{"id":540,"date":"2011-03-22T14:12:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-22T14:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leedscd.wordpress.com\/?p=540"},"modified":"2011-03-22T14:12:06","modified_gmt":"2011-03-22T14:12:06","slug":"cultural-hunting-and-cultural-gardening-in-leeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2011\/03\/22\/cultural-hunting-and-cultural-gardening-in-leeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Hunting and Cultural Gardening in Leeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems that the dust is settling after the extravaganza that was Frankenstein’s Wedding<\/a> came to Leeds. \u00a0Broadcast live on BBC3, with clips filmed in advance across the city and a live\u00a0audience\u00a0of 12000 at Kirkstall Abbey the event was nothing if not ambitious.<\/p>\n

[youtube=http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=F4GTbETUyGU]<\/p>\n

It strikes me that the production was a lovely example of what can be achieved through a strategy of ‘cultural hunting’. \u00a0We attract BIG culture to the city and\u00a0participate\u00a0avidly in its consumption. \u00a0‘Cultural hunting’ is about attracting outsiders, usually on a temporary or short-term basis to provide an experience that we could not put on\u00a0ourselves.<\/p>\n

In contrast to a\u00a0strategy\u00a0of ‘cultural hunting’ is one of ‘cultural gardening’. \u00a0This would be characterised by nurturing the competence and capacity of cultural producers that are already in the city, enabling them to explore the edges of their potential and develop their talents and vision. \u00a0It is a strategy that ‘starts from where we are, and works with what we have got’.<\/p>\n

Getting the balance right between attracting talent from elsewhere and investing in growing your own is always tricky. \u00a0 There are\u00a0parallels\u00a0in how you develop football clubs (do you buy your team or bring them through an academy) and how you\u00a0grow\u00a0an economy through attracting inward investment or growing your own<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Is Frankenstein’s Wedding and its ilk really what Leeds is looking for? \u00a0Or is it a more stable platform from which we can develop and showcase more of our indigenous talent?<\/p>\n