course will take place via zoom at the same time.

The course starts at Wed 8th of March 2023 and continues weekly until Wed 28th of June 2023 in SR 5 in the main building of the Angewandte in 1010, Oskar Kokoschka Platz 1