“Identity at sea’s edge”: Artist Georges Salameh navigates languages and Mediterranean cities through his lens, mapping Athens before its economic crisis while embracing the creative power of precarity and marginal spaces.
By Dana Sasu
On January 22, 2020, HYBE Corporation, a recent rebrand of the South-Korean music and entertainment company Big Hit Entertainment, announced the schedule for the worldwide concert tour Map of the Soul Tour, headlined by K-Pop boy band BTS. The tour was supposed to kick-off on April 11 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, and then travel to venues all over the globe. We all know what happened since. A global health crisis broke out and the tour was cancelled.
In this blog post, I look at how HYBE Corporation and their most famous act, BTS, responded to the challenges faced by the music and entertainment industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic. How to survive in a time when performing in front of an audience is no longer a given and travelling restrictions have made touring impossible? How to absorb the loss of the important revenue source of selling tickets for live music, or the loss of the collective fan experience that a concert can offer? The example of HYBE and BTS shows how some brands and bands in the industry have used the pandemic to further invest in virtual concepts for performing music and for engaging with fans. Concepts that may have a lasting impact on the industry, even as societies are slowly opening up again and live concerts with audiences are once again taking place.
A year on, Covid-19 persists. Screens define culture; digital education endures. Students from Arts and Humanities in Times of Corona share blogs and videos, offering fresh views on art, culture, crisis. Explore their work now.
by Roel Griffioen
This time a year ago, this blog published contributions written by students for the course ‘Arts and Humanities in Times of Corona’, which was designed rather ad hoc as a substitute for the MA internship at a moment that institutions had to close their doors, cultural agendas were wiped clean and the pandemic was still relatively new but already seemed to last forever. The idea was to help students, as a substitute for work experience that cannot actually be replicated or simulated, to orientate themselves in the professional field in which they will operate after their studies. At the same time, the course aimed to assess the aesthetic, social, political and economic impact of the pandemic by collaboratively studying texts and analysing cultural products.
At the time, it was hard to foresee that a year later, life would still be dominated by Covid-19; that academic education would still be (largely) digital and remote; that cultural life had still not fully taken off; that, in fact, culture would still be primarily consumed through screens. It was equally difficult to foresee that due to these circumstances a rerun of this course would be necessary.
In this edition too, we want to use this blog to showcase a number of student contributions. Written blog posts, but also – and this is a first for this platform – videos. Some students chose to reflect on concepts that have been covered in class, such as crisis, mobility, precarity, or commoning. Others have chosen a more practice oriented subject, or selected one particular case study to discuss in detail. Together with last year’s student contributions, that can still be found on this blog, the texts and videos form a valuable cross-section of thinking about art, culture and cultural work in times of pandemic.
Blijft “Cultuur van en voor iedereen” leidend? Culturele democratie vraagt om meer dan inclusie: een stelsel dat ontmoeting stimuleert. Cultuur draait om het ontdekken van het nieuwe, om worden. Deze reflecties onderzoeken een open cultuurbeleid.
Van rechten naar mogelijkheden
Door Geert Drion
“Cultuur van en voor iedereen” was de afgelopen kabinetsperiode het uitgangspunt van de minister. Op het eerste gezicht past die slogan goed bij het nieuwe begrip “culturele democratie” dat steeds vaker opduikt, vooral in relatie tot de “inclusiviteit” en “herijking van het stelsel”. Geert Drion waarschuwt voor een verborgen misverstand.
The pandemic hit culture hard: museums, theaters, festivals closed. Governments offered aid, freelancers overlooked. Institutions went digital with livestreams, exhibits. This widens access, but who benefits? Porn industry shows free content drives paywalls, big tech profits. Will culture become luxury behind paywalls?
By Quirijn van den Hoogen
It is generally acknowledged that the cultural sector was hit extremely hard by the Corona pandemic. Around the globe, public life came to a standstill and cultural facilities were shut down: libraries and museums, the musical theatres of West End, pop music festivals, and amateur culture such as choir rehearsals, were all impossible because of social distancing rules. All three spheres of what British policy researcher John Holden denotes as cultural ecologies, came to a standstill: the publicly funded, the commercial, and the homegrown culture. Those institutions that have re-opened, such as the museums in Rome this week, can only receive a small fraction of the visitor numbers of before 2020.
From Enlightenment roots, museums became public, fostering education, civic life. Corona forced closures, pushing virtual tours, exhibitions. Digital platforms expand access but can’t replace immersive physical spaces. Museums remain vital for hope, unity, emotional health, serving communities beyond education.
