Artworks Feature: The Art of Being Europe Pt.5 - Capitals of Culture

Sunday 3 April 2011 11:05AM (view full episode)

The European Capitals of Culture scheme is arguably one of the most successful of all of the EU's cultural programs. It began twenty-five years ago. Athens was the first city to be named European Capital of Culture. Since then forty-eight different European cities have held the crown. This year the honour goes to Tallinn in Estonia and Turku in Finland. It is like an olympic city title. To even bid for the prize a city has to transform itself and show how culture can improve the region now and in the future.

This week Lyn Gallacher starts part five of her European tour on a Finnish building site. She's wearing a fluorescent jacket and a blue hard-hat.


Lyn Gallacher: The European Capital of Culture program is a year-long celebration. For the chosen city it's huge. Here in Turku, the old capital of Finland, it means there's a new cultural centre being built. As you can hear, it's still under construction. It's an old engineering workshop called Logomo and in a way it is typical, because all over Europe, old industrial sites are being turned into arts centres. But they've got 50 days to go before the official start of the European Capital of Culture year and already in the city preparations are underway. There are playful looking saunas and Sami huts appearing around the city. They are there in the cold and dark to warm people up.

Tour Guide: We are right now living in the most darkest period in the year when we only have daylight from nine o'clock in the morning until three or four o'clock in the evening, and then it becomes dark again. So there is a project that...we have this kind of little huts around the city which are designed to by artists where they tried to show darkness in a positive way, how darkness can be creative and peaceful. So you can take a little retreat, kind of a retreat here in the heart in the middle of the city when people are rushing all over and it's dark and depressing, and you can just think happy thoughts.

Lyn Gallacher: Shall we go in and think happy thoughts?

Tour Guide: These are wool, so when you sit there for a while they start to warm you, that wool is a natural material. And this is the typical Finnish sheep that are brown. It's not night right now so it is not kind of open, but when it gets dark this heating system is on so it shines a red light and it gives warmth here and you can sit down and reflect. Or then there is some different poems on this paper you can read out aloud all by yourself and enjoy silence and darkness.

Lyn Gallacher: I'm on a city tour and we don't have time for prolonged contemplation, partly because there is so much to see. The next thing on the list is Sauna Lab. It's a tribute to the Finnish love of saunas, and the artist who designed this one is Jan-Erik Andersson. It looks like a giant, bright yellow onion. It's also a piece of interactive sound art.

Jan-Erik Andersson: The sound reacts when you throw water on the heater. The sound reacts on the steam. Several people can sit here like kings and queens.

Lyn Gallacher: So how is it going to work? You throw the water...?

Jan-Erik Andersson: You throw water on the heater and then we have sensors for temperature and the moisture in the air, so when it gets hotter then the sound changes.

Lyn Gallacher: So you can't actually compose your own music as you cook?

Jan-Erik Andersson: In some way you compose it because everything you do, it has its effect on the sound, but you don't know how.

Lyn Gallacher: It's very contemplative.

Jan-Erik Andersson: It should be, yes.

Jacqueline Pacaud: The main purpose of a title like European Capital of Culture is a unique opportunity for the city to explore what they are, what is their European identity, what is their place and their role for culture in Europe, and what was this role and place in the past, but what is it now currently and what it could be in the future.

Lyn Gallacher: Jacqueline Pacaud, the program manager of the European Capital of Culture. It's a title that doesn't always go to a capital.

Jacqueline Pacaud: I would say that being the capital of a state, being a big city is not really an asset. It's a contradiction but that may be a weakness actually, and in general it is. Because big cities like Paris, which was the European Capital of Culture in '89 and nobody remembers that because nothing happened in Paris as the European Capital of Culture in '89. And the capitals of the states and big cities consider that they are so strong at culture that they have so many assets and they are so beautiful that they do not need to create something new for the title. And that's why quite often they miss this opportunity actually.

Lyn Gallacher: The first European Capital of Culture was Athens and it was 25 years ago. Since then the scheme has learned from its mistakes and flourished. Every city that's had the title has done it differently and the applications make for fascinating reading. What the selectors are looking for is a city that truly wants to transform itself. And not just for the year but for the long term.

Jacqueline Pacaud: For instance Lille, 2004...because they have this image of a black city in the north of France and with a lot of mines, and it was a little bit sad, and now people are very proud of their own identity and the city is much more vivid, and they have built on that and the sustainability of the events in terms of image, of tourism and a lot of things. This sustainability is one of the criteria to be awarded the title.

Lyn Gallacher: Lille was very nearly too successful. This note is from the feedback form, it's the Lille 2004 general manager Laurent Dreano.

Laurent Dréano [reading] There may have been a little shiver of nerves before the start but everything went very well, including our relationship with the city and other official players. As time goes by one tends to keep all the good memories, like the opening in December 2003 when we were expecting 5,000 visitors, 10,000 at most, and in fact 700,000 turned up. It was an incredible bash.

