Editorial Three
December 2005
By Charlotte Brüel
Visual Art Politics is – intentionally - a hybrid between a website and a journal.
We are handling the broader steps of updating the website as if we were publishing a new issue of a journal, with belonging editorials.
We intend to profit from the logical posibility of re-publishing articles and interviews – before they go the the “Archive”-lists – when the content of the articles still is perspectivating, what is discussed in the latest contributions. (Poor editor of a printed journal, who would bring the same article twice – or even several times – even if the content has not lost its relevans, in further ongoing discussions.
Normally journalists need to write a new article – to keep the discussion heated, although he or she might have had a lucky moment, discribing a given situation exhaustively, given the frames of an article. Different on a web site product.
A Language Policy of our Website
In this issue Visual Art Politics introduce our new language policy. Well knowing that the language of communication in EVAN, and in Visual Art Politics, too, is English, we introduce a full version-video interview in Danish with the new rector of The Royal Academy of Copenhagen*, “Idéen om, hvad en kunstuddannelse er”, while we are bringing a parallel, shortversion interview in English, too, with the new Danish rector of the Academy of Copenhagen, this version only as a text-interview. (Go to “Interviews”)
The overriding intention is to give a reminder, that Europe is no homogeneous continent – but rather geografically, linguistically and culturally very diverse.
These differencies, mostly – but not exactly correct - described as national differencies, is lying beneath the multietnic societies which are “popping up” all over Europe these years.
The intension is to give the readers of this web site journal a chance through primary experience, by listening to or reading foreign languages, spontaneously and individually to register what is communicated as either understandable or foreign. *) The video can also be downloaded as pdf text file – if anybody besides the Scandinavian readers should like to test the Danish language.
But the idea has a practical dimension, too:
Who shall pay translations of long articles or interviews, in a time of very, very poor economy behind the project Visual Art Politics?
Bringing articles in English – which is our “duty” – sometimes make scope and extent more limited than we should like – due to the expenses of translations!!
So a suggestion:
In case – let’s say - a Finnish reader take interest in the short English interview with Mikkel Bogh, the new rector of the Royal Academy in Copenhagen, maybe the interest in the thought exchanges re higher arts education or maybe the timing of a given information is fitting so well with the situation on the Finnish artscene, that the curiousity of further details in the discussion is strong enough inspiration for the Finnish, French, evt. German, in this example still Finnish, readers to make it possible to raise the needed money for a translation of the full scale Danish interview into English – so that other member countries will be able to profit from such an individual, single extra economic contribution to EVAN / Visual Art Politics, if a translation of a given text, written in some one’s mother tongue – although with some delay – in such a way later may be accessable at the website.
Continuity in the debate is of high importance.
But not always easy to keep up with.
Visual Art Politics try to keep the discussions from ECA’s conference in Amsterdam, October 2004, going on - about artistic careers and higher arts education in Europe - by bringing interviews with the new Danish rector of the Academy in Copenhagen about his visions for the new job.
We also recommend the book “a portrait of the artist in 2015”, compiled by Ingrid Janssen and published at Boekmanstudies, 2004, on initiative of ECA, European Council of Artists (www.eca.dk)
As a comment on the increasing amount of conferences, expected to be of relevanse to the artists in Europe, we bring a column by Una Walker, “What I didn’t do in September”, vaguely ironizing on the situation.
Finally the links re “dry facts” has been updated – details re Sweden has been added.
Copenhagen, 30th of November 2005