IETM Brussels video: Opening keynote speech by Eric Corijn
IETM Brussels Plenary Meeting kicked-off on the 23rd of November bringing 900 performing arts professionals from all over the world to discuss the role of art in the age of populism.
Watch the video recording of the opening keynote speech “Art in the age of populism” by Eric Corijn, professor in Urban Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and share your impressions on social media by using the hashtag #IETMBrussels.
Video frame not displaying correctly? Click here to watch the video.
“Populism” has become a container concept which needs clarification. But regardless of the shapes it takes, it comes down to a way of doing politics, pretending to express directly the voice of the people without mediation. Thus it is a symptom of the crisis of representative democracy, of the void between politics and the citizen. If we don’t want to give up on democracy by choosing for an authoritarian system, we have to search for new forms of democracy. That search, intertwined as it is with the question of representation, challenges the producers of art, culture and knowledge. What are the shortcomings of existing forms of representation? How can art and science contribute to participatory democracy? What are the mental maps for a world in transition?
You can also watch the video recording of the IETM Brussels day opening plenary “Pluralist Populist Poetics”.