7.0 Some Concluding Remarks Towards a Definition of ‘Showcasing

and

children’s cartoons,’ religion was also a strong and recurring theme which appeared in approximately 17% of early post-Soviet stamps in Russia (Brunn, 2011:30).

Child (2010) surveys approaches to stamp design taken in Latin America, noting that in the region

over ‘the last several decades stamps have developed their own strong identity, which increases

their value as a source of information on the area’ (Child, 2010:109). Authoritarian governments in South America have sought to legitimate and embed themselves, foreground their political views

and declaim new social epochs using stamps (Child, 2010:116). There are also several examples of

the utilisation of stamps to convey messages pertaining to culture echoing the definition of cultural

relations and its current function as a tool for growing trade and inward investment. For example,

stamps relating to coffee production and consumption mirror the cultural and economic importance

of the crop for Latin American identity and trade. Latin American countries have also been prolific in

their production of stamps depicting tourism, advertising attractions both nationally and

internationally in the hope of stimulating the industry and bolstering national pride in their natural

endowment (Child, 2005:124). Tourism also features heavily in the thematic classifications that

Raento & Brunn allocate to stamps in their analysis of Finnish postage stamps 1917-2000, the genre

of tourism, leisure and recreation’ was portrayed in a quarter of the overall sample of 1457 stamps.

The analysis identified 16 classifications of which stamps featuring arts and culture and folklore,

customs and rituals represented a combined 28% of total output (Raento & Brun, 2005;147).

Tourism featured much less prominently in the early post-Soviet issues of stamps issued by newly

independent European and Central Asian states, this was at least in part due to the relative under-

development of the sector at the time (Brunn, 2000:322). It is interesting to note that – of the 19

countries surveyed in Brunn’s review of post-soviet stamp-iconography, in addition to flags, coats of

arms, maps and famous sons, ‘traditional arts and costumes appeared on Central Asian stamps. The works of famous landscape and portrait artists were depicted on the stamps of seven countries’ (Brunn, 2000:321) and the majority of states chose to depict significant poets, writers, artists, song

festivals, scientists and athletes too (Brunn, 2000:322). Jenkins (2012) records the ways in which

South African rock art has been incorporated into regional stamp design, charting the journey of depictions from those which portrayed bushmen as primitive and/or childlike to those in which rock

art has increasingly be utilised as a national symbol of South Africa (Jenkins, 2012:470 & 473-80).

This review has examined scholarly and grey literature analysing arts and cultural events, which

provide an opportunity for the ‘showcasing’ of creative output. The term ‘showcasing’ currently has

little resonance in the academic cannon. Thus, a broader approach was taken in order to uncover

literature of potential relevance. While not an exhaustive review of literature, the foregoing review

and analysis provides insights into the ways in which art is foregrounded in cohesive and focussed

ways to provide an opportunity for the art to come to the notice of a greater audience, (both

nationally and internationally) this might be considered as a tentative definition of the phenomenon

of showcasing. The review also revealed the commonalities of practice across the international firmament.15

It is immediately noticeable that there are two distinct types of showcasing; that in which the state

has a more discernible hand (i.e. the Cultural Olympiad or Biennial Arts events and ‘Years Of ‘events)

and that in which grassroots momentum is more apparent (i.e. the role of the tourist gaze in defining/co-producing sites of interest in literary tourism). Arguably, a third, intermediate, position is

represented by the postage stamp; one in which the state has input into the designs reaching the

sender but, the sender is free to make a selection according to his preference. These nuances are

important to consider here as they point to the, arguably inevitable, missing elements of cultural

diplomacy and cultural relations in connection with showcasing activities.

