Art is a living body in the reality we experience, and historically it has always had an active role in suggesting worldviews. Today those who do art still have to come to terms with this responsibility: art is not something neutral, it is not objective, it is always a partial and partisan act. Its fragility and its strength lie in this being partial. I believe that precisely today, in a time of “crisis”, art can play an extraordinary role, also to outline possible alternatives. But as always this depends on a choice. In this era, we need to equip ourselves with multiple tools/strategies to cross and inhabit the territories of art and life, producing artistic acts capable of dwelling in reality, not just in the moment in which they are exposed to the encounter with spectators (but who is the spectator of what?), but also in the paths and processes that go into their construction. The idea is to produce something that lies in interaction between forms and content, where the dual division leaves room for a multiple relationship. This is the responsibility and the vocation of doing art today, which cannot happen without asking ourselves about our condition as atypical workers / entertainment workers, about what it means in 2012 to be an art group / an independent small cultural business, and about Italian and European policies. On the contemporary art scene, in recent years there has been growing awareness of the need for a radical change in the culture system and for theoretical and practical experimentation with alternative systems directly developed by those who work in the universe of culture. Many networks of artists and operators have been activated to this end, including C.Re.S.Co. – Coordinamento delle Realtà della Scena Contemporanea (of which Margine Operativo is a part), which has developed a platform of ten proposals to make the sector of public financing more dynamic and fair, ten commandments on welfare for entertainment workers and a statistical study on live entertainment (progettocresco.it).
To challenge the present model of distribution of funding in the Lazio Region and the metropolitan area of Rome, and to propose alternatives, the Coordinamento Cultura Bene Comune (culturabenecomune.net) has been formed, which like other experiences moves along a dual line of protest and constituent proposal. The innovative development here is that experiences have taken form in the variegated cultural universe not only to combat policies of cultural desertification, but also and above all to design another cultural system capable of approaching the themes of welfare and resources, proposing solutions to promote a system that is accessible, ethical and sustainable.
ALESSANDRA FERRARO
A founding member of Margine Operativo, an artistic project between theatre, performative arts and video. In 2001 she created the festival Attraversamenti Multipli, Rome.