Value of culture Mumbai, 2012
From December 15 to 19, 2012 CREARE moved to India. In collaboration with Mohile Parikh Centre, CREARE organized the first edition of Value of Culture in Mumbai. The aim of this short, five days intensive course was to develop participants' understanding of economics as it applies to the world of art and culture.
The course introduced new concepts and other ways of thinking that could be useful for participants in their study or daily practice in the cultural sector. The hypothesis on which the sessions drew upon is the growing awareness that a strong culture is necessary to have a strong economy. The course provided an international perspective while also highlighting the specifics of the Indian cultural context.
Arjo, together with Anna and Priyatej, gave most of the lectures as the ‘locally based’ faculty.
We had a Skype session with Lyudmila.
Amrita Gupta Singh presented the experience of MPC and their activities.
Arundhati Ghosh, from IFA, in a special session devoted to the Indian experience, provided a thorough illustration of a specific Indian cultural institution adding an insider’s view to the framework.
The group of participants was quite heterogeneous. There were professionals active within private and public cultural institutions; those interested in cultural/social projects and students. This difference together with the variety of background and provenance of participants was an added value as the exchange of ideas resulted always particularly rich and interactive. The course started with their own questions, which were used to put into action the notions learnt through the course.
Participants were also invited to apply the concepts discussed in class to investigate two case studies that the CIE with the Dutch Embassy intended to develop. The cases, presented the last day in class, provided interesting insights and suggestions that may find actual application and implementation.
This course was made possible thanks to the support of the Dutch Embassy in India.