Securing the future through bridging place & time. Christopher Maughan. International Conference on Festival Development

Transcription

1 Securing the future through bridging place & time Christopher Maughan International Conference on Festival Development

2 No amount of belief makes something a fact. James Randi

3 Good foundations need Ager-Padderok, Common Horsetail, Equisetum arvense

4 Key themes Why are we here? What can we learn from Practice? Theory? Where we are in our life cycle? Being more connected? Liminality?

5 Future thinking

6 Research outputs

7 Focus on Festivals European Festival Research Project founded by Dr Dragan Klaic Both books: multi authored and edited 52 chapters, 54 authors 26 festival studies 18 sectoral studies 28 countries including 8 national/city studies 9 introductory essays

8 Audiences Motivation for attendance Artists Friends and Family The vibe Not for Learning something new, Education Occupation Teachers and social service staff overrepresented compared to national census data Non professional and manual workers underrepresented

9 The Enchanted City The Enchanted City: Holstebro Festive Week Eugenio Barba, OdinTheatre, 1966 Holstebro, 1968 Holstebro Festive Week 1989 Barters and Interventions Celebrations EU projects Transit Festivals Poetry evenings

10 The Enchanted City A theatre group as a bridge builder, as a catalyst social glue here we are doing something which nobody else is doing Strengthening of local democracy seeing oneself as part of a larger community Citizens experience their own habitat through a kind of magic and a transformation of daily life

11 The Enchanted City..we get common experiences in which we can mirror ourselves. we have become dependent on Odin Theatre, which makes us take part and which has become a common denominator for the entire city. It is a gift that we have Odin Theatre. (Mayor) The festival does more to tie together the municipality than the municipality has been able to do. (Not the Mayor)

12 The challenge? Finding the magic ingredients in our own work and festivals that will motivate our audiences with similar connectedness, power, desire and expressions of LOVE. We need their energy, presence and commitment as much as their money.

13 Warning: some theory Porter s Value Chain Emotional Intelligence/Management Adizes Life Cycle Liminality

14 Porter s Value Chain

15 Porter s Value Chain

16 Porter s Value Chain to Cluster Theory

17 Emotional Intelligence/Management

18 "Corporate Life Cycles," Ichak Adizes

19 Roles of management P = Purpose / Producer A = Administrator E = Entrepreneur I = Integrator Ichak Adizes and others have developed a model that analyses the stages in the life cycle as a mix of PAEI. The Prime stage is described as PAEi. The warning signs are when E turns to e and A becomes dominant.

20 "Corporate Life Cycles," Ichak Adizes

21 What Management Role Key functions: to answer questions such as Purposeful Functional : What are we going to do? Administrative Systematised : How will we do it? Entrepreneurial Proactive : What is needed? Integrative Organic: Who will do it, for whom, with whom? 21

22 Adizes Life Cycle

23 Adizes Life Cycle Key phases Courtship Infancy Go-Go Adolescence Prime Premature death due to? Fantasy does not survive Reality Founder issues/lack of capital Inability to develop admin systems & effective leadership Entrepreneurs forced out and administration takes over Purpose, Administration, Entrepreneurial energy, Integration in a good balance

24 A time line for festivals/events? Phase One: euphoria, celebration Phase Two: harsh times, why do we exist? Many may not make the transition to Phase Three: increasing penetration into local culture Phase Four: increasing relevance to a wider range of debates, knowledge bank, competence, leading rather than being led by policy agendas (moving into Prime)

25 Adizes Life Cycle Key phases Stable or The Fall Aristocracy Early bureaucracy Recrimination Bureaucracy Death Premature or inevitable death due to? Feels comfortable but resting on one s laurels Arrogance, overestimating one s relevance, historical impacts too referenced in internal culture Influence and relevance fast disappearing, internal conflicts, blame culture leading to. Crisis management: haemorrhaging resources and credibility Gone forever and no one misses you

26 What does this tell us? Qualities of leadership and organisational culture must change with time. Organisations must must retain a focus on producer and entrepreneurial roles and must not allow them to be suppressed by those of administration and integration (though these must be allowed to mature too)

27 Integration: how are we doing? Key challenges are: Macro level: the big picture Evolution through revolution Innovate or evaporate Micro level: soil level? By whom, with whom, for whom

28 Festivals as rites of passage? Social animal Observation: natural world Adoration: spiritual world Celebration: personal and collective Shared values: discovering what unites us Synchronicity: being together Alignment: orienting ourselves History: we have been doing this for a long time

29 Rites of Passage Threshold of change Rules and regulations turned on their heads - carnival: lords and ladies as servants Dysfunction as precursor to change Imagine new ways of being, thinking, living Prepare for new day, new values, new roles Believe that this event/experience will empower and strengthen us

30 Structured into our DNA? Is it the case that we need rites of passage in order to map the course of own lives?

31 Steven Covey s view From dependence to inter-dependence (via independence) Covey, S 1990 The seven habits of highly effective people, Free Press 31

32 Liminal/Liminoid Experiences Liminal Required Often formal with legal or quasi legal subtexts Associated with a recognised change in one s status Examples Birth becoming a parent Baptism communion Age of consent Driving test Priesthood Becoming a lodge member Conscription into the Armed Services Liminoid Voluntary Often informal Loosely associated with a change in one s status Examples Volunteer/committee member Sports club/fan/player Guides/Scouts Member of a theatre/dance company Festival goer

33 Glastonbury Festival

34 Transformational Festivals Prioritise Immersive experiences Co-creation Space for experimentation and exchange Inspiration Connection Healing Building bridges: between people who are different to one another Transformation: experience that ripples back into real life

35 Holstebro Festive Week An institution that is committed to engaging and involving local people A collective living city-laboratory that releases a cultural and transformative energy Proactive: transformation as practice which needs but in turn requires something from its audience A celebration and a vivid, cultural and political initiative A collaborative process resulting from professional artists and local people

36 Back to reality LANDSCAPE AFTER THE SEA RECEDED The last glimpse of the changed landscape before life returns to its usual rhythm. The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. W.B. Yeats

37 This year s best one line joke from Edinburgh I m not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change. Ken Cheng

38 Thank You

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