Last week, on June 19, we’ve been fortunate enough to look, to listen and even to talk to the mayors of the European cities at the International Mayors Forum in Vilnius titled “Culture as s Driving Force in City Development’.
In a strange mixture of academics and urban bureaucrats, some of the Critical Urbanists managed to pass across their message as to what a city could be without municipal authorities intervention in a city space.
Even though the translation into major languages was provided, i.e. Lithuanian, Russian, French, German, etc., still the translation from the academic language to the bureaucratic one was definitely missing.
Have a look here for the FORUM PROGRAMME
Jekaterina Lavrinec with her presentation: ‘City as a Playground: Formation of New Rituals (the Case of Vilnius)’
Video:
Siarhej Liubimau: ‘Gentrification and Two Notions of Culture It Implies’ (the Case Study of Warsaw district Praga)
Video:
Nerius Milerius: ‘Practicing the City with a Moving Camera: Paradoxes of the European Center/European Border’
photo
Video:
Minsk – Stolica Kultury Evropy
The following is a brief account of an exercise imagining that Minsk might be European Capital of Culture. We considered three stages of the process: 1) how to present a bid for Minsk to be Capital of Culture; 2) what the event Minsk European Capital of Culture might include and 3) a review section assessing possible plusses and minuses of the event.
1. Bidding for Minsk
2 ideas –
a. Minsk – Sovietski Gorod
Idea of building on what is there, on Minsk’s specificity, on using its heritage as Soviet utopia as brand, and selling the event both internationally and within Belarus. Would include artists of Social Realism and of war. Also the question was raised of hi-tech in relation to this legacy.
b. Minsk – Molodaya Evropa
Build on the idea of a ‘kaloritny underground’ as a key element of Minsk’s post-sovietness and would seek to highlight and extend the existing network of small clubs.
In the discussions between these 2 options, the issue of trying to appeal both to European tourists and to Moscow was raised.
2. What would Minsk Stolica Kultury Evropy include?
Event slogan: Industry, Folk, Ecology
Idea to use Minsk’s industrial heritage as a setting for musical and ecological events building community and social/ecological consciousness.
Eg: street festivals on streets in run-down industrial districts of the city
Rock festival on the mountain of ‘musor’ on the outskirts of the city (festival itself as creator of musor on the mountain of musor).
In now unused estates/institutions (usadbach) around Minsk.
Putting spotlight on Minsk’s waterways.
‘Nedostroiki’ – which are now places of ‘neformalnie tusovki’ also to be used for artistic/music events.
In discussions, emerged the question of what is a city and what is outside a city? Also limits and potential of using festival/event as a motor of change.
3. Expected +’s and –’s of Minsk Stolica Kultury Evropy
+’s
-
City made attractive for tourists
-
Development of infrastructure
-
Work on the beauty of the city
-
Psychological – ‘we are a cultural capital’
-
Development of myths about Minsk (currently not very positive)
-
Administration – change of mindset
-
Keeping cultural elite in Minsk
-
Creating new cultural forms
-
Local activism
-
Citizen engagement
-
Creating chaos in an orderly city
-
Will make obvious the current lack of culture
-’s
1. Will make obvious the current lack of culture
2. Changing local way of life
3. Only facades will be improved
4. Capital investment in event would suck money from elsewhere
5. Question of control
6. Rubbish
7. Destroy our ‘nice peaceful way of life in Belarus’
8. It will turn out just like always
9. Introduce a competitive comparative element – was Minsk as good as other cities?
10. The authorities will shut it down
11. It will be of interest only to small circle of people