Lyn Gallacher: Lille 2004 has now turned into Lille 3000, it's a way of continuing the party and investment in the city, because, as the Capital of Culture committee estimates, every one public euro spent on culture generates between eight and ten private euros in the next economic cycle. But more than that, it means for a year the city is famous, so much so that even now, years later, Lille can score something like The Silk Road, an exhibition of major artworks from the Saatchi collection.

Tri Postal Gallery spokesperson: It's the first time that Lille was like a star in Europe, and it is the first time that the Saatchi Gallery make an exhibition in France and in Europe. It's very important for us because they chose Lille. A lot of the people come to see the exhibition. After one month 16,000 people came to see the exhibition.

Lyn Gallacher: But it's not all about self promotion.

Jacqueline Pacaud: The cities have to find the right balance between their own culture and their European identity, and to find the the core of the action of the European Union in culture, the two aspects I can remind what we have in common which is European and what are the diversities of culture in Europe. In a capital you have to find a balance because between your own assets and your own culture and your European roots and your European identity. And some capitals have some difficulty understanding that and to find the right balance. And in some cases because of a lot of reasons that we can understand they struggle and they focus only on their own identity, to show what they are. Okay, it's interesting, but what is the link with Europe?

Lyn Gallacher: Over the years there have been many near disasters. As well as the global economic crisis, there's been a series of sacked creative directors, unfinished buildings and tales of political interference. In Antwerp in 1993 the opening fireworks wouldn't fire. In Bruges 2002 there was a contemporary video exhibition that no one visited. In Graz a technical failure meant that a reading to be broadcast over the internet by Wolf Haas had to be cancelled; it was one of their most promoted events.

There are also stories of cities trying to involve the locals by calling for open applications, and then when they are overwhelmed, alienating the very people they are trying to involve by ignoring them. Yet in a report on the European Capital of Culture program the president of the EU Jose Manuel Barroso wrote: 'I am convinced that the European project is fundamentally a cultural project. Over and above the task of uniting markets, bringing together the different peoples of this continent with their different ways of life, languages and traditions is clearly a cultural endeavour. And the European Capitals of Culture project is proof that culture has a major role to play at the heart of our policies.'

But sometimes the chosen city can forget about culture, because the title becomes hijacked by property developers. From the Berlin Academy of the Arts, Nele Hertling.

Nele Hertling: Normally more or less in all these European cities when they try to apply, it was mostly civil society groups in these cities that wrote the application and the cities excepted because it was interesting, and once they were chosen very often the situation completely changed because once the title had been won, the political bodies, the political people being responsible started to look for more money, to look for better support from Brussels, and more and more the civil society activities were pushed out.

It's not so much the problem of ignoring the idea of Europe, it's more the problem of using cultural capital for commercial events because they need money, so they ask investors to come, so they start mostly big construction program all over. Normally they never finished the buildings before the year starts so that is one of the problems. Secondly, when the buildings are done they have no money to put something into it. And thirdly, through this development they lose the support of their local or regional society. So it's getting more and more international, not so much based on the development. I wouldn't agree really they forgot about Europe, they forgot about culture, it's more about business more or less.

Lyn Gallacher: Copenhagen was a European Capital of Culture in 1996 and with that impetus built a new Royal Theatre, one that is so expensive to maintain that it's now tricky to find funds for production. Nevertheless the managing director of the Royal Danish Theatre, Erik Jacobsen, says that the year of being Cultural Capital was good for Copenhagen and one of the best things Europe's ever done for Danish arts.

Erik Jacobsen: The European Cultural Capital concept was a great help for us in the '90s. Copenhagen was a Cultural Capital in '96, and we made it, I told you this 'Plan 2000'. At that time I worked in the Ministry for Culture and we made plans that we should build some of these houses which was part of the Plan 2000 before '96 when we should be Cultural Capital. And we got the investments and we started the buildings, but they were not finished before '98, but now they are there. So in that respect I think the Cultural Capital gave Copenhagen a big increase in cultural investments, but also on the content side there were a lot of big interesting things happening in that year, and also things that were lasting.

Just one small example from this theatre, in '96 we started a new tradition who died in 1947, to make a big outdoor production in the forest outside Copenhagen with 2,000, 3,000 seats and a big production every third year. Because of the animals we cannot do it more than every third year, and we have done this every third year since the summer we made The Three Musketeers in the woods outside there. And it was a tradition that was started with the Cultural Capital, and it was a tradition from the beginning of the 19th century until after the World War. So in that respect this Cultural Capital concept, it forces the countries to make some decisions and put some new things on the agenda. So in that respect I think it was a success for Copenhagen.

Lyn Gallacher: This is the Estonian TV Girls Choir, one of the largest choirs in the world, and the group is singing Arvo Part. Music and the celebration of song will be a large part of Tallinn's Capital of Culture program, even though their budget has been cut from 30 million euros to 16 million euros. But it's not just these traditional choirs that will be featured, it is also more contemporary music, classical, jazz and local bands as well.