By Tooka Taheri
The
museum, as an architectural typology, has its roots in the art collection which
was typical of Renaissance Italy and its fascination with the past and products
of antiquity. [1] However, it can be argued that its function as a cultural
institution and a public service only began during the Enlightenment era. Prior
to the 18th century, such collections were private and exclusive. Their aim was
primarily due to their aesthetic value; for the pleasure and entertainment of
the aristocracy and the wealthy. [2] In accordance with their enlightenment ideology,
these private collections were opened to serve the general public. Thus, the
museum was born: a building, renamed after the Greek ‘mouseion’ -μουσείο- , in
which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored
and exhibited. A prominent and early example is when Sir Hans Sloane donated
his collection to the British government in 1753, with the note that it should
be exhibited to all the people of Britain. This resulted in the construction of
the British Museum, open and free to all.
This
change of ownership, from private collections to public, had consequences,
resulting in the typology becoming a cornerstone of public and civic life. Since
its conception, the significance of the museum has only increased. Many of them
are compelling works of architecture, designed by the world’s most renowned
architects and designers. H. P. Berlage’s Kuntsmuseum in The Hague and Zaha
Hadid’s The Maxxi National Museum in Rome are just a few notable examples. This
both reflects and expands upon the institute’s credibility and prominence
within the city and society. Furthermore, the museum has the power to influence
and regenerate the urban fabric, as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and Tate
Modern in London have done. Perhaps even more crucially, the museum is the
conductor and curator of the individual’s particular experience of art in its
many forms. This is supported by Anne de Haij, strategic advisor at Kunstmuseum
The Hague, who mentioned the value a museum can have for people and for a
community. She considers the cultural institutions as ‘vital for the mental and
emotional health of our society.’ [3]
This
significant position then comes to the fore at a time of the global pandemic. A
situation which has had widespread drastic effects. However, at a time of great
anxiety and difficulty, museums were forced to close their doors to the public.
While a necessary move to protect the health of the population, it offers a
sensible opportunity to ponder on the response of this cultural institution
during this trying time as well as its role in society.
While the museum was physically absent from public and individual life, much like many other forms of interaction during the coronacrisis, there was a very strong digital presence. Online exhibitions, virtual tours, and a stronger presence on social media platforms became the new norm, practiced by many. From the National Theatre to the Royal Opera House, there are many institutes that have contributed their content online free of charge. [4]
The artist Olafur Eliasson’s exhibition ‘In Real Life’ at Tate Modern is one instance among many of the immersive and collective experience which would not have been possible in a digital format.
This
trajectory towards digital means, which has been hastened due to the current
crisis, is by no means a novel initiative. As far back as 2005 the British
Museum boasted of its partnership with Google, which brought forth the
possibility to view 5000 if its objects online. [5] It cannot be denied that
digital content has the potential to reach an audience that far exceeds the
boundaries of any physical building. The director of the British Museum at the
time exclaimed how ‘that Enlightenment fantasy, about 25 years ago became an
internet possibility, and today, thanks to the Google Cultural Institute, it is
a practical reality.’ [6] There are numerous benefits in having this digital platform.
Its availability and accessibility fulfill some of the institute’s roles; both
in terms of education and research as well as merely entertainment and
curiosity. In this way it does perform the Enlightenment’s aspiration to bring
art and education to the general public which is at the root of the museum’s
conception.
It would
perhaps be apt to ponder on whether this move towards online platforms has
rendered the cultural institute’s physical entity as superfluous. Yet, in
certain places museums are slowly opening their doors, mindful of protective
measures to ensure the health of their staff and visitors. It is again possible
to look around The Kunstmuseum, and The National Gallery in London will
showcase its collection to the public once more. It would be mistake to portray
their role as merely a tool for educational purposes. Museums are also about
the experience of art, within the space, at a given time. The immersive quality
of certain exhibits is intertwined with the experience of the space. To
reiterate Robert Oosterhuis, research coordinator at the Dutch Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science: these virtual and digital contents are no substitute
to art and the experience it provides up close.[7]
The
coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an increase in this interaction between
individuals and the museum’s online content. Traffic on the British Museum’s
website is now three times higher than before the crisis.[8] However, this does
not translate to a replacement or substitution of the museum experience. It
rather addresses a more urgent and humane need within society during the
current crisis. A study of the cultural field in Turkey during the pandemic
accentuates how this online presence of cultural institutions ‘have offered
people the sense of hope and unity they need’. [9] The document affirms the
role that culture and arts have in dealing with the difficulties of the global
crisis and refers to them as ‘one of the great uniting and healing powers for
the public.’
Therefore, it can be said that the role of the museum as an institute is manifold and applies at various scales. From education, research, and entertainment on an individual level to the scale of the community and the city as a whole. While digital and online content are of value, and have offered a significant and necessary opportunity during the coronavirus crisis, it only provides a partial fulfillment of a museum’s role in society at best. It is not a replacement for the experience of the arts.
Sources
[1]
Pevsner, Nikolaus. (1976) A History of Building Types. London: Thames and
Hudson
[2]
Newhouse, Victoria. (1998) Towards a New Museum. The University of Michigan: Monacelli Press.
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