The fifth Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research will be organised on 8–9 November 2018 in Turku, Finland, with the theme
Art, culture and inequality
The Conference provides a multidisciplinary platform for those interested in cultural policy phenomena. The aim of the Conference is to advance our understanding of how societal inequality can be addressed and perhaps reduced through art and culture, while simultaneously critically examining culture and art as a producer of inequality.
Traditionally, the questions of inequality have been widely addressed through the arts and various cultural signifying practices. In recent years, these issues have emerged as direct aims of art and cultural activities in the discussions surrounding the societal role of art and cultural services. Art and culture, then, should actively participate in reducing societal inequality. Even though promising results have been achieved by utilising art and culture as a means of decreasing societal inequality in Finland and beyond, we should also consider to what extend these issues are resolvable by art and culture in the first place.
On the other hand, it has been frequently observed that the art world and cultural activities are not themselves free from inequality. For example, the functions and dysfunctions of the grant systems, the class-based setting of artistic work and sexual harassment are mechanisms which create fundamental inequalities within the art world. What about the ethical questions related to representing inequality through art and culture? How can inequality be described through art and culture without creating stereotypes and power arrangements? In the discussions on the ability of art and culture to resolve issues of inequality, whose voice is heard, whose voice should be heard more, and whose perhaps less?
The call for sessions for the Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research is now open. The sessions may approach the theme from various perspectives: through, for example, the structures of art and cultural policies, historical examinations of inequality tied to art and cultural contents, field specific practices and characteristics, or economic considerations. The approach taken can be theoretical or empirical.
Send your session proposal to kulttuuripolitiikan.t.seura@gmail.com by 17 August 2018.
Enclose in your proposal:
- Name of the proposed session
- The chair’s name(s) and contact information
- Short description (max. 500 words)
The organising committee will consider the proposals and contact the chairs by the end of August 2018.
The Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research is organised by Society for Cultural Policy Research in Finland, School of History, Culture and Arts Studies/ University of Turku and Arts Academy, Turku University of Applied Sciences.
For more information, contact:
Miia Huttunen
Society for Cultural Policy Research in Finland
kulttuuripolitiikan.t.seura@gmail.com