On New Accesses and Other Restrictions...

How can we enable as many people as possible to participate in art and culture? In terms of educational policy, what framework conditions are needed in order for “participation” to be more that just a catchword?

What contribution can cultural education make in this context? These questions have become the focus of increasing attention in the discourse of educational and cultural policy at both the national and international levels.
During the third theme evening, the European perspective, as illustrated, for example, by the recommendations of the working group “Synergies between Culture and Education”, in which KulturKontakt Austria took part, as well as by the work of the platform “Access to Culture”, was examined in the light of Austrian and South Eastern European programmes for strengthening participation in cultural education processes. In this context, the following central questions were discussed: How can artistic and cultural institutions open up to people who are not yet taking part in cultural activities? What happens when enthusiastic goals at the European level are confronted with regional and national realities?
The panel members Jan Jaap Knol Director of the Netherlands’ Fund for Cultural Participation, Barbara Neundlinger, KKA department head, and Lilia Ratcheva-Stratieva of the “South-East European Centre for Children’s Literature and Media” presented various approaches to participation. The participants discussed differences between the structures of cultural participation in Western and Eastern Europe, and the impact of existing inequalities in access to education on the possibilities for the participation of a broad public in cultural and education processes. Recommendations for a European culture agenda focussing on “access to culture” were also debated, supplemented by a discussion of what the schools can do to help young people learn how to take advantage of opportunities for participation.
These subjects were discussed in three working groups, and the results were then presented in a concluding general discussion. Ina Zwerger moderated the evening.

Discussion participants from the audience commented that objectives set by committed groups at various levels often encountered obstacles when it came to implementation. For example, many museums and other cultural institutions wish to reach new segments of the population, but the financial and spatial resources for cultural educators are limited. Another point that was raised was that although there are a wide range of projects at the regional level aimed at increasing participation, the majority of the actual participants are still usually members of the so-called “affluent, educated” segment of the population. It was agreed that the schools could make an indispensable contribution with regard to encouraging the participation of a broader public, but that a great deal still had to be done in order to make this possible, particularly in the training and further training of teachers in matters of cultural education. Activities in this area could provide additional motivation to expand opportunities for cultural participation in the schools and to focus on specific possibilities for integration.

The obvious ambivalences with respect to efforts aimed at greater societal participation as well as expanded access to cultural institutions and audience development were also pointed out: On the one hand, there are ideas about regulating access through targeting new segments of the public; on the other hand, new participative forms of communication are intervening in existing decision structures. There is a general awareness of participation as a principle, but a lack of knowledge about how to deal with the issue constructively. The basic question, it was observed, must be to decide which regulative instruments are available or need to be developed in order to ensure the participation of a broad public on a long-term basis.