Organiser: Mark Gaynor, ELIA
The phrase catalysed processes was coined by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1836 to describe reactions that are accelerated by substances that remain unchanged after the reaction:
Catalysis is the process in which the rate of a ... reaction is either increased or decreased by means of a ... substance known as a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the ... reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself.
We can all cite examples where art and artistic exchanges have been utilized for some particular (social) benefit. Urban Regeneration may be one of the most common, importing the energies of art to stimulate an otherwise failing or failed area. These opportunities can be very exciting as well as consuming time and effort. In the process of developing and participating in exchange programmes how often to we stop to ask ourselves why? Who, in the end, is the beneficiary? If art is a catalyst, as described above, it will 'remain unchanged'.
If urban regeneration is already the 'old' model and the knowledge economy the 'new' one, what role does artistic exchange have to play? How do we appreciate the political, social and/or economic motivations behind such exchanges? Is art a catalyst or can it be changed itself by the process?
Proposals are welcomed that address and expand on these issues, examples of good practice or cautionary tales, alternative positions, examples where the outcome was quite unexpected or left a legacy beyond that intended.
