Dynamic Dialogues II: The Cultural Cabinet
Our project in Helsingborg constitutes a community driven cultural engine!
One of the outcomes of the first Dynamic Dialogues was the suggestions to create a community driven cultural body that would be able serve as the ears, eyes and fists in the cultural development of Helsingborg. We named this the Cultural Cabinet (in Swedish: Kulturting). The second Dynamic Dialogues, held on Friday 18 November 2011, was dedicated to the constitution of this Cultural Cabinet. The Theatre and Clear Village staged a test-run of how the Cultural Cabinet could be operating. The purpose of the Lab was to learn by doing, thereby build a concept of what the Cultural Cabinet could be and right at the end make the decision whether it should exist and in which form.
The kick-off questions were:
HOW does a Cultural Cabinet look?
HOW can the Cultural Cabinet help you?
HOW can Helsingborg City Theatre support the Cultural Cabinet?
The Dynamic Dialogues team lined up tasks and exercises, possible funding partners, spaces appropriate for experimentation and independent performers all to be discussed, strategised and planned by the Cultural Cabinet.
We first looked at the wider perspective of the Cultural Cabinet, through an exercise where council groups were formed, responsible for operations, community embedding, business plan, international relevance, education etc. Having shared and synthesised that, the Cultural Cabinet was faced with the reality of Helsingborg through independent agents presenting their projects and engaging in a Q&A session with the participants.
These examples of cultural players in Helsingborg were: Gustav Hoegmo with his play, Robert Lillhonga with his new film, Brigitta Killander from the Municipality’s Cultural Department, Jennifer Rahfeldt played songs from her latest album, the regeneration agency H+ presented their cultural initiatives, Niklas Uhrberg presented Jazz Helsingborg and Albin his Cabaret Candyclub.
Successively, the council groups were prompted to collaborate and create scenarios of how to operate, based on, but not limited to, the examples they had just seen. This was an afternoon of energetic intensity and weirdly wonderful chaos!
We concluded this Dynamic Dialogue, not only with the decision to constitute the Cultural Cabinet there and then, but also to step out into the public realm with four hours of cultural action as soon as the 17 December 2011!
We want to congratulate Helsingborg on its community driven Cultural Cabinet, wish everyone the best of luck with this new array of cultural initiatives and are looking immensely forward to the next Dynamic Dialogues in early spring of 2012.
Click here for the participants of Dynamic Dialogues Lab #2.
Click here for the programme of Dynamic Dialogues Lab #2.
