Abstract
Since the late 1970’s, “waterfront revitalization” projects utilizing private-public partnerships have instrumentalized arts at moments of urban transformation. These partnerships, in which a private corporation embeds within a “public” entity, are a significant form amongst institutions that fund modern music. While the legal framework for such partnerships vary, they have played a crucial but overlooked role in sponsoring public performances. The private-public dialectic in property ownership is a subject of considerable discussion in legal history and philosophy. But dominant studies in urban sociology dealing with funding patterns for art, and its significance to gentrification have a primary focus on the art market, which leads to the treatment of spaces as static aesthetic objects. What can this dialectic offer in studies pertaining to music performance scenes? And are private-public partnerships audible? I study several venues in New York City as well as site-specific performances and installations associated with waterfront revitalization projects in other urban centers. The critical question I ask in this work is how can we determine what agency composers, performers, audiences (and sometimes academics) have when performance are curated by state actors working hand in hand with developers? Rather than impetuously pointing fingers, it is possible for scholars and activists to systematically evaluate contradictions at play in a variety of concert situations. This work is informed by data I amassed as co-founder and president of ensemble mise-en and mise-en place Brooklyn, a non-profit new music ensemble and performance space in Brooklyn, New York operating since 2012.
Presenters
Akiva ZamcheckVisiting Assistant Professor, Music, Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life
KEYWORDS
Performance Spaces, Cities, Site-specific, Organizations, Non-Profits, Urban Policy and Planning
