European Capitals of CultureΠοιειν Και Πραττειν - create and do

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  • Can ECoCs contribute to a cultural synthesis - Hatto Fischer
    • 1. What are stories all about?
    • 2. What stories are being told about the European Union?
    • 3. European Capitals of Culture are remembered best by what stories?
    • 4. Can stories tell how Europe is connected through culture?
    • 5. When do stories being told reflect a cultural synthesis in the making?
    • Conclusion
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4. Can stories tell how Europe is connected through culture?

No doubt, it is an art to bring people together in such a way, that something creative emerges out of the synergies they create. At the same time, there is needed a clarification of the concept 'culture'. Given that the senses and therefore lived through experiences (Sartre called it 'le vecu') matter, not 'theory' should determine so much how we live, but rather out of these experiences being made we seek to understand the world. Hence culture is a matter of emancipating 'theory' out of practical actions so that we can reflect what we do. It means ideas are validated through own experiences, provided a self critical framework of references exists. So when we communicate and understand things, we use culture as theory to do so in an 'intelligent' manner. Literacy is after all of how we read reality.

Relevant to reflections is the question Shakespeare posed in Hamlet, for it is not 'to be or not to be', but whether or not 'words suit the action or actions the words'. That relativity needs to be overcome before we can become consistent in what we feel, think and say. Usually these three fields of knowledge are separated as has done Kant to link categories of necessity and of possibilities by practical judgement. For it cannot be that we only fulfil ourselves in actions. Whether a poem or a theatrical play, it is this cultural reflection being more than a mere mirror which let us know what we are really doing. Thus it makes a difference if managers speak of an adaptation process while in reality it means making people become unemployed. How we name things matters as it reflects our attitudes, values and appraisal of what is going on. Too often that perception of reality is distorted by deceiving words till people think the world is indifferent to what they feel and thus stay silent.

The story of any action needs to be re-accounted many a times before its full complexity can be comprehended. For instance, when we did an action related to water / wetland issues on the island of Rhodes, there were 15 of us. All came from a different background: land artist, engineer, biologist, planner, museum expert, poetess etc. It was like dipping into a biotope of ideas. As a result of this diversity, everyone in the group gained in competence. The latter is needed if one is to talk with different experts such as teachers, mayors, water managers, citizens, school children about complicated issues linked to water management and the protection of nature especially on an island such as Rhodes which is bursting at its seams because of the tourist industry. ¹

In trying to address the water issue at the level of the children, we involved schools and found out that teachers held the view children belong into the classroom as the only space where they stand to learn anything. It meant by definition they could not learn anything from nature. This alienation from nature reflects in turn a culture based on an assumption of values belonging to an age which viewed nature as being violent and therefore in need to be controlled like the wetlands when they were referred to negatively in mysterious ghost like stories. Once such superstitions prevail, destruction of that part of nature seems justified. The stories make sure it can be done without any guilty conscience since apparently everyone is of the same opinion. That ethical fallacy is typical and indicates how things can be bent in such a way that no one has to assume any responsibility for the consequences. Only true cultural reflections can counter prevailing justifications of ongoing practices and question the so called self understanding. But to make people stop sacrificing reality and their humanness for the sake of upholding fake success stories designed to allow business practices to continue as usual, an emancipation in 'theory' is needed before anything can be done. However, a cultural failure to mediate between morality and reality can well leave people having to pay a heavy 'prize' as was shown in the theatre play written by Arthur Müller. ²

Stories can help to verify concepts in use by making visible their applicability. Here needs to be reminded what Kant said about concepts being blind if without 'perception': 'Anschauung'. Stories aim to affect the consciousness by instigating a certain way to look at things. Dostoevsky showed how even children of a village would regard a single woman taking care of her mother at the edge of their village to be a witch. They adopted almost blindly what their parents said about her. It took a long time before the children started to see her with different eyes and that came about thanks to the Idiot telling them other stories about her. Likewise social conflicts can be linked to certain projections upon the other, and are expressed in the form of mere stereotypical image. It gets worse once prejudices lead all to gang up against that person or group of people like the Roma. An active culture would work against these prejudices by furthering a true human perception of everyone.

As indicated already, another philosophical difficulty is encountered when people wish to rely only on their sense perception, but leave out the conceptual level and hence theoretical reflection. It was a failure of the enlightenment to show how concepts can be verified by setting up experiments for people merely mystified the outcome of such a demonstration. One reason for that is very simple: the law of gravity exists but is invisible. Freud mentioned while people believe someone is sick and in need of help once wounded, the same does not apply if someone has been traumatized by bomb shelling but walks away physical unharmed. Depressions cannot be seen while visible criteria prevail as if the only standards or norms to judge people by.

