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| Jan 3 2011, 8:22 AM EST (current) | Je_Suis_Barry | 28 words added, 1 word deleted |
| Jan 3 2011, 8:20 AM EST | Je_Suis_Barry | 20 words added, 54 words deleted |
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“But there is indeed a common code in the diverse workings of the network enterprise. It is made of many cultures, many values, many projects, which cross through the minds and inform the strategies of the various participants in the networks, challenging at the same pace as the network’s members, and following the organizational and cultural transformation of the units of the network. It is a culture, indeed, but a culture of the ephemeral, a culture of each strategic decision, a patchwork of experiences and interests, rather than a charter of rights and obligations.”
Manuel Castells - The rise of the network society
Independent Culture is a positive force in the research and development of contemporary culture. It is an artistic, social and economic working attitude that runs through different disciplines, genres and styles. Independent Culture is developing rapidly. New production and distribution methods encouraged by Digital media and cheap transit stimulated an independent network of artists, labels, bookers, galleries and curators. At the same time this globalization process is threatening European Independent Culture. Traditional festivals and media more and more focus on the obvious. They bring the ubiquitous avant-garde, or the standard entertainment. Often they don't engage with independent artists in an early stage of their development.
Incubate is a cultural network organization on Independent Culture. It serves as a creative hub in Dutch province. It's a place where international and local artists, audiences and media engage. Incubate also operates in a network of co-production. According to research Incubate attracts 25% international visitors. 73% of the artists came from abroad. It drewdraws press from all over Europe. Characteristic for a cultural network organization like Incubate, is that also collaboration with and between local education, volunteers, start-ups and the business sector emerges from this network.
What makes Incubate special? It's the vibrancy, the scale, the broadness and the depth. Like The Quietus wrote: "To be truthful, Incubate is more than a festival: it’s a form of arts activism, but based on a liberal arts ethos rather than any specific political identity. Incubate genuinely believes in the power of the arts to refine the fabric of public life. It’s true that, for the duration of the festival, municipal, public, rural and even ecclesiastical spaces are repurposed towards the radical party that the Incubate team has imagined into being; wandering from venue to venue, back and forth across the city, gives the impression of a net being woven, a collective effort."
One-off events like Incubate have a landmark function. Unlike the usual cultural facilities in a region like pop and jazz venues, museums and funfairs some events add a daring touch to a region. It brings international artists to the region and regional artists to international partners.Independent Culture feeds the arts scene and the commercial scene. The festival draws professionals from profit as well as non-profit organizations. It draws agents, promoters, label bosses as well as trend watchers and lifestyle journalists. With this function it's the research and development department of society as a whole.
Richard Florida argues that the level of regional economic development depends on the levels of technology, talent, and tolerance that regions harbour. Tolerance, in this case, is a measure for diversity of lifestyles, the creativity that results from it and population's openness towards non-traditional lifestyles. Incubate adds non-traditional lifestyles and daring social visions to the local landscape and thereby increases tolerance. Which in turn increases economic development.
Incubate stimulates the innovative power of the region. According to the 'Atlas voor Gemeenten 2010', relatively much young people and students live in Tilburg. But it has a detaining percentage of the the creative and cultural class, especially when it comes to cultural events. Educated people leave. Incubate stimulates the business climate. Incubate is giving impulses to the sections of cultural events, theatre and knowledge economy.
Within a professional context Incubate brings art that is normally not presented in a professional context. Because of the volume, the marketing and the services, these art forms find their way to mainstream media and a bigger crowd. It often picks up bigger themes that are manifest in the undercurrents and brings them to the surface of bigger crowds and media. It also picks up artists whose work has not been shown in The Netherlands like Sun Ra Arkestra, Hermann Nitsch and Jacob Kirkegaard.
Incubate works with bigger artistic themes and combines them. This connects artists and audiences. Incubate contributes to cultural participation. It engages new audiences into the arts. Besides that it creates new sites like pubs and a synagogue for the arts.
