AAAE 2017

Cultural Leadership in an Age of Anxiety
David Edelman, Jonathan Price, Sanja Petricic

We are living in a time of major political upheaval and accompanying anxiety. Populist leaders, new forms of nationalism, divisive rhetoric and economic instability have combined to sweep away old certainties and undermine the institutions that represent them and the West has been shaken more dramatically than at any time since the second World War. Liberal values, meanwhile, seem to be everywhere in retreat; expertise is a devalued currency and so, it seems, is truth. It is for this environment that our artists, creative entrepreneurs and cultural leaders must be equipped by the education and training that we provide. But in this unfamiliar world, what forms of knowledge should we share? Are we at risk of providing training that meets only yesterday’s challenges? Or should the political events of the world be shut out of the classroom as distractions from our cultural concerns? This panel will bring recent research and theory around artistic and cultural leadership to bear on these and related questions. It promises a timely debate about the relationship of culture, politics and education at a moment when educational institutions and their staff are frequently pressed to avoid the adoption of overtly political positions while our students feel increasingly unsure and vulnerable. We will ask whether culture can ever be separated from the political, or politics kept out of education, when it can be argued that to devote your life or the resources of your community to education and the arts is already a political act. But can art be politically relevant without being politically determined? What forms of understanding or action are necessary for cultural producers to have intellectual and creative autonomy? We will consider what it means to be a cultural leader in circumstances where the values according to which you work are under attack, and what the implications are for how cultural leadership should be taught and developed. The presentation will include ample time for discussion with session attendees.