The way people get commonly around this problem is to use sense perception, in order to agree without incurring the need to explain something in so many words. If two persons stand outside a factory using heavy machinery, it is enough for one to point inside and simply say to the other: 'it is very noisy!' Both will know immediately what is meant by the word 'noisy'. Much more difficult is to reach an immediate agreement in other matters, such as how to realize a just society. Likewise in culture, it is not easy to establish to know what is beautiful art. However, it may help by just going to the Louvre to view Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa'. Differences in judgement become apparent while viewing simultaneously the same picture. Yet it is an art to draw these judgements best done by narrating what can be observed over time. By telling the other what one can sees in a painting, one can be surprised for suddenly entirely new things appear not seen before. Such an experience reveals what culture is all about. Unfortunately many are blinded by 'habits of seeing things', thus a self critical culture is needed before human reality can be really seen and appreciated.

When it comes to clarify such a difficult term like culture, a little story might illustrate how things may end up being just self-evident, but without grasping the theory behind the use of such a concept. The story came about when everyone wondered what the new term 'deconstructivism' stood for. There was a friend of mine in Berlin, a philosopher who followed that school of thought called Post Modernism. It is based on the method of 'deconstructivism'. When he fell in love with a woman who had already two children, they decided to move to him in Berlin. Naturally he wanted to show to the kids what a good replacement for a real father he could be. For the older boy he started to construct one of those high beds in his room. Together they cut the wood and hammered away till there stood a bed which could be reached only by ladder. Once finished, they stepped back to admire the work just done. But just then the entire thing collapsed. The little one looked up to him and asked his adopted new father: “is that de-constructivism?”

However, that this is not the end of the story about 'deconstructivism'. Far more serious is what Paul LeMan, the father of this school of thought, used this method for. When he was asked why the art exhibition he curated did not include Jewish artists (the exhibition took place during Nazi occupation of Holland and Belgium), his reply was most telling. He simply dismissed the Jewish artists as if all were only mediocre and therefore no loss if not shown. It reveals the theory behind this school of thought is focused on how to eliminate contradictions and therefore tension fields.

This method has to be kept in mind when the contradiction between title and realization by a ECoC is simply dismissed by ignoring the term 'capital' in the title. Once the difference between a cultural city and a cultural capital has been done away with, the ECoC risks to cultivate instead a culture of indifference. As if terms used no longer matter, the organizational strategy will displace in the end the concept of culture. Instead management will focus on visualization of events.

According to Cornelius Castoriadis technology is no longer just a tool but has replaced as a logic of organization any theory of society. It explains the confusion about 'theory'. Instead of reflecting policy options, decisions are based on an iterative logic offering only yes-no options when wishing to proceed. Any thinking in terms of contradictions is ruled out. Consequently the difference between a creative process based on inspirational ideas and being strictly confined to the logic of organization is not perceived. A culture of uniformity is the outcome. Nearly all ECoC cities end up doing nearly the same things. The reason for this is that while trying to deliver certain things within a given time frame and financial possibilities, they allow money to influence the concept. The moment that happens, artistic reflections will no longer be valued in their own terms nor shall contradictions be brought out into the open. This is because no real continuity of learning shall take place even though the very source of culture. Moreover without 'work with memory' contradictions cannot be overcome by ascertaining 'consistency.' Instead ECoC contribute even more than what is already the case in society towards negating the cultural freedom of expression.

Bart Verschaffel, coordinator of literature when Antwerp was ECoC in 1993, stated that although every city wants to have this title, many find themselves in reality over demanded. For it matters what concept of culture prevails. As said before Eric Antonis, artistic director of Antwerp '93, was one of the very few who put not only culture first, but his theory was perhaps in reference to Descartes that 'culture is doubt'. Among other things, he commissioned 20 new opera pieces, 19 of which were performed for the first time in 1993. Even more important after that one year he stayed on in the city and continued as Senator for Culture to upgrade the cultural resources of the city. Today there exists, for example, in Antwerp a poetry house which hires a 'poet of the city' for three years. The poet has his own budget to realize projects. In 2012 when visiting that house, Bernard Dewulf as poet of the city told us about his project: whenever a citizen of Antwerp would die completely alone, a poet would write a poem for that person so as not to be forgotten once buried in that cemetery outside the city. ³ Immediately such a story connects with memories of the city as depicted as well in the story by Evelyn Waugh called 'The loved ones'.

