The Talking Shop is a new discussion forum organised by the Campaign for Old City Arts Building, Dublin Housing Action and the Provisional University, but open to everyone. Our second session looks at The Creative City.
Seomra Spraoi 6:30 – 8:00 Monday 30th of May
2nd Session – The Creative City
In the last decade, urban life has been characterised by words such as creativity, culture, participation and dialogue. These are not solely words, rather they refer to a specific direction in which the cultural – fine arts, performing arts, popular cultural, counterculture and more – becomes predominant and exploited by the neo-liberal project. In this context, it is cultural economies that make places attractive and powerful in capitalist societies.
In this session we’ll reflect on the emergence of a cultural Dublin in the last decade, asking who benefits from this, and if its still possible to be culturally political when culture is so easily co-opted by capital?
People might want to read “The Cultural Economy of Cities” by Allen J Scott (background reading, not essential)
B.Y.O.B
About the Talking Shop
Through our various projects we’ve come across the need to create time and space for the kind of political discussion that we usually don’t have time for within our campaigns.
We’ll take a different idea in each session and have an open and relaxed discussion, without trying to reach agreement or action. Each session will have a brief introduction.
We believe that, given the exhaustion of older forms of radical politics, today political action needs be accompanied by ongoing discussion and reflection, in order to develop new ideas and strategies that can make a difference here and now. The Talking Shop is also a space of ‘autonomous education’, it offers and alternative to depoliticised ways in which learning generally takes place in college.
provisional university 