Questionar hoje alguns dos desafios para as artes | Raimundo Cosme | TEDxTorres Vedras

Key Concepts

• Olhar longe é olhar cedo (Looking far is looking early): A metaphor for anticipating future challenges and opportunities by observing current trends.
• Destreza tecnológica vs. Produção de pensamento (Technological skill vs. Thought production): The distinction between using technology and generating original ideas through in-depth research and reflection.
• Influência do algoritmo (Algorithm influence): The impact of algorithms on shaping thought processes, artistic references, and attention spans.
• Financiamento das artes (Arts funding): The various models of funding for artistic activities, including private foundations, patronage, and public subsidies.
• Neoliberalização das artes (Neoliberalization of the arts): The application of market-driven principles to the arts, requiring artists to prove their value and impact.
• Hibridização das práticas artísticas (Hybridization of artistic practices): The blending of different artistic languages and methods of creation.
• Competência institucional (Institutional competence): The expertise and experience of programmers in cultural institutions.
• Atuação conjunta do setor cultural (Joint action of the cultural sector): The need for collaboration and advocacy within the arts community.
• Programação politicamente consciente (Politically conscious programming): The selection of projects that address social and political issues, while avoiding moralizing or propagandistic approaches.
• Diversidade pública (Public diversity): Considering the gender, generation, purchasing power, social capital, and cultural capital of the audience.

Desafios Futuros no Campo das Artes (Future Challenges in the Field of Arts)

1. O Impacto das Novas Tecnologias (The Impact of New Technologies)

• Confusão entre destreza tecnológica e produção de pensamento: A preocupação de que the ability to use technological tools is being mistaken for the capacity to generate original ideas through in-depth research and reflection.
• Exemplo da compra de livros online: The example of online book purchases illustrates how algorithms limit the scope of intellectual exploration by suggesting similar titles based on immediate and repetitive relationships.
• Influência do algoritmo na criação do pensamento: The influence of algorithms on shaping thought processes, artistic references, and attention spans, exemplified by platforms like Pinterest.
• Questões fundamentais: The fundamental changes that will occur in artistic projects, in matters related to attention and focus and the capacity for in-depth study.

2. Financiamento das Atividades Artísticas (Funding of Artistic Activities)

• Fazer custa dinheiro: A simple summary of the financial challenges faced by artists, encompassing the source, allocation, and models of funding.
• Financiamento privado: Funding from foundations like Gulbenkian (GLBEN), GDA, and SPA.
• Mecenato: Patronage is limited and inaccessible to small-scale structures and artists, primarily benefiting large-scale entities.
• Financiamento público: Public subsidies are essential and enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution, taking the form of co-productions, commissions, municipal support, and grants from the Direção Geral das Artes (DGA).
• Apoio Sustentado da DGA: The requirements for receiving sustained support from the DGA, including demonstrating activity in creation, programming, national and international circulation, mediation projects, publishing, research, training, co-creation, and proving public impact in diversity of audiences, employability practices, shared state responsibility, environmental sustainability, participation, etc.
• Críticas aos concursos públicos: While considered the most democratic model, public competitions are difficult due to low investment, fierce competition, subjective evaluation criteria, and the need to compare measurable metrics.

3. A Neoliberalização das Artes (The Neoliberalization of the Arts)

• Necessidade de provar o sentido e a necessidade das artes: The pressure on artists to justify their work and demonstrate its value, leading to the use of quantitative measures that are disconnected from the essence of art.
• Efeitos negativos: The negative effects of this trend, including the need to measure and prove the impact of artistic practices, increased pressure to give social and political meaning to works, the responsabilization of the arts in relation to various issues that are alien to it, an exponential increase in the amount of production, the amount of work and also a greater efficiency of production times.
• Tempos para não produzir: The disappearance of time for inspiration and reflection, which are essential for artistic creation.

4. Hibridização das Práticas Artísticas e Competência Institucional (Hybridization of Artistic Practices and Institutional Competence)

• Hibridização: The increasing demand for projects that blend languages and methods of creation, but institutions are often unprepared for these experiences.
• Problemas concretos: Concrete problems such as contracting processes that do not suit the logic of artistic projects, institutions governed by internal and obsolete bureaucratic regulations that assume and respond to classic ways of doing things, which often leads to resistance and tensions.
• Competência institucional: The lack of experienced programmers in cultural institutions, with positions often filled by individuals from other fields or political appointees.
• Autonomia dos espaços culturais: The need to protect the autonomy of cultural spaces from political pressures.

5. Atuação Conjunta do Setor Cultural e Programação Política (Joint Action of the Cultural Sector and Political Programming)

• Falta de união: The lack of unity and advocacy within the artistic sector.
• Necessidade de atuação conjunta: The need to create platforms for joint action, work together, and integrate humanism with mediation and creation.
• Trabalho político: The necessity of engaging in political work.
• Programação politicamente consciente: The importance of programming projects that are politically aware and address social issues, while avoiding moralizing or propagandistic approaches.
• Diversidade pública: The consideration of the audience's gender, generation, purchasing power, social capital, and cultural capital in programming decisions.

Síntese/Conclusão (Synthesis/Conclusion)

The future of the arts in Portugal faces significant challenges related to technology, funding, neoliberalization, institutional competence, and political engagement. To address these challenges, it is crucial to protect spaces for experimentation and collaboration, adapt institutions, foster cooperation, and promote politically conscious programming that considers the diversity of the public. The phrase "Olhar longe é olhar cedo" serves as a reminder to anticipate future trends and proactively address the issues facing the arts community.