Stories circulating about European Capitals of Culture tend to suggest after Athens, Paris, Florence, Berlin as the first ECoCs, there came along Glasgow which changed it all. It is said that Bob Palmer with the support of the mayor used the title to bring about urban regeneration. It included the conversion of a church into a cultural centre. However this myth about such a change in paradigm needs to be qualified. Already the first ECoC city incorporated infrastructural projects and dissemination of culture into surrounding municipalities. There is the story about Peter Stein when he came to Athens to prepare for 1985. Apparently he was not satisfied with any of the theatres available at that time. Finally, Spyros Mercouris, the first coordinator of a ECoC city, showed him a quarry with view of the sea. Immediately Peter Stein said yes to this site: “here he wants to perform his Orestie!” And then he went on to stipulate that the sitting capacity for the audience should have only 999 seats since 1000 would be too many listeners. Artists work with constraints. And till today this theatre of the rocks is still functioning. Thus a change in interpretation of the title may coincide with Glasgow, but it demonstrates how stories can easily obscure facts and create a legend usually in support of a false generalization. It is done for a specific purpose, namely to justify use of the title for other than cultural purposes. ⁴

Naturally the concept of culture used by subsequent ECoCs changed many more times. It is said that Lille in 2004 was the first city to go regional. Also the European Commission appointed in 2000 not one, but nine cities to be EcoCs to mark the turn of the millennium. Of interest is how they connected through, for example, 'cafe 9' to let people and artists communicate about various projects like 'Fear in a city' or 'my favourite route home'. The nine cities created as well a formal network to coordinate their activities on a rotational basis. ⁵

Interestingly enough, when it was the turn of Weimar in 1999 as first Eastern European city, it brought to bear upon the concept of culture the question, how was it possible for German culture which includes Goethe and Schiller to allow during Nazi time the construction of a concentration camp like Buchenwald located just outside of Weimar? To my surprise, when management prepared for Ruhr 2010, they said that they had nothing to learn from previous cities but rather they wanted something new. Yet the steel and coal industry in the Ruhr region had been deeply involved with Hitler's war efforts so that a continuity of learning by looking at what Weimar had done, would have been useful to deepen further this question about culture while a neutral or managerial concept of culture is without any historical bearing. Even Linz organized merely an exhibition about National Socialism before the official year started as if to say duty was done, and this despite Hitler having had wanted to designate Linz as cultural capital of the Danube river.

Unfortunatley the continuity of learning between former, current and future ECoC cities ended when the ECCM network ceased to exist in 2010. ⁶ The formal network was replaced by an informal one. Since more and more managers replaced artistic directors, they adopted a similar way as to how decisions are made at European level, namely exclusively behind closed doors and at supposedly informal level. Unfortunately these managers seek only the new and likewise the quick success, but they never seem to realize that culture is about attaining a continuity of identity by becoming consistent over time. Spyros Mercouris would say, while absorbing the past and shaping the present, culture makes possible that people can anticipate a better future. ⁷

No wonder then that quite another understanding of culture came subsequently to the fore, and this mainly due to quite other persons beginning to dominate the ECoC project by various means. When Bob Scott spoke at the 25 year celebration of EcoCs in Brussels as former director of Liverpool 2008, he did so as chairman of the Jury which selects future ECoC cities. He explained why he was against selecting a 'border city'. ⁸ Obviously he had in mind the final competition when it was the turn of Germany to select a ECoC city. The competition had narrowed down to Görlitz at the German-Polish border and to Essen (later Ruhr 2010). He favoured the latter since in his mind any ECoC city should not bring together different cultures but be the sole representation of its nation. As such not a synthesis of European culture should be attempted, but only the national culture be promoted by the city bearing the title.

At the same time, Bob Scott gave importance to public relations. Repeatedly, so he recalled, he went down to London to talk with the BBC while preparing Liverpool for 2008. He did so just to make sure that the city would be getting during that decisive year sufficient media attention. Without that, it would not be deemed a success. For people judge mainly according to media coverage. Consequently since then most ECoC have drawn that lesson and allocate around 20% of their budgets for public relation efforts and communication tasks. It is an indication as to what ECoC organizations end up doing. Without seriously reflecting the cultural implications, they adapt almost blindly to a media orientated age in which not cultural contents but images matter. It goes without saying a common consensus has become that the social media like Twitter, Facebook etc. matter when seeking to bring messages across as to what is happening in the city during that one year. One outcome of that is city branding. In reality, it is giving in all too readily to the illusion that everything can be done without necessarily referring to Europe since this Internet based media is truly global i.e. not European specific. Consequently a replica of global culture is sought.

