Cultural heritage, artistic innovation, urban development and the desire for a ‘culture of co-operation’ in the case of ECoC Pécs2010

István Tarrósy, Ph.D., assistant professorUniversity of Pécs, Faculty of Humanities

The Heritage of the City – Europe’s Future congress, Berlin, 9 December 2011

Topics to discuss

• The bid concept of Pécs from the point of view of the heritage and innovation dichotomy

• Rediscovering urbanity – preservation and development – some good examples

• Obstacles via political traditions – political culture and the desire for a new culture of co-operation – some basic failures – based upon the current research project funded by OTKA (Hungarian Scientific Research Fund), run by the Dept. of Political Studies, University of Pécs

• The potential heritage of ECoC Pécs2010

Pécs and its city-region

„Five”• City of Five Churches (Fünfkirchen,

Quinqueecclesiae)• Five historic temporal layers• Five pillars of the bid• Five key development projects Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, Kodály Concert Hall, Regional

Library, Revival of public squares and parks, Grand exhibition hall

• Five years incl. preparatory years and 2010

Cella Septichora

Revival of public spaces

New cultural content – new narratives

Dóra Palatinus – Zoltán Makra: „37 m2” – 2010

financed partially by Aix-en-Provence Foundation (P. Vasarely)

New cultural content – new narratives

Sipőcz Pharmacy turned into ‘House of local products’ – 2010

Member of the Cultural Industry Cluster (KIKK)

The importance of new narratives• Narrative: connects through time Zsolnay’s motto:

”Where the past presents the future”• Based upon dialogue – not only political discussion, but

among all actors, between all actors• Based upon common debates, a joint effort to think

about past, present and the future• Any careful planning must be based upon this• …but this (pre-)supposes (some) co-operation• Many interpretations of culture + political culture,

the culture of dialogue/discussion/debate a culture of co-operation

ECoC Pécs2010• Opportunity and potential• Opportunities lost: cultural decentralisation as a

concept, making citizens feel they can make it happen, allowing long-term co-operation to get developed/strenghtened, new type of cultural consumption to get launched, new forms of regional/international presence (co-operation), new culture of co-operation to get laid down…

• Opportunity gained: new infrastructure, new physical setting, but with debts and no real vision for utilisation, management…

These will all stay

The heritage of Pécs2010• People rapidly forgetting about it (surveys) and not being aware

what really has happened (apart from the insfrastructure)• The planned ‘cultural paradigm shift’ has not even been

launched• On the cultural map of Europe?• (Again) a typical example how such a complex, multi-sectoral,

multi-player project (cause) cannot work in the country…?• All because Pécs has been ‘entrapped in multi-level

governance’? more to come out of a 4-year research project run by the Dept. of Political Studies, University of Pécs (OTKA K 81571 project)

Thank you for your attention!

tarrosy.istvan@pte.hu