Capital of Culture Mega-Events and the Potential for Gender Equality
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Gendering Cities of Culture. City/ Capital of Culture Mega-events and the Potential for Gender Equality. being a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Hull and University of Oviedo. By Barbara Grabher B.A., University of Vienna. M.A., Utrecht University/ University of Granada. December 2019 Funding This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 675378. I Abstract In the context of the transformative ambitions of event-based, culture-led urban regeneration, this thesis interrogates the production of cultures of gender equality in City/ Capital of Culture mega-events. Inspired by Donostia/ San Sebastián as European Capital of Culture in 2016 and analysed in detail in Hull’s celebration of the UK City of Culture in 2017, the investigation seeks to understand the relevance of socio-cultural values in the celebration of art, culture and heritage in the urban context. The investigation analyses the City/ Capital of Culture mega-events through a conceptualisation of their socio-cultural significance, which is informed by liminal and carnivalesque event characteristics. Relating to the politics, practices and perceptions of gender equality in mega-events, the research is based on an ethnographic study of six equality- themed events in the field sites of Hull and Donostia/ San Sebastián. The analysis develops from a relational reading of the two sites: due to its strong emphasis on negotiations of socio-cultural values, Donostia/ San Sebastián informs my research focus in Hull. Through this study, I argue for an understanding of City/ Capital of Culture mega-events as ‘contested spaces’ (O’Callaghan, 2012: 201), in which socio-cultural values and, in particular, cultures of gender equality are negotiated. My analysis highlights that the investigated mega-events embrace the complexities of the production of cultures of gender equality as they give voice to different meanings. Rather than a singular notion of equality, cultures of gender equality are celebrated in their plurality through the City/ Capital of Culture framework. I also interrogate the role of audiences as crucial contributors to the meaning-making process of festivals, events and celebrations. Encounters and dynamics with equality are central to the negotiations of socio-cultural values in City/ Capital of Culture mega-events. Beyond audience engagements and content productions, my investigation explores how infrastructures frame the celebrations of equality and can determine the contested spaces of City/ Capital of Culture mega-events as sites for negotiations of socio-cultural values and productions of cultures of gender equality. II Resumen Esta tesis investiga la producción de culturas de igualdad de género en los mega eventos de las Ciudades /Capitales de la Cultura, en el contexto de los objetivos transformadores y de regeneración urbana que promueven las actividades culturales. Basada en la obtención del título de Capital Europea de la Cultura por Donostia/ San Sebastián en 2016 y centrada especialmente en las celebraciones de Hull como UK City of Culture en 2017, la investigación tiene como objetivo estudiar la relevancia de los valores socio-culturales en la celebración del arte, la cultura y el patrimonio en el contexto urbano. En el análisis se conceptualiza el mega evento por su significado socio-cultural, que viene determinado por sus características liminales y carnavalescas de celebración. Atendiendo a las políticas, prácticas y percepciones de la igualdad de género en los mega eventos, la investigación realiza un estudio etnográfico de seis actividades culturales de temática relacionada con la igualdad en localizaciones de Hull y Donostia/ San Sebastián. El análisis se articula sobre una comparación entre los dos sitios; el gran énfasis de las negociaciones sobre el valor socio- cultural de Donostia/ San Sebastián determina mi enfoque sobre Hull. En mi estudio, propongo una interpretación de los mega eventos Ciudad/ Capital de la Cultura como ‘contested spaces’ (O’Callaghan, 2012: 201) en los que se negocian los valores socio-culturales y, en particular, las culturas de igualdad de género. Mi análisis pone de manifiesto que los mega eventos investigados abarcan las complejidades de la producción de las culturas de igualdad de género y ponen de manifiesto diferentes significados. En vez de una noción de igualdad única, las culturas de igualdad de género se celebran en cuanto a su pluralidad en el marco de las Ciudades/ Capitales de la Cultura. Por otro lado, estudio el papel del público y su contribución al proceso de construcción de los significados de los festivales, eventos y celebraciones. Los encuentros con y las dinámicas de la igualdad