There might be some truth to this claim that the media is important when it comes to sell the story that having been a ECoC for one year was truly a 'success'. When Patras in Greece was ECoC in 2006, preparations had sailed for too long in the shadows of the Olympic Games held in Athens 2004, so when the year came around nothing was ready and none of the major media networks located in Athens took really notice as to what was happening in Patras. The ECoC organisation was itself a disaster for its artistic director resigned on the third day after the opening. Quite appropriately the new artistic director called what was left of the artistic programme a discursive practice with 'Europe still under construction.' Like in other ECoC cities, many infrastructural projects in Patras were not ready in time and even worse the official programme came out in printed form only three months into the year. ⁹ Moreover, after the year was completed all the cultural venues were turned over into private hands who converted these spaces into commercial enterprises. There was only one cultural infrastructure project left, a theatre but which never opened. The roof leaked and after rain had created a lot of damage, the closed theatre was left as sole legacy in place.

Too often cities and their mayors perceive the ECoC title as a good opportunity to promote the city while adopting without realizing what they are doing such popular theories as advocated, for example, by Richard Florida who thinks there is a creative class which needs to be attracted if the city is to become a creative hub. In reality, it is all about real estate speculation in terms of those who can afford expensive lofts. Most of the time, this kind of urban regeneration leads not only to the creation of marvellous public spaces as the case with Marseille 2013, but also to 'gentrification' and even more so as shown as well in Marseille to a new culture based on discrimination. While the poor are allowed to participate in street events free of charge, those who can afford it, sit down in the restaurant of the museum to enjoy expensive meals with a breakfast plate costing 50 Euros and upwards. As this is the restaurant of the newly opened Museum for Civilization from Europe and Mediterranean, it gives a taste of the direction future cultural development shall take.

Unfortunately such a culture of discrimination cements even more so already existing inequalities. In the case of Marseille, Ferdinand Richard illustrated quite well what option the city had once it had received the designation. It could opt fo a cultural concept which is compatible with the financial capacity of the local economy and social households, or else it can go to banks for loans but then it means doing mega projects with highly visible outcomes i.e. iconic buildings. Usually that leads to the creation of newly designated areas to become high profile tourist attractions while neglecting, as so often the case, the poorer districts – in Marseille the northern part.¹⁰

There are still some other inherent dangers to be named. An independent cultural programme is not brought about if the ECoC organization gives in to local patriotism, or else is put under the strict surveillance and control of national administrations as was the case with Marseille 2013. It only renders the ECoC title as something useless insofar the European dimension will be left out. Often this curtailment gooes with a fear to be challenged by a true cultural development.

All of these tendencies made ECoCs not just use but abuse culture. It has become even a tool to exploit the creative energies of many people while everything is done solely for the sake of the economy. In the wake of such organizational strategies, ECoC cities risks to create merely stories which are good for purpose of advertisement and nothing more. Done solely for the sake to attract more people to the city, use of such a quantitative measure of success means any specific cultural content is neglected. Obviously the real need for culture by people wishing to be connected to others in a creative way shall play a minor role. Instead public relations managers seek to develop ever more sophisticated advertisement strategies to make the city appear attractive and therefore easily resort to use of iconic buildings, in order to arouse the necessary interest of the media.

Such a concept of culture amounts to a reduced message as to what Europe is all about and adds to an already over simplified version of European reality. If Europe is not perceived through the prisms of culture enriched through the eyes of artists, then missing will be the chance to weave with intricate cultural fibres interesting connections. Only the latter could transform the European web into a magic like carpet which resounds for once one fibre is touched, it would set off tunes in other fibres. All could be invited to fly on such a magic carpet over Europe and the Mediterranean to see for themselves as to what is happening on the ground.

Sadly enough, both the European Union and in turn European Capitals of Culture follow what is currently in fashion. Indicative of that is the current Creative Europe programme. It links culture ever more so because of the digital age to the film and media industry, while upholding the position that culture has to justify itself in terms of what contribution it makes to the economy. ¹¹ Forgotten is that culture is more than the economy.

 

Ever since the European Commission published the KEA study on the value of culture to the economy, the 'Creative and Cultural Industries' have been promoted primarily. As Bernd Fesel pointed out at the ECCM Symposium 'Productivity of Culture' held in Athens 2007, Ruhr 2010 was the first ECoC to include 'cultural industries' in its official artistic programme. ¹² Intended was in imitation of Silicon Valley to initiate an organisational strategy designed to manage the transition from the industrial era based on coal and steel to an Information Society based on a new dynamic sector made up by the creative industries which includes film makers, web designers, graphic designers etc. But the term 'cultural industries' was mentioned already by the philosopher Adorno when looking at Hollywood during Second World War. He stated its purpose is to make an imprint upon people as to what is desirable to consume.

