Posts with tag Gaps

”Everything in Turkey is self-organised from low to top level, from artist to the state” an artist tells us with a sigh. The biggest challenge in Istanbul for artists today is sustainability. Economic sustainability. There is no public funding for art and no social welfare system for artists. The art space we are shown by two artists, is only very temporary, they use it for free until the landlord needs it. With other jobs on the side they can pay their living costs, but their main focus and identity is the artistic work. They do projects that in the local context both educate an audience for contemporary art and stress the situation for the artists and society. They are pushing limits, putting forward issues ignored by political structures and exploring phenomena in society.

Many of the artists we meet talk about their extremely difficult situation. There is no infrastructure for art and culture. There is hardly an audience. This needs to be educated along the way. Most cultural initiatives that find economic support, do this among private money. Everything from small projects to the new Istanbul Modern Museum is supported by private money. There is no infrastructure – and there is no control. Unless, of course, you do something in the borderline of Turkish law saying that you are not allowed to offend the nation of Turkey or the ”Turkishness”. Many authors are still today, 2008, prosecuted according to this law.

Urban growth in Istanbul exploded after the 1950s and has created an organic growth of the city – something that must be every city planners’ nightmare. What was a few years ago small cities in the periphery of Istanbul, is today part of the city. It puts pressure on the infrastructure where public transport, shops, medical care need to be built in order to be in reach for all citizens. Around seventy percent of all buildings in Istanbul are either illegal or partly illegal constructions, we are told. Each year half a million people decide to move to Istanbul to look for jobs or change their lives. To try to count all inhabitants is impossible, figures varies from an official 10 million people to a more unofficial number of around 20 million people. There is a lack of basic infrastructure in society and it’s definitely lacking for artists and cultural entrepreneurs.

Cultural innovation grows in gaps in society. Where there are rapid changes, unfixed structures, there are room for entrepreneurs. The economist Joseph Schumpeter called this “creative destruction”; when old structures are destroyed, new things grow. He even said that old structures need to be destroyed, to let new ideas, knowledge and structures grow. Entrepreneurs are essential; people open to change, with a creative drive and visionary ideas. People that do the unexpected and push traditional limits. Like the artists we meet in Istanbul.

What is the connection between Schumpeter’s theory of creative destruction and the artistic entrepreneurs in Istanbul? If cultural entrepreneurship is part of building a society in transformation, what infrastructure is needed to support this? What decisions need to be made by politicians? Creative industries are widely considered as a driving force for transformation of rundown cities. But not much is done. As Dr Justin O’Connor in Leeds (UK) say ”…scratch the surface and it becomes clear that very few policymakers are paying proper attention to the health of the sector – an attitude that may have direct economic consequences”.

The seminars and study visits in Istanbul, Turkey, in February 2008, was part of the Nomadic University, Nurope. Istanbul was the fifth oasis. Information is found on: www.nurope.eu. Photos taken by Reino Koivula, Turku, Finland.

The quote from Dr Justin O’Connor is found in ”Creative cities. The role of creative
Industries in regeneration”. Renewal Intelligence Report, Northwest, April 2006.