son cruciales en las negociaciones de los valores socio-culturales en los mega eventos de la Ciudad /Capital de la Cultura. Además de la implicación del público y de la producción de contenidos, mi investigación explora cómo las infraestructuras dan forma a las celebraciones de la igualdad y determinan los espacios de contestación de los mega eventos de las Ciudades/ Capitales de la Cultura en cuanto a sus valores socio-culturales y su producción de culturas de igualdad de género. III Acknowledgements I would like to thank the European Commission for the funding of this research project through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Horizon 2020 programme grant agreement No. 675378. My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisors, Dr Josef Ploner and Dr Suzanne Clisby, who accompanied me throughout this process. Their insightful comments, encouraging words and challenging questions were continuously appreciated. Additionally, I thank Dr Rachel Alsop as my initial supervisor as well as Dr Bev Orton and Dr Carla Rodríguez González for their administrative support at the point of submission at the two Universities of Hull and Oviedo. Furthermore, I would like to thank Professor Franco Bianchini and the team at the Culture, Place and Policy Institute at the University of Hull. As informal advisors and later co-workers, I am grateful for the opportunity to study and research in this centre of knowledge on urban, culture-led regeneration and the City/ Capital of Culture movements. The community of the GRACE project has been a great inspiration in its online and offline modalities. Alongside the opportunity to learn from experts and meet mentors, my colleagues’ daily greetings in digital and actual corridors created a nurturing environment to learn and develop as an academic, activist and human. I thank Dr Janine Hatter, Dr Jennifer Jones, Dr Ana María Bago Rodríguez and the fellow thesis writers at University of Hull for their writing mentorship, thorough proof reading and continuous motivation in the process of crafting this thesis. I am very grateful for my family, partner and friends for their repeating reminders to balance work and life in order to ensure a healthy PhD process and experience. Particularly, I would like to thank my parents for encouraging me to always stay curious and determined to achieve my ambitions. Danke. Finally, I would like to thank my research participants, who shared their time, thoughts and concerns with me. Special thanks go to the team of observing- participants. The strength of this thesis lies in their reflections and considerations of the city’s development and I am grateful that they chose to gift me their thoughts for the purpose of this analysis. IV Publications and Conferences Publications Grabher, B. (2020). The privilege of subversion: Reading experiences of LGBT- themed events during Hull UK City of Culture 2017 through liminality. In Lamond, I. & Moss, J. (Ed.) Liminality and Critical Event Studies: Boundaries, Borders, and Contestation. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 79- 98. Grabher, B. (2020). Structural disputes: An analysis of infrastructural inequalities the case study of the Women of the World festival in Hull, UK City of Culture 2017. In Platt, L. & Finkel, R. (Ed.). Gendered Violence at International Festivals: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. London: Routledge. 119-132. Culture, Place and Policy Institute (2019). Cultural transformations: The impacts of Hull UK City of Culture 2019. Main evaluation findings and reflections. Hull. Grabher, B. (2019). Moving Moments and Moving Forward. Report on the research developments and artistic translations of ‘Gendering Cities of Culture’. The Critical Fish Arts Journal. 1(1). 24-16. Grabher, B. (2018). Observing through participants: The analytical and practical potential of citizens’ involvement in event research. Studies on Home and Community Science, 11(2), 66–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/09737189.2017.1420389 Conferences Grabher, B. & Morpeth, N. (2019). Impact area: Society and wellbeing. Cultural Transformations – What’s Next?, 19-21 November 2019. Hull: University of Hull. Bissett, V., Grabher, B., Howcroft, M., & Tommarchi, E. (2019). Audience and place: Exploring audiences and audience research in Hull, UK City of Culture. Audience Research in the Arts conference. 3-5 July 2019. Sheffield: University of Sheffield. Grabher, B. (2019). Tinted visions: Festive decorations in LGBT-themed events and their link to the production of cultures of equality. Gender and Cultures of In/ Equality in Europe: Visions, Poetics, Strategies. 7-9 March 2019. Utrecht: Utrecht University. V Grabher, B. (2018). Queer Transformations. LGBT-themed events in the context of the mega-event