BATTLE OF IDEAS - Porto #6
Who And What Are The Arts For?

Maus Hábitos - Espaço de Intervenção Cultural
Bilhetes 3€, à venda na entrada | Tickets 3€, payable on the door
Lotação máxima 80 lugares | Max room capacity 80 seats

Speakers:
• Alexandra Balona, researcher and independent curator
• Manick Govinda, head of Artists’ Advisory Services; speaking in a personal capacity
• Vera Mota, artist
• Vânia Rodrigues, cultural manager, mala voadora theatre company

Chair:
• Alastair Donald, associate director, Institute of Ideas

"Art is not a luxury, not an adornment of civilization. It is a necessity. It is one of the central purposes of civilization.’ So declared Foreign Policy magazine earlier this year, stressing the power of collective imagination while emphasizing that ‘culture – the product of all of the arts within a society amplified and augmented and internalized by custom and social intercourse – is perhaps the most powerful force on the planet’. How then should we interpret a recent report detailing extremely low levels of public engagement in cultural activities in Portugal compared to elsewhere in Europe? As measured over a 12-month period across 27 European countries, Portuguese citizens are the least likely to attend concerts (just 19 per cent of people), the theatre (13 per cent) or a ballet, dance performance or opera (eight per cent). Portugal also scores second lowest for visiting a museum or gallery (17 per cent). Added to that, the survey found that people living in Portugal are less likely than citizens of almost every other European country to take an active part in cultural activities, like photography, painting, creative writing, singing or playing a musical instrument.

How should this seeming public disengagement in arts and culture be explained? And what action, if any, should be taken by Government and arts organisations? Some argue that current problems are rooted in the financial crisis when the Government slashed investment in the arts and briefly abolished the Ministry of Culture. But to what extent does reduced public funding and falling personal income inhibit cultural activity of artists and public engagement in the Arts?"

+ INFO: www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/who-and-what-are-the-arts-for/

> O debate decorrerá em Inglês, sem tradução.
> Programa sujeito a alteração, sem aviso prévio.
| The debate will be conducted in English, without translation.
| Program subject to change without notice.

Organized by:
• Institute of Ideas
• Maus Hábitos

In association with:
• mala voadora

Produced by:
• Alastair Donald, associate director, Institute of Ideas
• Inês Soares, artist