Syndicate: P2P - European Media Culture conference, Amsterdam/Rotterdam, Oct-Nov.1997

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>]

>FROM PRACTICE TO POLICY

Towards a European Media Culture



A four-day conference in Amsterdam and Rotterdam
organised by the Virtual Platform (The Netherlands)

Under the auspices of:
the Council of Europe - Council for Cultural Co-operation
Working Group on 'Culture, Communication and New Technologies'

With support of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands



Amsterdam / Rotterdam, November 1997


SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

The conference aims at a presentation and critical discussion of the new
technologies and their impact on art and culture. The conference will seek
to develop suggestions for cultural policies in this area in the
Netherlands, as well as in a broader European context. These suggestions
will be based on a problem analysis of the actual practice of projects,
initiatives and organisations working in this field all over Europe.

The selected projects are exemplary representatives of the most dynamic and
significant elements in the contemporary social and cultural transformation
of Europe towards the information society. They represent both the strength
and the diversity of Europe in this important, emerging cultural field.

The conference continues discussions which began at the New Space
conference in Prague, November 1996,  and the international seminar
"L'artiste, le citoyen et l'entrepreneur" in HŽrimoncourt (France), May
1997. Both events were a part of the "new technology project" of the
Cultural Committee of the Council of Europe. On a more national level the
discussions of the conference will reflect concepts laid down in the
document "From Dada to data", published by the Virtual Platform in 1996.


STRUCTURE

The conference is divided into three parts: a seminar, a public
presentation and debate, and a public day with presentations and
discussions.

The first part is devoted to the seminar, and consists of four concentrated
and moderated discussion sessions in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. At the heart
of the discussions will be 15 different media projects, which will be
presented as case studies of what is 'good practice' in the field of new
media and culture in Europe at the moment. Short introductions and
audio-visual presentations of the projects will be followed by interview
sessions and general discussions. These discussions will be prepared in
advance with a questionnaire addressed to the invited projects and a brief
outline of each projects' practice and structure. The constituents of the
Virtual Platform, who have selected the foreign projects among their
European partners, will add their 'cases' to those of the guests. The
seminar takes place in closed sessions, accessible only for the invited
projects.

The aim here is to ascertain the general conditions of current European
media practice, and to point out crucial problem areas that local, national
and European policy makers should be aware of and tackle. The results of
this analysis will be summarised in a document, drafted on the basis of
pre-conference discussions among the participants and to be  finalised
during the first two days of the conference.

This document will be presented  on the third day in a more open forum, for
which invitations will go out to the Council of Europe, and national and
European policy makers - amongst them the EU- , members of the Dutch and
European Parliament, UNESCO, representatives of industry, education, media
experts and the press. About 200 persons are expected to attend this
meeting and the events associated with it.

The last day of the conference consists of a public program hosted by the
Amsterdam member organisations of the Virtual Platform (Backbone, STEIM,
Montevideo, The Netherlands Design Institute). All these venues are located
at walking distance from each other in the city centre of Amsterdam. Both
the invited international and national organisations and initiatives in the
field of culture and new media will present themselves at their premises.
These different venues will be interconnected for a day by a cultural
walking route. The presentations will also be open to the interested
public. Aside from the general audience, cultural practitioners, educators,
representatives of industry and policy makers will be targeted with this
public presentation.

The possibilities of convening parallel meetings by various committees
(Council of Europe, EU, etc.) on the occasion of the conference shall be
investigated.


PARTICIPANTS

The 15 exemplary projects are selected by the member organisations of the
Virtual Platform (Backbone -De Balie, Paradiso, The Society for Old and New
Media-, Montevideo, Netherlands Design Institute, STEIM, V2_Organisation,
MEDIA-GN). These projects are drawn from initiatives and organisations,
with whom the VP members co-operate or maintain other types of
relationships. The differentiation within the VP guarantees that a broad
spectrum of projects (socio-cultural, education, design-related, artistic)
will be represented.

The Virtual Platform is a discussion platform for cultural policy issues
between Dutch institutions involved in contemporary media culture in such
diverse fields as art, design, music, art education, culture, politics, and
society. In 1996 the Virtual Platform prepared the report 'From Dada to
Data', which offers policy suggestions to the Netherlands Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science.


PROGRAM OUTLINE:

* 29 October, Wednesday:
Morning: 	Informal reception for participants of the seminar
13.00:	Coach to Rotterdam
Afternoon:	Seminar: Session 1
Evening:	Seminar: Session 2

* 30 October, Thursday:
Morning: 	Seminar: Session 3
Afternoon:	Seminar: Session 4
Evening:	Preparation of the final document; "The Amsterdam Agenda"
Evening Performance at STEIM

* 31 October, Friday:
Morning: 	Closing Session [10 - 13 hrs]
Afternoon:	Conference: Presentation of 'the Amsterdam Agenda and
discussion
[14-17 hrs]
Evening:	Evening program at Paradiso

* 1 November, Saturday:
Public Day: Cultural walking route in the city centre of Amsterdam



ON-LINE PREPARATION, REPORTS & DOCUMENTATION

In preparation of the conference an on-line facility will be installed,
accessible via the Internet which will give up to date information about
the conference in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and provide opportunities for
the professional field to react to and provide suggestions for the
conference proceedings. During the seminar and the public conference
special daily news reports will be made accessible via the Net, including
the document drafted during the seminar, 'the Amsterdam Agenda'. This
information will be accessible for any interested audience unable to
participate in these events. After conclusion of the conference, reports,
documents and papers presented at the conference will remain available via
this Internet site. The site will also be linked to other Net resources
which have been produced in the context of the 'Culture, Communication and
New Technologies' program of the Council of Europe.


