Ventsislav Zankov
Art and/or Political Correctness
Project Proposal
Summary of the Project
The project will focus on the principles implemented in the financing
of contemporary arts and culture. It will explore the interaction and the
mutual influence among politics, culture, and the arts in the light of terms
and concepts like “political correctness”, “multiculturalism”, “independent and
alternative activities and organizations”, and “tolerance.” It will try to clarify
those tendencies in contemporary East European art that have been induced by,
on the one hand, the political and cultural priorities of different sponsoring
agencies, and, on the other, by the desire to comply with the actual or
imagined requirements of European unification. The expected result from the
study will be the publication of a series of articles, interviews, and visual
materials in Bulgarian cultural periodicals and in the electronic media. The
goal of the project is to heighten the awareness of both sponsoring agencies
and the general public about the problems that confront independent artists and
groups in the specific (and not very friendly to art) situation of
post-communist countries.
Preliminary questions
1.
Is there a
market for themes, theses, and ideas in contemporary art? If yes, are they part
of the social and political updates that accompany European unification?
2.
How does the
link function between ‘non-commercial art’ and the ideological priorities of
sponsoring agencies? How does sponsorship influence independent groups of
artists and individual artists?
3.
What are the
practical results from the implementation of ‘multiculturalism’ as a unifying
platform for the contemporary arts?
4.
Is tolerance
conductive to communication?
5.
Can
communication be institutionalized by securing it financially?
6.
Censorship
> auto-censorship > political correctness: what are the metamorphoses of
artistic behavior with a view to adapting to the forms of sponsorship?
7.
Is it
possible to speak about ‘political correctness” in the field of the politically
correct: is self-reflexivity possible in this field?
Methods
The study will explore visual arts projects
that have been supported by different sponsoring agencies in the last five years
focusing on the principles that have guided the selection. It will deal
predominantly, but not exclusively, with projects that have been implemented in
Bulgaria, and with international projects which included Bulgarian
participation. It will compare the sponsors, themes, participants, expected and
actual results, as well as the responses to these projects. It will also study
projects that have been rejected. It will be based on interviews with curators,
artists, and sponsors; on media coverage and archives. My own experience as an
artist and curator of a number of projects that have been sponsored (and
rejected) by different international institutions will provide part of my
material.
Work at IWM
In Vienna I intend to:
1. Conduct interviews and collect material
in KulturKontakt Austria, one of the most active cultural agencies so far as
South Eastern Europe is concerned.
2. Get acquainted with the cultural
policies of governmentally supported, as well as private and independent
cultural organizations, associations, and galleries.
3. Get acquainted with the cultural
strategies and policies of independent publications (like Springerin)
and their financing.
4. Interview the organizers and curators of
the festivals in Gratz and Linz.
5. Get in touch with alternative groups and
organizations and study their methods of financing, their projects and ideology
(like Stadtwerkstatt –Linz; ERGO group Graz; IG Kultur Wien; ROTOR; KulturAXE).
6. Last but not least, do research about
the criteria and the activities of organizations that use the new media and
Internet - more specifically, study the connection between activism and
sponsorship in Net-culture (PUBLIC NETBASE MEDIA SPACE – Wien;
THE THING Vienna; A.C.T.I.O.N - kooperative kulturelle vernetzung )
Results
A series of publications in the Bulgarian cultural weeklies Kultura
and Literaturen Vestnik. Textual, audio and video publication on
Internet. The New Bulgarian University will support the preparation of a CD-ROM
with the researched materials and their analysis.