• Date: 19 - 22 September 2022
  
• Location: University of Antwerp

​Are we experiencing with the pandemic an interruption - like a ripple in the sea - or are we facing disruption, a crisis that is leading towards the need for breaking down and rebuilding of the system? Where does this leave cultural policy?  A victim lost in a global sea of debt?  Or a survivor that finds shelter and builds towards a more secure future?​

The theme of ICCPR 2022 is Cultural policy in times of disruption or interruption? The COVID-19 crisis of 2020 and 2021 has had a huge impact on society and in particular on the cultural sector. Museums, theatres and other cultural organisations have all been forced to undergo rapid digital transformation not only in their way of creating but also in terms of their way of producing, presenting and/or audience engagement. Artists have often suffered the most from the crisis. In some countries, cultural policy makers tried to control the damage by calling for all kinds of emergency measurements and support mechanisms.

This public support was crucial for the majority of cultural actors in order to survive the crisis. Perhaps now we can look forward to a period of recovery….or is there more to come? If so, what have we learned from this exceptional period? Are we now better prepared or is the cultural sector still as exposed, and if so, might this lead to more significant consequences?

First, the value of arts and culture for society and for the well-being of people – who were forced to stay at home without any physical contact - became very clear. What are the implications of this?  Was the crisis disruptive on a systemic level? Does this also mean that we reached the end of neoliberalism? Will competitiveness be replaced by other collaborative formats? Will the public space be re-evaluated and given back to the community and society? Or will everything return to how it was before? How will cultural policy makers at different levels and in different locations respond to the crisis and to a world that is becoming more and more volatile and unpredictable (VUCA)? Do we need to find a new balance in the relations between the public, the private space and civil society? Or indeed does this suggest that we need to start again with new claims and subsequent arguments regarding the value and contribution of arts and culture?

These are some of the issues that this conference would like to address with invited guests and participants from all over the world.​