2008-12-01

The Cultural Manager: Marginal Notes on a Discussion of Roles and Values

1. New Cultural Managers between Art and Economy

The balancing act between art/culture and economy, just as much as the connection between the two, has been especially critically discussed ever since cultural managment emerged as an occupation. Among the many postulates are the following: Commercialisation of Art and Culture or the Business-ization of Artistic Processes. In this context, the New Cultural Manager between Art and Economy was the title of a forum within the 53rd Loccum Cultural Policy Colloquium After us: the cultural economy? ... And what about cultural policy? in which the young/new cultural manager had to deal with this subject area in the context of his work in a differentiated way.(1) The role of the cultural manager within this tense relationship was to be discussed, especially since the words culture and manager are united in the name of this occupation.

After the introductory statements of the referees and moderators, it soon became clear that this subject would not basically dominate the forum. For example, the participants quickly agreed that the cultural and artistic contents did not have to yield or adapt to economic necessities or demands. Moreover, it became clear that the original self-image of the protagonists consists of protecting artistic and cultural content in the face of increasing economic constraints, and (helping) to enable cultural and artistic projects to take place. On that basis, it was investigated how cultural managers can succeed in initiating or supporting cultural/artistic processes and on the other hand be economically successful, both for the project and for himself. In the analysis of the answers, it could be that this pressure and the resulting balancing act can be understood as an opportunity, but also as a challenge for cultural managers.

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An article by Patrick S. Föhl, Potsdam, Germany (Translation: Jayne Obst, Weimar)