Andreas Broeckmann on Wed, 10 Sep 1997 12:42:28 +0100 |
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Syndicate: P2P - European Media Culture conference, Amsterdam/Rotterdam, Oct-Nov.1997 |
>FROM PRACTICE TO POLICY Towards a European Media Culture A four-day conference in Amsterdam and Rotterdam organised by the Virtual Platform (The Netherlands) Under the auspices of: the Council of Europe - Council for Cultural Co-operation Working Group on 'Culture, Communication and New Technologies' With support of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands Amsterdam / Rotterdam, November 1997 SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT The conference aims at a presentation and critical discussion of the new technologies and their impact on art and culture. The conference will seek to develop suggestions for cultural policies in this area in the Netherlands, as well as in a broader European context. These suggestions will be based on a problem analysis of the actual practice of projects, initiatives and organisations working in this field all over Europe. The selected projects are exemplary representatives of the most dynamic and significant elements in the contemporary social and cultural transformation of Europe towards the information society. They represent both the strength and the diversity of Europe in this important, emerging cultural field. The conference continues discussions which began at the New Space conference in Prague, November 1996, and the international seminar "L'artiste, le citoyen et l'entrepreneur" in HŽrimoncourt (France), May 1997. Both events were a part of the "new technology project" of the Cultural Committee of the Council of Europe. On a more national level the discussions of the conference will reflect concepts laid down in the document "From Dada to data", published by the Virtual Platform in 1996. STRUCTURE The conference is divided into three parts: a seminar, a public presentation and debate, and a public day with presentations and discussions. The first part is devoted to the seminar, and consists of four concentrated and moderated discussion sessions in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. At the heart of the discussions will be 15 different media projects, which will be presented as case studies of what is 'good practice' in the field of new media and culture in Europe at the moment. Short introductions and audio-visual presentations of the projects will be followed by interview sessions and general discussions. These discussions will be prepared in advance with a questionnaire addressed to the invited projects and a brief outline of each projects' practice and structure. The constituents of the Virtual Platform, who have selected the foreign projects among their European partners, will add their 'cases' to those of the guests. The seminar takes place in closed sessions, accessible only for the invited projects. The aim here is to ascertain the general conditions of current European media practice, and to point out crucial problem areas that local, national and European policy makers should be aware of and tackle. The results of this analysis will be summarised in a document, drafted on the basis of pre-conference discussions among the participants and to be finalised during the first two days of the conference. This document will be presented on the third day in a more open forum, for which invitations will go out to the Council of Europe, and national and European policy makers - amongst them the EU- , members of the Dutch and European Parliament, UNESCO, representatives of industry, education, media experts and the press. About 200 persons are expected to attend this meeting and the events associated with it. The last day of the conference consists of a public program hosted by the Amsterdam member organisations of the Virtual Platform (Backbone, STEIM, Montevideo, The Netherlands Design Institute). All these venues are located at walking distance from each other in the city centre of Amsterdam. Both the invited international and national organisations and initiatives in the field of culture and new media will present themselves at their premises. These different venues will be interconnected for a day by a cultural walking route. The presentations will also be open to the interested public. Aside from the general audience, cultural practitioners, educators, representatives of industry and policy makers will be targeted with this public presentation. The possibilities of convening parallel meetings by various committees (Council of Europe, EU, etc.) on the occasion of the conference shall be investigated. PARTICIPANTS The 15 exemplary projects are selected by the member organisations of the Virtual Platform (Backbone -De Balie, Paradiso, The Society for Old and New Media-, Montevideo, Netherlands Design Institute, STEIM, V2_Organisation, MEDIA-GN). These projects are drawn from initiatives and organisations, with whom the VP members co-operate or maintain other types of relationships. The differentiation within the VP guarantees that a broad spectrum of projects (socio-cultural, education, design-related, artistic) will be represented. The Virtual Platform is a discussion platform for cultural policy issues between Dutch institutions involved in contemporary media culture in such diverse fields as art, design, music, art education, culture, politics, and society. In 1996 the Virtual Platform prepared the report 'From Dada to Data', which offers policy suggestions to the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. PROGRAM OUTLINE: * 29 October, Wednesday: Morning: Informal reception for participants of the seminar 13.00: Coach to Rotterdam Afternoon: Seminar: Session 1 Evening: Seminar: Session 2 * 30 October, Thursday: Morning: Seminar: Session 3 Afternoon: Seminar: Session 4 Evening: Preparation of the final document; "The Amsterdam Agenda" Evening Performance at STEIM * 31 October, Friday: Morning: Closing Session [10 - 13 hrs] Afternoon: Conference: Presentation of 'the Amsterdam Agenda and discussion [14-17 hrs] Evening: Evening program at Paradiso * 1 November, Saturday: Public Day: Cultural walking route in the city centre of Amsterdam ON-LINE PREPARATION, REPORTS & DOCUMENTATION In preparation of the conference an on-line facility will be installed, accessible via the Internet which will give up to date information about the conference