Our exploration of Cultural Olympiads, Biennales and ‘Years Of’ Events has demonstrated that these

events are staged at a crossroads between cultural diplomacy and cultural relations. This is

particularly the case in our current era of straitened financial resources; potentially, only state

backing can guarantee the necessary monetary support to promote art on a scale, which provides

the opportunity for projection on an international scale (i.e. to a potential international audience of

a significant size). Such reach, however, means that economic, branding, sponsorship and other

interests can encroach upon the spaces and places for creative and artistic endeavour in these

settings. For example, the Cultural Olympiad in Turin (2006) promoted local industries and traditions

rather than a cultural experience (see section: 3.0), incompatible sponsorship interests meant that

Canada’s Scotiabank Dance Centre was erased from the cultural scene for the duration of the Vancouver Games (2010) (see section: 3.1), the Kenyan exhibit at the Venice Biennial comprised a

curious melange of Chinese and Italian artists’ work; few Kenyan artists had been offered any opportunity to participate (see section: 2.1). The ‘Years Of’ or Bi-Country twinning for a Year e.g. UK/Russia Year of Culture 2014 or the EU Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, allows for arts showcasing

on both a large and a small scale with community groups and artists working together and is being

used as a strategic approach by state governments widely (see section 4). Funded programmes are

also a successful means showcasing and the Cultural Programme of Creative Europe that ran from

15 i.e. the Havana Biennial is – in part – the Cuban response to north/south division in world art networks, rather than engagement with an entirely different approach.

2007-2013 presented good evidence of international cooperation and dialogue through working

partnerships across Europe.

‘Years Of’ and events such as the Cultural Olympiad and Biennales can offer invaluable platforms to

arts and artists to exhibit their work and, when successful, these endeavours accrue clear benefits at

the interface of cultural relations and cultural diplomacy (i.e. Angola’s Golden Lion winning pavilion at the Venice Biennial or Mexico’s successful recasting of her image as an outcome of the 1968

Cultural Olympiad – see sections: 3.1.1 and 4.1)

While the audiences attracted to sites of cultural heritage, museums, galleries and literary

pilgrimage may be fewer in number (at least at any given moment) than the total global audience of

an Olympic opening ceremony, they are nonetheless significant. Notably, the processes of

identifying and engaging with sites of significance are more clearly led by the ordinary citizen (i.e. a local or tourist), whose own interest and/ or curiosity motivates them to seek out opportunities to discover more about a given artist or cultural site/phenomenon. Thus, tourists have played a

significant role in shaping and navigating routes through these realms and, interestingly, preferences of the state (i.e. prioritisation of favoured sites and/or narratives) are relegated to a secondary

position. The foregoing analysis of cultural heritage and literary tourism (sections 5.0 & 5.1)

highlights the consumer’s role as co-producer or these sites and, thus, foregrounds showcasing

functioning in a manner which is more redolent of cultural relations than cultural diplomacy. The use

of culturally and artistically significant approaches in the built environment offers an opportunity to

embed art and crafts in public space; to be enjoyed (or ignored) by passers-by according to their

whim (again, the emphasis here is rather more on co-production rather than projection), with the

result that gaze is less easily directed and impact less straightforwardly measured. Nevertheless, the significance of such platforms for the showcasing of art/culture should not by overlooked.

The smallest showcasing platform discussed above is that of the postage stamp. Although mundane and ubiquitous, the stamp is an opportunity to draw the eye/attention of its recipient to (among

other things) the artistic and cultural offer of a sender’s nation. The crossover between cultural diplomatic and cultural relational is once more evident. For example, coffee is an important cultural

marker for South Americans as well as an important export for their countries, the depiction of famous artist and/or representations of their work both serves to project a curated (positive) image and (potentially) to attract fans of their work as visitors and consumers.16

16 The Royal Mail has recently presented an issue of Harry Potter stamps: https://bit.ly/2T6XokP

With the preceding in mind, it is possible to finesse the definition of showcasing thus far developed:

art showcasing foregrounds art in cohesive and focused ways in order to provide an opportunity for

art and culture to come to the notice of a greater audience (locally, nationally and internationally) in a manner which is consistent with the cultural relations and/or cultural diplomacy aims of the Country/Agency.

As is the case with other forms of cultural relations and cultural diplomacy activity, the outcomes

and impacts of the activities undertaken as showcasing may be difficult to map and measure. This,

however, does not mean that they should be underestimated.