From the Focal Point

Culturelink Cultural Forum

Marking the publication of two new books in the Culturelink Joint Publications Series, entitled Networks: The Evolving Aspects of Culture in the 21st Century (edited by Biserka Cvjeticanin) and Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies (edited by Aldo Milohnic and Nada Svob-Djokic), a Cultural Forum was held at the Mimara Museum in Zagreb, Croatia, on 18 November 2011. The event discussed the significance of these two books, and the important topics they raise and shed light on. Introductory speeches were given by Professor Vjeran Katunaric of the University of Zadar, Professor Zarko Paic of the Textile Technology Faculty in Zagreb, and Francois de Bernard, President of the GERM Association for Globalization in Paris.

These two books brought together over forty international and Croatian experts and authors, around issues of cultural changes in post-transitional societies, as well as changes in intercultural communication and cultural cooperation. The Cultural Forum discussed these changes in the context of a growing international mobility, new digital technologies, global impacts and cultural identification on national and regional levels.

It is evident that today's cultural cooperation and communication increasingly take place via networks, as an expression of the human need for cultural interaction and dialogue, and that without these efforts the realization of cosmopolitical ideas in the present era of globalization is unthinkable. Cultural networks and networked cultural actors are certainly leaving their mark on contemporary cultural processes, representing a development framework within which cultural diversities, specificities and identities are manifested. This fact has a significant impact on the formulation of cultural policies: the exchange of opinions in the context of cultural policies represents the discursive scope within which the main elements of cultural development and democracy are questioned and advanced. It is precisely at this time of overall, and then also cultural, networking, that cultural policy acquires special importance. The discussion has also critically raised some open questions, such as the issues of cultural creation, or of those forms of cultural creation, which often remain at the margins of formalized computerized worlds. It has been stressed, that the networking of cultural processes, in addition to its optimistic developmental prospects, also contains certain dimensions open to critical thought. This questioning is better undertaken immediately, before it may be too late.

The Cultural Forum was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.

Some photographs of the Cultural Forum are available here.

1.   Conference on the Sociology of the Arts – Artistic Practices

The European Research Network Sociology of the Arts announces its 7th conference which will take place in Vienna, Austria, on 5-8 September 2012. Proposals for presentations are invited from all core areas of arts sociology. Abstract should be submitted by 31 January 2012. >>>

2.   International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP)

The 13th ICLASP conference, to be held in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands on 20-23 June 2012, will bring together scholars from different disciplines to explore language and communication in their social contexts, focusing on aspects such as identities, perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, values, motivations, norms, behaviour, and policies in individual and intergroup contexts. Proposals are invited by 14 February 2012. >>>

3.   International University Festival for Cultural Heritage and Folk Arts

The University Ibn Zohr, in Agadir, Morocco, will organize the 2nd edition of The International University Festival for Cultural Heritage and Folk Arts, from 25–28 April 2012, aiming to bring together youth and student groups worldwide for seminars, audiovisual and artistic presentations. The deadline of proposal submissions is 28 February 2012. >>>

4.   Performing the World Conference

The seventh Performing the World (PTW) conference, an international, cross-disciplinary, conversational, experiential, and practical-critical event, will be held in New York City, on 4-7 October 2012, raising the question Can Performance Save the World? Interested candidates are invited to submit proposals for panels, workshops, performances, demonstrations and installations by 1 March 2012. >>>

5.   Journal Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais (RCCS): Beyond the Creative City

The RCCS journal is preparing a special issue under the title Beyond the Creative City. The issue seeks to bring together creative and interdisciplinary perspectives from socio-anthropology, arts and cultural studies, architecture, cultural policy, and other disciplines examining the organization, uses, and images of urban space. Submission deadline for papers is 31 March 2012. >>>

6.   International Competition for a Permanent Memorial to Honour the Victims of Slavery

UNESCO and the Permanent Memorial Committee have launched an international design competition, for the creation of a Permanent Memorial to honour the Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade. The deadline for submitting proposals is 19 December 2011. >>>

7.   European Prize for Urban Public Space 2012

The seventh European Prize for Urban Public Space, created in 2000 as a biennial event organized to acknowledge and encourage the creation, recovery and improvement of public space in our cities, will be awarded on 29 June 2012 in Barcelona, Spain. The deadline for the submission of entries is 19 January 2012. >>>

8.   Master of Applied Arts in Visual Arts, Media Arts and Design

The Emily Carr University of Art + Design, located in Vancouver, Canada, is seeking inspired and dedicated cultural practitioners for its Master of Applied Arts (MAA) programme in the 2012/2013 academic year, offering courses in research, critical theory and studio practice. Application deadline is 15 January 2012. >>>

9.   School of Humanities - Royal College of Art: Postgraduate Study with Bursaries

The Royal College of Art, School of Humanities in London, UK, announces a call for applications for its postgraduate study programme with bursaries for the academic year 2012/13. Two-year Masters and full or part-time Mphil/PhD programmes in Critical Writing in Art and Design, Curating Contemporary Art, and History of Design are offered. The priority application deadline is 16 January 2012. >>>

10.   MA Program in Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories

The OCAD University, Canada, organises an MA programme in Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories, that aims to prepare students to investigate the breadth and complexity of today's creative cultural activity. Interested candidates are invited to apply by 16 January 2012. >>>

11.   Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design

The OCAD University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada is organising an Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design (IAMD) programme, challenging students to investigate, research, and produce creative works that combine art, design, and interdisciplinary academic study to create new, hybrid forms of visual and social research and creative production. Application deadline is 16 January 2012. >>>

12.   RETHINK MUSIC 2012 CONFERENCE

Produced in association with Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and to be held in Boston, USA, on 23-24 April 2012, the Rethink Music conference is designed to bring music stakeholders together to discuss business models for the future, examine copyright challenges in the digital era, and analyze technological innovation in music and its distribution. >>>

13.   International Festival of Contemporary Art of Algiers

The 3rd edition of the International Festival of Contemporary Art of Algiers will take place from 3 December 2011 - 3 February 2012, under the theme of Retour (Return), a concept proposed in its broad philosophical, social, cultural and artistic sense. >>>

14.   Centre for Intercultural Studies - Invitation for Research Partners

The Centre for Intercultural Studies (CEI) of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal, is looking for research partners from all over the world in the areas of intercultural theories, cultural representations and communication strategies. Founded in 2007, the Centre for Intercultural Studies develops applied and fundamental research and co-operates with other national and international institutions in scientific, technical and cultural programmes. >>>

15.   Why Discuss Network Neutrality?

The present IRIS plus publication reports on the latest developments in the network neutrality debate, summarizing the most recent changes in the legal framework for electronic communication, and comparing the situation in Europe with that in the USA. >>>

16.   Public Funding for Film and Audiovisual Works in Europe

A new European Audiovisual Observatory 2011 report has been published, prepared by Susan Newman-Baudais, emphasizing the vital importance of public funding to the European film industry, since it represents a key intersection point between public policy and market dynamics. >>>

17.   Towards a Europe of Shared Social Responsibilities

This work considers how to activate multi-player, multi-level and multi-sector processes of innovation and learning, and examines the question of how to foster the emergence of institutional mechanisms which can restore confidence in politics and in the actions of all the parties concerned. >>>

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