Are you a patron?
In times of crisis the tendency of cultural institutions to emphasise the value of their services seems to juxtapose the willingnes of corporate sponsors to commit funding for exhibitions and programmes. We are looking for people with bold new ideas about improving cultural patronage. Hearing Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke play live at the Bimhuis is so much better than just checking out the recording at home, so how can we create a sustainable system that benefits from wisdom of crowds, wikinomics and other joys of the new Web?
Well, atleast it works in Firefox 3
And Safari on pc, does that do the trick to circumvent the moderation filter? I think not. Juha, get the Akismet plugin, and make the life of you and your commenters so much easier!
I think I solved the puzzle, opted out some Akismet settings. Welcome to the new and re-opened Non-fiction!
Akismet-settings? Moderation is a WordPress-feature. To get rid of moderation for first time commenters, go to http://www.non-fiction.nl/wp-admin/options-discussion.php and disable the following:
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There is an essential difference between a corporate sponsor and an art patron. The corporate sponsor gets involved in a business agreement. He invests money for either exposure or corporate image, generating economical value. The patrons get involved “for arts sake”, their money isn’t generating any economic value, but does get them involved with the cultural project they support. The values generated in these transactions are of a social nature. Giving creates a bond between the patron and cultural institution.
Seen the experience good nature of cultural products (more information about a good and more opportunities to consume the good lead to a higher appreciation of said good), patronage doesn’t only benefit the receiving institution, it also raises the perceived utility of the donator.
Communication about the cultural goods consumed also lead to a higher utility. Cultural consumption on itself can be seen as a social process, as “culture” is social by definition. The networking possibilites of internet can lead to a higher involvement of the consumer with those that produce or program, also on a financial level. Internet is more than just a promotion medium. It can change the contemporary structure of cultural involvement.
The idea of a rich patron a la De Medici can be abandoned exactly because of the rise of a more social internet. Communities grow around niche interests, members of these communities are often willing to donate to what they see as “their cause”. The larger part of the money needed to maintain our online radiostation IntergalacticFM.com is generated through online donations. Altho we receive some larger donations of more well off community members, most donations are quite modest. The sum of these donations isn’t. The offline events of IntergalacticFM.com aren’t making us much money, but they do benefit the cohesion of the social network surrounding our online activities, possibly benefiting the total amount of donated income.
Thank you very much for your contribution Joost, I will reply in depth soon. Much obliged.