Moreover, when we implemented the Article 10 ERDF project called CIED (Cultural Innovation and Economic Development) with Cardiff as one of the five partner cities, experience showed things are not that easy when an attempt was made in that Welsh city to convert Mount Stuart Square and the former Coal Exchange into a media hub. The aim was to create a backbone for the creative industry in Wales but it failed to attract the small and medium sized companies after preference was given at first to a large sized inward investor but who then pulled out once culture was made into a precondition. Interestingly enough, those who pulled out said culture complicates things, while those who stayed on board did make better offers, qualitatively speaking. Interestingly is also what Phil Cooke said about attaining a competitive edge in any given region for when all people share the same values,they can create a 'culture of excellence' out of the interest to do good work and thereby facilitate sharing of work between large and small companies. That is needed since the latter tend to be much more innovative. It highlights how culture can prove to be useful for the economy but it has to be linked to democratic practices by giving the cultural sector a voice. For some business plans can transform cities within a relative short time so much, that people no longer recognize the city in which they grew up in and then continuity of identity is threatened.

Indicative is also what happens in the European Parliament, since the Cultural Committee is completely sidelined while the Committee for Industrial Policy seeks to handle issues related to media and film since the new industrial sector. As these tendencies at European level reflect quite a different understanding of culture compared to what common people but also artists expect, there seems to exist a cultural gap too large to be bridged easily.

Interestingly enough, the Mediterranean region defines the relationship between the economy and culture differently, but so far this has not been really understood in Northern Europe where the Atlantic orientation dominates. As the economist Louis Baeck explains, the latter is based on a sharp division between culture and economy. ¹³ If Europe wishes to come to terms with the cultural reality of the Mediterranean region, Louis Baeck emphasizes that the household plays a dominant role. Consequently economic and other policy tools would have to be adjusted accordingly, if to work. As long as only Western terms are used, globalization and its impact in that region shall not be taken into consideration. Since that is the case when policy measures are designed at EU level, many models of development do not work. However, it would be to simply to explain the failure lies in existing cultural differences. Rather the mistake is to think an abstract model of economic growth can be imposed while there is no cultural synthesis between the Mediterranean and European states. Since a crucial point, it shall be taken up further in the following chapter.

Yet there is one thing which is missing in this Mediterranean region: the possibility to make public use of public spaces. Too often it is the case that the discourse is dominated by family orientations and further determined by the church. At the same time, belonging to the privileged sector like the military and the state ensures that only an elite and the well off have access to both the public space and the media. These two are combined to make an imprint of benevolence upon society by the rich who wish to show that they are doing something for society. All this happens under strict surveillance and repression. It means people lack generally the experience of discourse in public. Instead of being able to verify information and thereby know what is going on, only rumours fly about in abundance. Out of fear but also due to ambivalence, the critical mass of the public stays silent. Not only out of obedience to the rule of the benevolent dictatorship but in not knowing how to survive otherwise, betrayal of the true self becomes the rule rather than the exception. Dictatorship has been restored in Egypt after a short interval of Arab spring starting in 2011 and an the ill fated regime of Morsi along with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The significance of authoritarian rule, if not dictatorship as the most visible face in public can be understood when following up the analysis of 'publicness' by Habermas. In the wake of the Arab spring, this attempt to talk openly came closer to what needs to be secured in cultural terms, namely conjoining public truth with public space. Youngsters put their face behind the messages they were sending, since not afraid at that time to be arrested. Then they gave equal value to both expressing and questioning of opinions. That cultural development is still in need to be encouraged much further, if a populace is to gain independence from all kinds of manipulated sources of information. If people are to judge which policy options are best for all, they need public discussions based on independent sources of knowledge. The latter can only be secured through a culture working with memory, in order to gain consistency over time.

Likewise the United Nations and as of late the European Commission consider culture and cultural heritage to be a mere factors of 'development'. Even Melina Mercouri linked development of culture to economic growth although artists know culture is not about that, but entails a search for truth. A true expression of what one feels through a poem can be just as good as when hundred years later another person writes a poem well made. In both cases, truth is realized when the human voice can be heard.

It is said real development starts to mature once culture begins to emancipate itself from the state. There is, however, a risk involved since the state needs culture to mask itself as if its institutions make possible civilized forms of behaviour and conduct. But once culture begins to free itself, then the violent structures of the state shall be revealed. Once that happens, the state feels not only exposed but threatened as if terrorized with all the disastrous consequences such a fear will have. ¹⁴

All of this shows a critical function of culture if non violent structures are created so that human dignity shall be respected. It is done by showing different ways of perceiving things. Emancipation begins when no longer subject to a valorization process which favours the economy independent from any ethical spirit and human values. Culture says not everything is possible. Thus there need to be questioned those who make possible export of weapons while still calling for peace in the world. That is certainly one of the biggest contradictions in need to be faced. Always culture is related to a peaceful ascertainment of means to live and work together. It is best done by upholding human values.

