Cultural diplomacy and internationalism in regional art institutions
- Submitting institution
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Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 32Z_OP_D1008
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
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10.1080/1472586X.2020.1715242
- Title of journal
- Visual Studies
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 350-363
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 4
- ISSN
- 1472-586X
- Open access status
- Technical exception
- Month of publication
- -
- Year of publication
- 2020
- URL
-
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This article analyses nascent dialogues of internationalism in regional art institutions, focussing on the case study ‘Art from Elsewhere’ (2014-16), a touring exhibition that showcased recent international art acquisitions by five regional UK galleries. These galleries benefitted from an Art Fund International charitable grant of £5 million to enhance their collections.
This article is the only academic text that explores the role of regional art galleries in cultural diplomacy. It argues that the cultural capital of world centres is decentred through regional display of international art. This work also demonstrates that the subversive qualities of contemporary art can contribute to cultural diplomacy by showing that a particular country is tolerant of critique. Finally, it is proposed that art galleries juxtapose works both in symmetry and contrast to one another, negating the hegemony of any particular nation-state.
These research findings challenge a foundational work in the field by Gienow-Hect (2010) which asserts that cultural diplomacy constitutes mere propaganda, only promoting ‘national culture.’ The article suggests changes to current UK cultural policy whereby most official cultural diplomacy initiatives are run through the British Council and National Museums. Instead, informal collaboration between the third sector and regional art galleries renders global contemporary art more accessible to a much wider demographic of the British public.
A site-visit to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery was conducted to analyse the gallery’s display mechanisms and conduct formal analysis. Through the site visit, it became clear that curators based at regional institutions principally choose works which are politically engaged, containing border-transcending messages. Via UK government and think tank reports, the researcher evidences that charitable giving from Art Fund International (£5 million in 2007) was more significant than government-based funding from the Department of Sport, Media and Culture (£4 million between 2008-2011) for international art acquisitions in the UK.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -