Choice
(Português) Maria Vlachou
Politics is the art of living together, in society. In the words of Deborah Cullinan, CEO of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, “The raw material of our democracy is individual creativity and collective imagination” and considers that our cultural organizations must show the way to re-encounter some of the ideas basics of life in a democratic society.
The “political” is often confused with the “partisan”, creating hesitations among cultural organizations. While they claim to defend values, promote knowledge, cultivate critical thinking, contribute to justice and social cohesion, they take refuge in a supposed neutrality. They program “despite” the surrounding communities and what happens in them. They refer to a place of irrelevance, not participating effectively (and affectively) in people’s lives.
In view of the apolitical and distanced position of many cultural organizations, the texts gathered in this book reflect on mission, leadership, values, diversity and inclusion in the cultural sector. They analyze several cases, in different countries, and argue that cultural spaces can and should be spaces where politics takes place, without opportunism and populism, with respect and love for life, with curiosity and knowing how to take some risk. So that each person can say, like S. José Brochado (a participant in the MEXE festival), “We are here, we are alive, it is a different city that we want.”
Maria Vlachou is a consultant in cultural management and communication. Founding member and executive director of Acesso Cultura. Author of the bilingual blog Musing on Culture and the book of the same name. She participated in the European project RESHAPE – Reflect, Share, Practice, Experiment, being a member of the group “Arts and Citizenship”. Member of the Advisory Board of Solidarity in Action Network. Fellow of ISPA – International Society for the Performing Arts (2018, 2020). Alumna of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, 2011-2013); Master in Museology from University College London (1994).