in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and provide opportunities for the professional field to react to and provide suggestions for the conference proceedings. During the seminar and the public conference special daily news reports will be made accessible via the Net, including the document drafted during the seminar, 'the Amsterdam Agenda'. This information will be accessible for any interested audience unable to participate in these events. After conclusion of the conference, reports, documents and papers presented at the conference will remain available via this Internet site. The site will also be linked to other Net resources which have been produced in the context of the 'Culture, Communication and New Technologies' program of the Council of Europe. ORGANISATION * For the conference a special organisation team has been established by members of the Virtual Platform. The team will operate mainly from De Waag - The Society for Old and New Media, and in the last three months from The Netherlands Design Institute. * The Council of Europe will provide logistic and technical support in addition to its financial contribution. The possibilities for the respective project-committee of the Council of Europe to meet in Amsterdam on occasion of the conference will be investigated. * The conference is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands. Dead-lines: - 1 July: Final list of participants in the seminar - 1 August: Questionnaire to invited projects - 1 September: Invitations for conference & discussions - 1 October: Dead-line conference publications - October -second half: Press conference and briefings QUESTIONNAIRE & THEMES The analysis of the case studies and the conditions of and impediments to 'good practice' in the field of new media will be guided by the following practical questions: - what is the aim and the main working field of the project? - what are the (artistic, cultural, political) criteria for the projects' policies? - what are the media (technical facilities) that are being used? - what is the organisational structure of the project? - what is the funding structure of the project? - what is the relationship with national and international governmental organisations? - what are the (local, national, international) network structures in which the project is embedded? The document that will be produced in preparation of the conference will include summary descriptions of the invited projects according to these questions. As the first two questions are likely to produce a wide variety of themes and criteria we will focus the discussion on the following thematic areas: 1. DESIGNING CITIES AND NETWORKS Multicultural community-building (including art networks in Eastern/Western Europe), national identities versus European culture. 2. CULTURAL HERITAGE AND MEDIA The creation of national audio-visual archives versus non-hierarchical models. Also: attempts to promote access to these archives in a multimedia way. 3. DIGITAL ART EDUCATION Transdisciplinary models of art and design education in new media. The relationship of art to new models of education. The relationship between art education and vocational training. 4. DESIGNING THE NEW MEDIA SPACE Interface design and interactive design, demonstrations of already existing interfaces, discussions between commercial and non-profit organisations about interfaces and the future of the interface. 5. DEFINING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN Relationships between market and culture, (high versus low culture, an economically oriented European policy versus bottom-up relationships with the field of the arts), relationships between knowledge institutions (academies) and the arts. SUGGESTED PROJECTS: The following list is the outcome of the discussions amongst the VP members and the suggestions made by individual member-organisations. The list consists of 15 invited European projects, complemented by the member organisations of the Virtual Platform. The list is balanced as much as possible in terms of an equal representation of both East and West Europe, as well as Northern and Southern European countries, and represents both small and large scale initiatives. LIST OF SUGGESTIONS BY VP MEMBERS: IRCAM Education / Laboratory France PHONOS Education Spain ART & COM Research/Production Centre Germany DOMUS ACADEMY Design Centre Italy OPEN STUDIO / WRO Cultural Institution Poland FACT / MILES Office UK ZKM Laboratory / Museum Germany B92 Media Conglomerate Yugoslavia PUBLIC NETBASE Cultural Institution Austria NETTIME Network Europe ARTEC Training Centre UK C3 Art/Communication Centre Hungary E-L@B Cultural Institution Latvia MUU MEDIABASE Cultural Institution Finland ARS ELECTRONICA CENTRE Cultural Institution Austria EXPECTED RESULTS The aim of the conference is to present and analyse existing 'good practice' in the field of culture and new media, and to use the case studies presented at the conference for the development of concrete policy guidelines for national as well as European governmental bodies. Simultaneously the conference hopes to produce relevant organisational and financial models. Both the participating organisations, as well as the professional field in Europe as a whole, can benefit from these models, to develop functional structures which can strengthen their own cultural practice in the field of new media and new technologies. The Virtual Platform is developing its relationship with Dutch governmental institutions by means of outlining the current practice and pointing out desirable developments for the future. The conference will therefore have a national as well as European agenda. It will provide an overview of current media practice in Europe and will thus make it possible to evaluate the national media policies and practices in an international context. The conference discussions will lead to a common document which will describe desirable developments in the field of European media culture. This common document will be offered as a piece of advice to national and international governmental bodies. The suggested guidelines will be directed at: * infrastructural development * support of cultural diversity * support of international and national networks and co-operation structures * stimulation of the cultural component of the European IT Programmes * development of relationships between culture, education, science, industry and commerce