Helen Sildna: Yes, exactly, and what I'm especially excited about is that this festival in a way it is now the basis of setting up a solid Estonian music export structure, something that let's say the Nordic countries have had for a decade at least, but in Estonia so far there has not been a structured attempt to work on Estonian music promotion and exports. So let's say the festival was one of the big opening moments to set up that way of thinking, also governmentally, locally. And I think that within every small step forward there is going to be better, well thought-through funding available, also governmentally, and this is something that we're working on steadily the whole time.

Also, thanks to the festival we are hopefully now opening up an annual music managers teaching program in Estonia, which is something that we really need as well because having talent is one thing but having professional people to take care of that talent is the next thing that we need. So we're really working on all those angles. It's an interesting situation, that you start off with one festival and suddenly there is 20 things that you want to do and need to do. And I can say for a fact that this festival will be here after the Capital of Culture, and also we will be working steadily on bringing Estonian talent outside now. So this is clearly something that has started up within the Capital of Culture program, but will be taken up further for years to come I think.

Lyn Gallacher: Helen Sildna, the coordinator of Tallinn Music Week on the opening night of the 2011 festivities. Also at the party was Jaanus Rohumaa, the program director of Tallinn 2011, who says that culture is huge part of the way Europe is redefining itself.

Jaanus Rohumaa: I'm really happy about this chance and this title for Estonia. I think this title will make more confident our creators, and I hope Estonian culture becomes more international because at the moment we have just a few international names like Arvo Part or supermodel Carmen Kass or some musicians, but we have more potential to go outside.

Lyn Gallacher: And you said you want everyone to be an artist.

Jaanus Rohumaa: Yes, because culture is our one and only chance to live and continue our life as nation because we haven't oil here or such sort of things and that's because in our constitution in the first line is the purpose of the Estonian state is to continue Estonian culture and language because there are only one million people all around the world who can speak Estonian, and I think it's one of our missions to keep it and develop it.

Lyn Gallacher: Because Tallinn and Turku are Capitals of Culture together and both come from the same part of the world, they are sharing this celebration as one of European darkness, trying to sell it to the rest of the world as something that can be good for you.

Paivi Lonnberg: One event that we have is called the Pitch Black project, it consists of four different kinds of dark spaces and it's done together with artists and people who are visually impaired. So, for example, right now we have a gallery that is completely pitch black, and these visually impaired people take you in there for a gallery tour that you can experience different kinds of artworks with other senses than your sight. I've been there twice already and it's an amazing experience. You can't see even your hand.

Lyn Gallacher: So you have to smell or feel or listen.

Paivi Lonnberg: Yes, touch and listen, yes. And we also have a Pitch Black nightlife, you can book a two-hour evening, you can meet people in the pitch black and buy something to eat and even discover how can you make a difference between different coins. There are ways to figure out which coin or bill you have in your hand. And we also have a Pitch Black theatre. It's quite an absurd idea, but we're going to have this restaurant and there is an audience and these visually impaired people will act and you will experience a play with other senses than your sight.

Lyn Gallacher: Paivi Lonnberg, the curator of the Death and Darkness exhibition. It is all part of Turku 2011 which is a huge and extremely inventive program run by a very small group of people. And one of them is Saara Malila, the communications manager.

Saara Malila: And the other important thing that we want to say to the rest of Finland, to Europe and to the world, is Culture Does You Good, and this is our slogan for the next year. So we want to tell you that culture does good for people and the environment, and we have had several well-being projects in the city previously, but this Capital of Culture kind of puts them altogether. And the symbolic action of the Culture Does Good slogan is cultural recipes or cultural prescriptions. We are giving out 5,500 tickets for free, we are the health-care centres of Turku. So the doctors give cultural prescriptions to people who come to their appointments. First they say, 'I have a flu and I need something,' and then when the doctor has treated that disease, he or she asks, 'Would you like to have a cultural prescription as well?'

Lyn Gallacher: So, 'I think you need more art' or 'I think you need to go and see Hair the musical' or 'I think you should go and visit the onion-shaped sauna'.

Saara Malila: Yes, you need Logomo now or you need opera now.

Lyn Gallacher: Logomo is the main venue for the Capital of Culture events, but with only 50 days to go it still looks like a train station.

Saara Malila: So this is the big hall which is the size of a football field, and in the opening ceremonies we'll have the party here, the opening party after the big show at the River Aura, and next year unfortunately we can't use this hall because the owner is still building this into a rock arena. It has to be ready in 50 days. We are sure that it will be ready, but there is lots of work to do.


Estonian TV Girls' Chior
CD details: Gratias KY 001
Kimmo Pohjonen & Eric Echampard
CD details: Westpark Music 87116


Lyn Gallacher