Symposium 2017: The Contradictions of Art Communication – Between Marketing and Audience Dramaturgy

Art communication creates space for encounters between artists and audiences and inspires thinking. It shapes, provokes, questions. Despite of or perhaps precisely due to the diverse options of communication practice, art communicators and their employers are torn between varying expectations, definitions and goals:  responsibility for increasing the audience numbers? A school of seeing? Culture for all? An independent artistic practice?

On November 24, 2017, the area of Audience Development and Communication hosted a symposium. Together with artists, cultural managers, representatives of performance venues from throughout Germany and other European countries, expectations regarding communication were discussed: how do those working in the field of communications see their practice? What does the term "audience dramaturgy" mean? How much communication can the independent performing arts community support? How do those working in communications deal with hidden and open racism? Which questions will engage us in the future?

Theater Scout and freelance dramaturg Anne Pantaleon provides a report about the symposium. Unfortunately the documentation is only available in German.

Here is the link to the documentation.

Schedule

10:30 am: Registration and coffee 

11:00 am: Welcome address and kick-off 

11:15 am: Presentation by Dr. Birgit Mandel (Institute for Cultural Policy, University of Hildesheim)
Theater as communication or communicating theater?
Concepts and formats for theater communication between the strengthening of reception, self-education and audience development.

11:45 am: Practical Examples: Communication from the Point of View of an Artist Group, a Performance Venue and a Communication Initiative - Presentation and Exchanges 
Members of the culture community use various perspectives to hone in on the practice of communication and invite the audience to join a conversation following the presentations.  
With: 
meet MIMOSA: Eva Isolde Balzer
Vierte Welt Kollaborationen: Dirk Cieslak
lab.Bode – Initiative to strengthen communication work in museums: Katharina Bühler und Greta Hoheisel

1:00 pm: Lunch break

2:00 pm: Workgroups 
What, How, For Whom? - Opportunities and Challenges in Practical Communication
Three workgroups will work simultaneously: beginning with their own practice and the questions of the day, the moderators of the workgroups will deal with a variety of communication practices and discuss with the participants, amongst other topics, whom the communication is intended for, how it will be made, what it seeks to achieve and what current and future challenges for this practice could be.  
Leaders of the Workgroups: 
Carolin Gerlach, freelance art communicator (collaborators include State of the Art festival Hildesheim, Spurensuche festival, several student festivals)
Olga Lang, freelance art communicator (collaborators include documenta 14, mumok Wien, amongst others)
Christoph Wirth, freelance artist & art communicator (collaborators include Goethe Institute Malaysia, TEAK Actors School Helsinki, amongst others)

4:00 pm: Final round of the workgroups 

4:30 pm: A View from the German-Speaking World: Theater Communication in Austria
Eva Geißler, art communication & audience development (brut Theater – Vienna, Austria) 

5:00 pm: Aperitif (informal networking session) at the bar in Ballhaus Ost

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