Brigitte Bloksma - Cultural R&D

It is a great and surprising notion that the art world is increasingly part of the discourse in the discussion on a social sustainable future. For me, Cultural Research & Development is one of the most interesting answers to the question how we can envision a social sustainable future. Cultural R&D can be a constructive tool in finding new models and products that combine a social, economical and cultural value.

Transcript

1. Envisioning a sustainable and social future through Art Brigitte Bloksma Insite Project, Venice, 2012
2. A Retrospective • A nonlinear retrospective about envisioning a sustainable and social future and the important role of the arts.
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEJSYnsI7U Q&feature=plcp
4. Where are we today? • Governments and market are focused upon food production close to home. • Municipalities in the Netherlands are financing ideas and plans from entrepreneurs, citizens and institutions for the development of food projects in the City.
5. How it started. The eighties A personal believe and interest of a single artist. How to bring food closer to the people in the city? 1. Agnes Denes: One of the early pioneers of both the environmental art movement and Conceptual art. 1982, she carried out what has become one of the best-known environmental art projects when she planted a two-acre field of wheat in downtown Manhattan.
8. • Society itself, at this point, started to think about globalisation in a premature way with concepts like outsourcing.
9. How it started. The nineties • Debra Solomon: www.culiblog.org an artist blog about food production in the city and initiator of temporary restaurants and food gardens in The Hague and Rotterdam.
12. How it became a discourse. The Edible City 2006 (NAiM) • A single artist project became a discourse. How?: 1. Presentation ‘The Edible City’: an exhibition by artist/curator Debra Solomon. 2. Reflection: lectures from scientist, designers and landscape architects. Initiative of a cultural INSTITUTION and financed with cultural subsidies.
17. How it became Politic. Foodprint 2009 - 2011 • Foodprint: deals with the impact of food on the culture, structure and functioning of cities in general. • Initiated by a cultural institution financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and knowledge institutes.
18. Where are we today? • Louise O. Fresco, Professor Agriculture and Food at the University of Amsterdam: “ In discussing the future, I take issue with the naïve rejection of globalization and the idealization of a mythical past when food was still ‘true and honest”. In: Hamburgers in Paradise, oktober 2012
19. Looking forward: Landscape in Perspective 2012 – 2014 • Cultural programme addressing questions about food production on a larger scale: population decline, durability, agricultural development; themes that are eminently part of the social processes in our society. • Working together with governments and commercial companies in a integrated way. • Financed with cultural AND Spatial Development subsidies.
20. Conclusion • The Art World gives us alternative ways of thinking and acting. • An artwork lead to public policy and innovation. • Cultural institutions create change through discourse. • Cultural institutions can work together witch companies, knowledge institutes and governments on social issues.
21. Question • How can we integrate cultural discourse in the development of social, environmental, economical policy, in a sustainable way?