OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

1. USING A TERRITORY’S CULTURE TO PROMOTE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
- The first are physical. Moving into an industrial derelict generally provides
significant and cheap space that can be used very flexibly, with its high ceilings,
big windows, and solid structure. While these elements favour reuse, they also
imply various costs of refurbishing the building, cleaning up any pollution, and
bringing it up to municipal standards.
- The second are of a territorial kind. The districts in which these buildings are
found are generally disadvantaged. The buildings often lack utility services, the
potential users often have no money, and they may be indifferent to what they
see as elitist cultural pursuits. The environment, then, is not very attractive. In
the midst of such isolation, it is not always easy to strike up local partnerships,
including with the authorities, who will not always be convinced that a retrofit
can help upgrade the neighbourhood. Even if these facilities are generally well
received by the local populace, they are often the targets of vandalism that can
threaten their survival 35 . The public does not always respond as hoped, and people
in the poorer neighbourhoods may stubbornly refuse to frequent these places
despite the efforts to entice them and make them feel welcome. People who
feel themselves excluded from cultural activities may put initiatives of this
kind down to the whim of trendy folk who think it is fun to go slumming. To
overcome the effects of such isolation, they have to offer low or even symbolic
ticket prices or user fees. But this can pose a risk for their management.
- The third set of constraints has to do with management. These converted art centres
often have trouble covering their capital and operating expenses from their own
resources. These include box office receipts (which will be low, given ticket
prices), revenues from the bar or restaurant, or proceeds from activities conducted
at the centre (workshops, housing, training programmes). But these revenues will
at most cover artists’ fees and overhead. There will be little left to pursue an
outreach policy or to buy expensive equipment. Artists, coordinators and
administrators are rarely paid a salary, and most of them will be unable to rely
exclusively on their artistic activities for their livelihood. Most often, any employees
will have been hired under some kind of government works programme.
To make up for these shortcomings, the retrofits have several resources.
- They may pursue external growth strategies.
- They may provide training for young people who can then become independent
or even “go commercial” to support themselves, and perhaps to turn a profit,
while continuing to collaborate with the “parent association”.
- They may provide and bill for services to other businesses and thereby put to
profitable use their specific skills in such areas as electronic music, new
44 CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005