European inventory of
societal values of culture

Tomka – Spaces for culture at urban peripheries: The case of culture stations and Novi Sad European Capital of Culture 2022

Tomka, G. (2023). Spaces for culture at urban peripheries: The case of culture stations and Novi Sad European Capital of Culture 2022

The rapid spatial growth of the city of Novi Sad resulted in a growing issue of centralisation of its cultural infrastructure. As a remedy, a network of Culture Stations was proposed. The project, governed by the Foundation NS2021, was realised within the Novi Sad European Capital of Culture title. The functioning of these cultural venues raises many important issues for cultural policy and management. First, as a very open platform for the cultural participation of citizens at large, it raises the question of the good balance between amateurism and professionalism. Many programmes are banal, socially irrelevant, and even overly private. What are the dangers of such populist management? Second, vague programming and management procedures also reveal issues surrounding another frequent assumption of cultural policies, which is that decentralised cultural infrastructure as such
brings cultural democracy. What else is needed in terms of education and community building that can truly enable meaningful participation in cultural life? Third, this case shows the importance and value of sociological data, knowledge, and expertise for a socially relevant cultural policy. It also poses a question: what are other areas of cultural policy in which sociological research could play an important part?