Thus when a city has received the designation of the ECoC title, it matters to realize what theories have dominated until now nearly everything, and then to emancipate such a 'theory' which lets people communicate in an intelligent way as to how they can bring about significant changes. If Habermas could say, there where no theory exists, there violence erupts, then people need to know that 'culture is theory'. This applies especially if changes in attitudes and values are to be attained in a peaceful way. This is not self understood or easy to achieve since values are usually set premises so that any attempt to alter them can easily lead to conflicts, if not to war (Cornelius Castoriades).

Aristotle defined 'theory' as being practical by knowing the goals one strives for. He went on to explain such a knowledge is based on wishes. They let us know what is desired in terms of an imagined future. That is to say, culture is anticipation by making use of our imagination. It is a way to acquire knowledge about the direction in which it is desirable to develop in. By relating to reality the imagination allows at one and the same time seeing the given e.g. a wall running through the field and imagining the field free of any wall. That imaginative process is a measure of is possible in reality. Hence human wisdom conjoins what already Ancient Greek poets called the 'metron' with the measure of all things being the human being. As people exist in society which is by far incomplete i.e. not just, the imagined reality of a just society means in terms of measures that it shall not be an 'easy' task to realize such a society. The measures become then a mediator between the desired and what is possible on the ground. Without such mediation, something will not move or it will end up in running just against walls, including those made out of silence others maintain when seeing how futile and hopeless such an unimaginative attempt to change society really is.

For this reason, ECoC cities are well advised to reflect culture as a need to emancipate 'theory' by freeing people from habits of seeing things, in order to know not only consciously what is going on, but also so that they can create for themselves new opportunities to unfold their creative selves. All this is said because

“every age has a theory of rising and falling, of growth and decay, of bloom and wilt: a theory of nature. Every age also has a theory about the past and the present, of what was and what is, a notion of time: a theory of history. Theories of history used to be supernatural: the divine ruled time; the hand of God, a special providence, lay behind the fall of each sparrow. If the present differed from the past, it was usually worse: supernatural theories of history tend to involve decline, a fall from grace, the loss of God’s favor, corruption. Beginning in the eighteenth century, as the intellectual historian Dorothy Ross once pointed out, theories of history became secular; then they started something new—historicism, the idea “that all events in historical time can be explained by prior events in historical time.” Things began looking up. First, there was that, then there was this, and this is better than that. The eighteenth century embraced the idea of progress; the nineteenth century had evolution; the twentieth century had growth and then innovation. Our era has disruption, which, despite its futurism, is atavistic. It’s a theory of history founded on a profound anxiety about financial collapse, an apocalyptic fear of global devastation, and shaky evidence.” ¹⁵

Rightly though, in this modern age of technical surveillance but also due to a-symmetrical warfare happening, reality is made to appear 'ambivalent'. Often this political manipulation goes hand in hand with the intent to destroy or to contaminate the evidence as the world has just witnessed in the aftermath of the downing of MH17, the Malaysian flight which came down in Eastern Ukraine with 298 people on board. For lack of evidence, theories in need to explain what happened are replaced by speculative rumours or even worse by false accusations. It shows how important it is that the traces left behind by previous actions are picked up, in order to be able to tell a truthful story as to what took place in reality. The re-accounting is a part of that learning process. It underlines what Wittgenstein said about philosophy being but a special way on how to remember things.

Most of the time deception is the name of the game, in order to seduce people into believing that there is no love but only hate in a world which is supposedly completely indifferent to their own ideas and especially felt pain. All too often such a world view has led to resignation, or else to such a resolute decision taken once and for all times, as if the desire for change can be manifested by a single act marked by an irrevocable change. The aim appears to be to commit oneself to something so strongly that it is impossible to be taken back. It can be interpreted as a response to a world which is not committed to anything, hence indifferent whether or not, for example, human values are upheld to preserve human dignity.

Caught in-between despair and a negative world, people end up being trapped in their own mistakes and wrong decisions. They can get only out if they admit of having made a mistake. Yet such an exposure brings with it other risks. For once able to get out of their self confining entanglement, they would need to know what to say in public. Out of a fear to make a mistake, many prefer to stay silent. The lack of commitment to go public happens especially in situations marked by ongoing conflicts and therefore heightened fear to take sides. As a result many more human lives shall be endangered since no one seems capable of challenging negative developments in time. This is becoming all too evident in 2014 since too many innocent people have lost their lives, and this by mainly due to senseless killings. But what can people do to counter all these destructive forces exploding around them and often catching them off guard?

