RESUMEN
The aim of this article is to analyze the positioning and interactions of the principal actors in the creative industries, in particular their relations with the structures tasked with implementing the TimiÈoara European Capital of Culture 2021 project, and the press coverage of the developing project. We started from the hypothesis that such an event stimulates the creative industries, but also induces tensions, which can degenerate into blockages. Quantitative and qualitative methods (20 observation sheets; 19 interviews and 227 press articles) combine to portray the dynamics and effectiveness of the city's creative spaces and the role actors play in local territorial co-production, the press analysis providing additional data. The article supplements previous literature on politico-territorial arenas by spotlighting spatio-temporal reconfigurations that spark synergies and tensions within an urban environment with a long-standing multicultural tradition. The results of our research highlight, on the one hand, the tensions and blockages in the public sector in the implementation of the project, marked by political rivalries at various levels, and on the other hand the critical attitude and difficulties in coagulating the energies of the local creative cultural sector. The press analysis reflects a complex and contradictory reality, with both positive aspects (cultural events, dynamics, public involvement, etc.) and negative ones (leadership, dissensions, underfunding). We demonstrate the response of creative industries facing a major cultural project with great potential for stimulating urban development but whose success may be threatened by weaknesses in leadership, in participating governance, and in local civic involvement.
Asunto(s)
Industrias , Liderazgo , Diversidad CulturalRESUMEN
The COVID-19 pandemic has had both financial and activity-related effects on a number of areas of activity, among which those involving the creative industries have proved to be weak in their capacity to survive the halting of all events held in physical spaces. The long-term effects of the current health crisis are bringing about changes in cultural demand and offer and highlighting the need to adapt and to think of new ways of functioning. Taking its cue from this situation, the research underlying our article set out to investigate the ways in which Romania's independent creative sector is adapting. We achieved this by means of conducting 25 semi-structured interviews and undertaking case studies of two cities that are among the most effervescent from the point of view of cultural and creative industries, TimiÈoara and Cluj-Napoca. With the strengthening of this sector as the aim in view, the forms of early social resilience we identified are capable in the short term of taking action to ensure the survival of some of the spaces; in the medium term, through activating mechanisms that encourage entrepreneurial spirit, they will be able to adapt to any external shock.