Thursday, January 21 - AUSTRIA AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW ARTS BECAME A TOPIC OF PUBLIC INTEREST EXAMINED OVER A PERIOD OF 60 YEARS.

One possible definition of Art: Art is what we are missing.

"As a “cultural worker” I miss something in Romania: I miss a public discussion about Art as a topic of public interest.

Examining the cultural environment of Austria during the last 60 years, we will learn that this country underwent a huge transformation in its cultural agendas: from a dusty collection of so called identity building art objects displayed in some dark and dusty spaces into a lively landscape, where art in all its expressions is made possible and accessible to the citizen.

As an first illustration of what happens, if Art is a topic worth to be discussed publicly I will show, how the largest space in Europe dedicated exclusively to the Arts, namely the “Museumsquartier” in the center of Vienna, came into being more than ten years ago. The political discussions, the attention that media gave to this project and the public opinion about it will be examined as a perfectly well fit example of cultural politics and its results: an investment in Art supported by the Austrian tax payer after a decade of discussion and five years of building.

For the development of a cultural identity, that finds its expression also in artistic production, a certain tension between the exponents of different historical, political and sociological views serves as a motor for an open discussion inside civil society."

Karin Cervenka, (b. 1969, Vienna), graduated in philology at the University of Vienna, specialized in modern literature and translation science, translator of French and Spanish contemporary literature, since 1991 working for the Ministry of European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, since 1997 dedicates herself entirely to art management, from 2003 to 2008 director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Madrid, since 2008 director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest. The Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest depends on the foreign ministry. It focuses on art networking in Middle and Southeast Europe.

Image: MuseumsQuartier, Wien, 2009.

 

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