The International Journal of the Arts in Society: Annual Review

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Managing Instability: Selected Case Studies in the Sustainability of Social Centers and Independent Cultural Centers in Italy and Europe


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1 University of Bologna, Italy
     

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Politics, culture, and community collide in social centers and independent cultural centers throughout Italy and Europe. Together these eclectic arts spaces shape and foster contemporary art, arts practices, and artists in all its various disciplinary forms. The current study presents the preliminary observations of a two-phase project for policy makers, artists, and managers. Social centers and independent cultural centers significantly reduce fixed costs through squatting, receiving donated, recycled or found production or capital equipment, and relying on volunteers for management. They also diversify revenue streams through multi-disciplinary art offerings and multi-purpose spaces, in which non-cultural events such as rentals or yoga occur. Finally, social centers and independent cultural centers show high entrepreneurial activity in incubating and fostering new art and audiences, such as Hip-Hop, street art, or squat art. By activating non- or under-utilized buildings in ex-industrialized areas, they may also take part in mechanisms of urban renewal.

Keywords

Sustainability, Entrepreneurism, Prosumption, Cultural Policy, Cultural Management, Arts Management, Economics, Creative Industries, Squats, Social Centers, Independent Cultural Centers, Urban Social Movements.
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  • Managing Instability: Selected Case Studies in the Sustainability of Social Centers and Independent Cultural Centers in Italy and Europe

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Authors

Patrick Waldo
University of Bologna, Italy
Laura Lee Odegaard
University of Bologna, Italy

Abstract


Politics, culture, and community collide in social centers and independent cultural centers throughout Italy and Europe. Together these eclectic arts spaces shape and foster contemporary art, arts practices, and artists in all its various disciplinary forms. The current study presents the preliminary observations of a two-phase project for policy makers, artists, and managers. Social centers and independent cultural centers significantly reduce fixed costs through squatting, receiving donated, recycled or found production or capital equipment, and relying on volunteers for management. They also diversify revenue streams through multi-disciplinary art offerings and multi-purpose spaces, in which non-cultural events such as rentals or yoga occur. Finally, social centers and independent cultural centers show high entrepreneurial activity in incubating and fostering new art and audiences, such as Hip-Hop, street art, or squat art. By activating non- or under-utilized buildings in ex-industrialized areas, they may also take part in mechanisms of urban renewal.

Keywords


Sustainability, Entrepreneurism, Prosumption, Cultural Policy, Cultural Management, Arts Management, Economics, Creative Industries, Squats, Social Centers, Independent Cultural Centers, Urban Social Movements.

References