Philosophically speaking, culture reflects an 'order of things' which is in transition all the time. These changes are best perceived both from an anthropological and from an ethnological viewpoint so that identity is formed in a tension field linking the inner to the outer world. Since few can stand this tension, people try to fit only inside such an order. They do so on the basis of a restrictive because one-sided 'self understanding' but which they consider to be normal, even so it becomes abnormal when they start to exclude ever more the others. As photo journalist Kevin Cooper in Belfast put it after having observed many years of conflicts, most dangerous is once the abnormal is viewed as normal. This links to the general political resignation expressed best by saying all politicians are corrupt.

Moreover confusion arises when all kinds of messages put their minds in a frenzy. It makes them unable to think outside the 'box'. Going down a street of the Loyalists in Belfast with banners of the Union Jack hanging to the left and right to remind how important is the loyalty to the crown, one wonders how can people think then of anything else? It is like scratching old wounds over and again so that a real story is replaced by a historical legend about a lasting wound which justifies right into the present a hostile view towards the non Loyalists or the Catholics wishing to emancipate themselves from the British tutelage. Once no space is left to think about something else, fierce loyalties can be instigated and perpetuated as if a normal viewpoint. Further going reflections can show what underlying structures exist to uphold this. They go hand in hand with glorification rather than questioning use of violence e.g. hero-ship of having served as soldier the crown during First World War while the Catholics recall violence as a well deserved means to free oneself from the British yoke even if it was a really bloody revolution. Both sides in Northern Ireland do not realize how far removed they are from others in Europe who recall the violence incurred during First World War with shudder, and which made Paul Klee say it destroyed all sense of beauty.

That these structures can be deduced as well out of a painting Michel Foucault showed in his book called 'les mots et les choses'. At the very beginning he refers to a painter about to do a portrait of the royal family. Significant to Foucault is that the painter places himself in the middle of the painting and in front of the royal family standing for the portrait. Only the king and queen are missing. However, they can be seen as just entering the room when looking into a mirror hanging at the back of the room. According to Foucault, the painting captures a moment when the decentralization of feudal power begins to show itself as new forces are about to take central stage. Foucault's interpretation shows how the arts can be used to gauge reality by tracing a new representation of things. ¹⁶

Many things can be traced through the history of art. Adorno said beautiful spots in music are created when an original side tune heard only occasionally at the beginning, suddenly crosses over the main tune and becomes instead the major melody. Likewise stories about the beginning of the ECoC project start to cross over. When Bob Palmer reflected the very beginning, he mentioned not only Melina Mercouri but Jack Lang and portrayed the two as if brother and sister who conceived together this project. It should be noted that such a shift on how it all began has a lot to do with different claims as to who should get the credit for having initiated this project.

In the Renaissance period Giotto perceived the individual differently in time and space from what was to follow. For instance, the German Expressionists focused less on the individual as they wanted to puncture the lies which were strangling cities and people. Instead of individuals filling the space, they depicted all the more the rich, corrupt and ugly ones leaving no space for the others.

Hence a practical question has to be put if V18 can rectify this omission of 'culture as theory'? It would require setting new terms for culture, involve Europe as a whole and see to it that a new cultural synthesis can be realized. The opportunity is certainly there. The people of Malta have the advantage that they speak not one, but two languages, with one of them being English so that they can easily communicate with the rest of Europe. At the same time being located at the most Southern border of Europe, and therefore close to the Middle East, it makes people of Malta into natural interlocutors between Europe and the Mediterranean countries. But to connect Europe through culture shall be no easy task. It will require quite a specific 'theory' of culture but given a highly appreciative nature of people in Malta as to what others can contribute, it should make 2018 into an unusual year for both the people of Malta and the rest of Europe.

About the term 'culture' itself, there is the Greek word 'politismos'. It means literally the knowledge people have of their city which is a 'cosmos' and therefore includes both people and universe. Culture differs from civilization. While the latter conveys values and practices for the long term, culture always seeks to test and express them in the present. Always the cultural aim is to find out what still holds as order of things and how changes thereof shall manifest themselves. As a matter of fact, only in the living, ongoing equally changing present, culture breathes, seeks the light, follows the pattern of rivers and lets poets call the traveller to pause. For the present has a story to tell about 'ancient wisdoms' just as people with their dreams can imagine what lies ahead.

