Title: The cultural industries in FlandersBelgium
1The cultural industries in Flanders/Belgium
- January, 26th 2006
- First Meeting of the European Network on Cultural
Industries - Amsterdam
- Katia Segers
- Centre for studies on Media and Culture (CEMESO)
- Ksegers_at_vub.ac.be
2Some geo-political clarifications
- Belgium federal state with 4 communities
(Flanders - Wallonie - Brussels - German speaking
community) - Economy and Culture are regional political
matters - In Wallonie,Brussels and German Community up till
2006 no debate or policy on cultural industries - In Flanders only debate since 1998, policy
framework and measures upcoming
3Introduction of the concept within the cultural
sector
- Evolution of the attitude
- Indifference we have nothing in common with
commerce, this is not our segment, not our
quality standards, nor our audience - Fear and negativism we will lose our subsidies
to commercial and low quality entertainment - Moderate and divided positivism maybe CI could
contribute to cultural policy goals,namely
democratization and cultural diversity
42. Introduction of the concept on policy level
- Ministry of Culture
- since 2002 (States General of Culture)
- Debate
- first on Commercial cultural organizations
- since 2003 (Debate on the Future of Culture) on
CI - alternative subsidy system for musical, music,
film and publishing - Creation of Flemish Investment Company Cultural
Industries VIC (launch expected in March 2006)
5- Ministry of Economy
- 2004 introduction of concept creative
industries (hype Richard Florida) - Potential of CI in context of competition,
knowledge economy, innovation policy (Lisbon
Strategy) and economic expansion - Creation of Knowledge Center Flanders District
of Creativity (2005) - Focus on Innovation
- Cultural sector not prominently present
6- Cultural Industries versus creative
industries - different vocabularies indicate a clash of
power and policy competences - Flanders not unique
- Need for epistemological clarity
- - explosion of concepts
- - haziness and mythologization of the conceptual
apparatus - Similar of different sectors included?
7Evolution of the concept of cultural industries
and related concepts in academic literature
8Evolution of the concept of cultural industries
and related concepts in policy literature
9Classification of the cultural industries and
related concepts
10A definition of the cultural industries
- The cultural industries contain all organizations
that are profit oriented or not, which core
activities are centralized around the symbolic
meanings of their products (goods, services,
experiences and hybrids) and that are mostly
capitalized through intellectual property rights.
- The process of (re)production, distribution and
consumption can be mediated, live, large, small
scale, time and space attached or free in
different combinations. - The cultural industries are associated with or
part of global conglomerates. - They are characterized by their cultural and
economic ambivalences, a high capital intensity
and a strong risk factor. - These characteristics are at the one hand
consequences of the unpredictable taste of the
diversified consumer (mass, niche, global,
local). - On the other hand they are the effect of both the
uncertain outcome of the complex and intensive
organization and division of labor, that is
structured around the work of relative autonomous
creative workers and of the contingency of income
from the specific awarding system, namely
intellectual property rights.
11- Limitations of this definition
- Highly time and space attached
- Does not allow
- counting in mathematically the sectors considered
as part of the CIs - Definition of sectors included in schemes of
government support - Growing interweaving of the sectors leads to
hybrid cultural industries that surmount the
boundaries - Constant updating of definition and analysis of
features will remain essential for the future.
12Sectors of the cultural industries according to
the Administration of the Ministry of Culture
13Experts Vision group, established by the
Administration of the Ministry of Culture
- Established in 2004
- Participants representatives of different
sectors - Designer Fashion
- Music
- Publishing
- Plastic Arts
- New Media and Technology
- Audiovisual Sector
- Design
- Performing Arts/Live Entertainment
14In fact
- Flemish Investment Company Cultural Industries
(VIC) - Will address to
- 2006 musical (musical projects were rejected
from the arts subsidy system) - 2007 music
- Later film and (book) publishing (now still
financed through Flemish Audiovisual Fund and
Flemish Literal Fund at arms length subsidy
bodies) - Activities not yet officially announced
- Based on the Canadian Model (SODEC)
- Risk capital, loans, public/private
co-operations, - Reason of the current delay private funding
proves to be very difficult (no tradition in
Belgium)
15Actual situation of the CI in Flanders
- - Guessing!
- Mapping of music and performing arts is going on
(results expected only September 2006) - Other sectors not examined yet
16Policy recommendations based on our research to
Flemish Government
- Policy of two tracks
- Regulating large scale CI
- Stimulating small scale CI
17Regulating large scale CI
- Globalization CIs (concentration,
diversification, integration) - Emergence of the experience economies
- Growing importance of live entertainment
- Integration of media and live entertainment
- Local CIs become part of transnational
corporations or pushed out of the market (case
study Clear Channel Entertainment Belgium) - Threat to local culture and cultural diversity?
18Regulating large scale CI
- Culture is only in a limited way a Flemish policy
matter - It is largely
- Federal (intellectual property rights, social
status of artists, tax system) - European
- Global (WTO)
- limited scope for Flanders to develop policy
- Plea for strong presence on international forums
of Flanders - Starting-point stimulating ànd restricting
global CIs
19Stimulating small scale CI
- Strategic framework starting-points
- Priority to and centrality of small scale
companies - Bottom- up approach, stimulating clusters and
networking - CI policy is not an alternative subsidy system
- Durability, flexibility and transparency
- Interdepartmental cooperation (Culture, Economy,
Tourism, )
20Stimulating small scale CI
- Policy instruments
- VIC that has clout
- Interdepartmental Task Force/Think tank
- CIDA Flanders (Cultural Industries Development
Agency) - Alternative support schemes and instruments
- Export promotion and development
- Training and career support
- Infrastructure
- Tax measures
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