ORGANISATION

* For the conference a special organisation team has been established by
members of the Virtual Platform. The team will operate mainly from De Waag
- The Society for Old and New Media, and in the last three months from The
Netherlands Design Institute.

* The Council of Europe will provide  logistic and technical support in
addition to its financial contribution. The possibilities for the
respective project-committee of the Council of Europe to meet in Amsterdam
on occasion of the conference will be investigated.

* The conference is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and
Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands.

Dead-lines:
- 1 July: Final list of participants in the seminar
- 1 August: Questionnaire to invited projects
- 1 September: Invitations for conference & discussions
- 1 October: Dead-line conference publications
- October -second half: Press conference and briefings


QUESTIONNAIRE & THEMES

The analysis of the case studies and the conditions of and impediments to
'good practice' in the field of new media will be guided by the following
practical questions:

- what is the aim and the main working field of the project?
- what are the (artistic, cultural, political) criteria for the projects'
policies?
- what are the media (technical facilities) that are being used?
- what is the organisational structure of the project?
- what is the funding structure of the project?
- what is the relationship with national and international governmental
organisations?
- what are the (local, national, international) network structures in which
the project is embedded?

The document that will be produced in preparation of the conference will
include summary descriptions of the invited projects according to these
questions. As the first two questions are likely to produce a wide variety
of themes and criteria we will focus the discussion on the following
thematic areas:

1.  DESIGNING CITIES AND NETWORKS
Multicultural community-building (including art networks in Eastern/Western
Europe), national identities versus European culture.

2.  CULTURAL HERITAGE AND MEDIA
The creation of national audio-visual archives versus non-hierarchical
models. Also: attempts to promote access to these archives in a multimedia
way.

3.  DIGITAL ART EDUCATION
Transdisciplinary models of art and design education in new media. The
relationship of art to new models of education. The relationship between
art education and vocational training.

4.  DESIGNING THE NEW MEDIA SPACE
Interface design and interactive design, demonstrations of already existing
interfaces, discussions between commercial and non-profit organisations
about interfaces and the future of the interface.

5. DEFINING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Relationships between market and culture, (high versus low culture, an
economically oriented European policy versus bottom-up relationships with
the field of the arts), relationships between knowledge institutions
(academies) and the arts.


SUGGESTED PROJECTS:

The following list is the outcome of the discussions amongst the VP members
and the suggestions made by individual member-organisations. The list
consists of 15 invited European projects, complemented by the member
organisations of the Virtual Platform.

The list is balanced as much as possible in terms of an equal
representation of both East and West Europe, as well as Northern and
Southern European countries, and represents both small and large scale
initiatives.

LIST OF SUGGESTIONS BY VP MEMBERS:


IRCAM		Education / Laboratory	France

PHONOS		Education			Spain

ART & COM		Research/Production Centre	Germany

DOMUS ACADEMY	Design Centre		Italy

OPEN STUDIO / WRO	Cultural Institution		Poland

FACT / MILES	Office			UK

ZKM		Laboratory / Museum		Germany

B92		Media Conglomerate		Yugoslavia

PUBLIC NETBASE	Cultural Institution		Austria

NETTIME		Network			Europe

ARTEC		Training Centre		UK

C3		Art/Communication Centre	Hungary

E-L@B		Cultural Institution		Latvia

MUU MEDIABASE	Cultural Institution		Finland

ARS ELECTRONICA CENTRE	Cultural Institution	Austria



EXPECTED RESULTS

The aim of the conference is to present and analyse existing 'good
practice' in the field of culture and new media, and to use the case
studies presented at the conference for the development of concrete policy
guidelines for national as well as European governmental bodies.

Simultaneously the conference hopes to produce relevant organisational and
financial models. Both the participating organisations, as well as the
professional field in Europe as a whole, can benefit from these models, to
develop functional structures which can strengthen their own cultural
practice in the field of new media and new technologies.

The Virtual Platform is developing its relationship with Dutch governmental
institutions by means of outlining the current practice and pointing out
desirable developments for the future. The conference will therefore have a
national as well as European agenda. It will provide an overview of current
media practice in Europe and will thus make it possible to evaluate the
national media policies and practices in an international context.

The conference discussions will lead to a common document which will
describe desirable developments in the field of European media culture.
This common document will be offered as a piece of advice to national and
international governmental bodies.

The suggested guidelines will be directed at:
*	infrastructural development
*	support of cultural diversity
*	support of international and national networks
	and co-operation structures
*	stimulation of the cultural component of
	the European IT Programmes
*	development of relationships between culture,
	education, science, industry and commerce