Here then is touched upon something only culture can convey despite all uncertainties, namely how human values can be attained over time by being 'consistent'. It is a way to work through problems, overcome conflicts and bring about an understanding of what is true in life. In order to bring all that out in a painting or through music, artists add to this a sense of beauty. It entails expressing an amazement what wisdom there exists. It is best painted or described in the way life is being upheld. Given all the varieties of the arts to do and create things, the diversity of expressions underlines at the same time why 'human dignity' is so important. For only in recognizing its 'invisible presence', a sense of beauty can be brought out in such a painting as the one depicting a fortune teller who reads the hand of one sly man while his friend steals from behind money out of her bag to make the telling of fortune a complete 'vicious cycle'.

Jürgen Habermas has called human dignity something which matters to everyone and hence can be considered to be a prime consensus which needs no further justification. From there world governance can start. Thus he conceives the European Union being but a stepping stone towards that. In other words, it would be horrific if this world dimension would be negated by falling back to mere local and national references. For governance through culture as the case with Europe is based on sharing common values of democratic culture. Europe would risk to fall back to nineteenth century national models rather than progressing into the future if this cultural consensus would not be observed. European and world governance require that if to reach an ever higher degree of sophistication in ways of organizing Free Trade as much as keeping international peace alive.

In Europe and in the world the real story of such a transition is still in need to be told. As shown by the failure of the peace talks in the Middle East, that is no easy task. One reason for this failure might be explained by what Michel Foucault stated as people only then talking to each other if they have no victory necessary. Sadly enough, the outlook for peace has grown even dimmer but before any solutions is attempted, time should be given to think and more importantly to mourn. Alexander Mitscherlich said Germans after Second World War could not trust others nor each other because they had not mourned yet the losses of so many innocent lives. Sadness and grief are companions of those parents whose children shall never come home and instead war has entered their house.

If any critical assessment is to be made of European Capitals of Culture as to how they contribute towards Europe being connected through culture, then best from a vantage point outside of Europe. Here the library in Alexandria with its Mediterranean Institute could become a vantage point by housing the common archive for all EcoCs and thereby guide research and documentation by posing quite a different set of theoretical questions. For instance, one such question could be about what contributions European Capitals of Culture have made so far to the overall cultural development in Europe (and not merely to advance the profile of their own city). It would mean taking a closer look if ECoCs made European culture become more sensitive to the needs and fears of adjacent countries, including those bordering on the Mediterranean. Judging alone by what has happened before, during and after the Arab spring broke out in 2011, the necessary dialogue between Europe and the Middle East has not being practised. But judging from the outside, it can be perceived that Europe has still the tendency to look down at the Orient and to impose its values. While the non European countries hover in a post colonial mind, the European elite is fixated out of nostalgia to an imperial past. It drives especially the educated elites of Mediterranean countries like Greece into but a poor imitation of what Europe praises as being successful models of cultural adaptation to a prescribed course of development. ¹⁷

If Europe cannot be connected through a culture which is sensitive enough to other cultures, it is also because the ECoC cities failed to uphold a continuity of learning. Since they are also not asked to make a contribution to the very institution from which they derive the title, no refinement of knowledge about culture over time shall take place. Also there exists no common archive. ¹⁸ As for the European Commission which oversees the selection process, it shows no real interest until now in promoting such an institute which could house the common archive. And with regards to the shortcomings in implementation, they are explained by the fact that the jury which selects a city and the monitoring group which follows up this designation, have practically no real influence as to what shall really shape in the end the respective programmes of the ECoCs. All these anomalies reappear in a random search for criteria of success. Hence no appraisal is made as to what substantiated really the concept of culture. For instance, if culture is to bring out the practical wisdom to make peace not war, it would be crucial to see what contribution a particular ECoC makes to further a culture of peace especially in a world tormented by violence and war.

Insofar as violence erupts where there is no 'theory' (Habermas), ECoC would be well advised to heed this need to emancipate 'theory'. Peace means after all that there is a humane culture at work and therefore a non violent way of governance in place. An integral part thereof would be to reach a cultural consensus as constraint for decisions about the artistic programme. It would focus among other things on resolving conflicts through cultural work. Since the latter depends in turn on what artists can do to further a human understanding of the conflicts and issues at hand, it means facing reality but in a humane way. Conflicts can be resolved by putting all problems on the table and learning to talk about them. Moreover no problem can ever be solved, if not clearly defined. With it goes a language based on 'human self consciousness'. It matters how people address each other when trying to find answers. Here has to be acknowledged that dialogue with the imagination begins with the arts. In poetry it means words say something in connection with something truthful but also because it touches upon human pain. Only then can it be known what is happening in reality. Above all, the various arts are needed for a cultural synthesis in the making.

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