ARBETSRAPPORTER
Kulturgeografiska institutionen
Nr. 705
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CULTURAL EVENTS IN PUBLIC OPEN SPACE
Morgane Terret
Uppsala, januari 2010
ISSN 0283-622X
CULTURAL EVENT IN PUBLIC OPEN SPACE
1 INTRODUCTION... 3
1.1 Prologue and acknowledgement... 3
1.2 Purpose and research questions... 4
1.3 Method ... 6
2 THE CONSTRUCTION OF URBAN SPACE ... 10
2.1 From preindustrial heritage to the information society ... 10
2.2 From rural passivity to urban passivity ... 14
2.3 Unexplored new spatial opportunities... 17
3 THE CARNIVAL OF BINCHE ... 24
3.1 General character of carnivals... 24
3.2 Binche, the town, an historic and economic overview... 24
3.3 Components of the carnival... 26
3.4 Sequence of celebrations... 28
3.5 Origin and development of the tradition ... 31
4 UPPSALA’S “SISTA APRIL”... 39
4.1 Overview of Uppsala... 41
4.2 Uppsala, a historical student city... 42
4.3 The modernization of Uppsala ... 44
4.4 Valborg, a European pagan tradition ... 46
4.5 “Sista April” in Uppsala, a great spring gathering ... 47
4.6 Sequence of events ... 48
4.7 An event full of activities ... 52
5 KNUTMÄSSO IN GIMO ... 54
5.1 An overview of the town Gimo ... 55
5.2 Knutmässo in Gimo... 56
5.3 Origins of the celebration... 59
5.4 The development of Knutmässo celebration in Gimo... 60
5.5 Discussion about Knutmässo origins ... 61
5.6 The local impact of Knutmässo... 63
6 REFLEXIONS ... 64
6.1 Significance for places ... 64
6.2 Participation and passivity ... 68
REFERENCES... 73
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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Prologue and acknowledgement
The aim of my paper is to explore the potential of and the obstacles to the creation of cultural events in the public open space, with respect to the conditions in and the quality of a specific place for its inhabitants, but also in a more general perspective. I will illustrate my purpose with tree concrete examples of cultural events in the public open space; one in Belgium the carnival of Binche and the two other in Sweden: the Sista April celebration in Uppsala and Knutmässo in Gimo. Maybe none of these events means anything in particular to you, but every year a great number of people gather for these events and the astonishing thing is that they are essentially the result of the work of volunteers. In other words, everyday citizens are the main actors of those events.
The preservation of local tradition is an important component of those events.
However, the three events are not at all identical. I will try to bring out the things they have in common, as well as compare them and see how their differences can enrich the total picture. Throughout the discussion, you will maybe be able to recognize from your own situation or your childhood some components of those traditions. This is possible because they have blurred and entangled origins.
Consequently, although those events are mainly considered to be locally rooted, they are also, on a larger scale, connected to general elements of human culture. The subject that I am dealing with essentially concerns European culture but in the context of the increasing global flow of inspirations and influences, the topic could be considered in a broader perspective.
My greatest acknowledgements go to my supervisor Hans Aldskogius, without him my paper would not have been even imaginable. I wish to thank the people that I got precious help from too: Sara Westin, Miia Yliaho and Susanne Stenbacka. I also wish to thank all people that I get the possibility to interview or discuss with especially Nahtalie Chiêm and Tage Roberston. The support from my friends and my family strongly helped me especially Elin Tollefsen, Michel Terret, Aina Tollefsen, Admir Kreso, Sanna Karlsson, Per Axen, Paula Salvador, Tobia Polina, Xiaofang Cheng, Aude Grange, Ivan Bornet, Melyssa Michel, Nina Boulehouat, Alice Bordaçarre, Marilyse Broers and Perrine Morvan.
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1.2 Purpose and research questions
According to Mia Larson and Cecilia Fredriksson, cultural events include festivals, carnivals, parades and religious events.
1I think it is possible to argue that those different kinds of cultural events sometimes can be considered together and compared since they are not totally unrelated to each other. Some of these cultural events have certainly their strong permanence in upholding their unique purpose. But nowadays the border between for instance a festival, a carnival and a religious event is not so clear. The examples that I am going to present in order to illustrate cultural events in many respects appear to be lacking in religious dimensions, but especially for two of those events, the Carnival of Binche and Knutmässo in Gimo, many religious aspects can be found. However, if we go deeper into this question we can see that these religious aspects have been mainly added on to an event that was originally a pagan manifestation. There are strong reasons for emphasizing that a cultural event is rarely static and can be modified according to the changing in circumstances over time and space.
An important aspect of the definition of an event, on a broader scale, is that it takes place at a defined time, sometimes just one day and rarely longer than one month. The event is ephemeral and short-lived.
The concept of public space presents many different meanings depending on who is thinking about it. Generally, accepted as a space accessible for everybody, its representations can vary, at least in some ways, from one individual to another. Some categorizations allow us to classify some common views of public space; class, gender, age and ethnicity, in different ways, can give some indications about how public space is generally perceived. For instance, it is often recognized that women are more afraid of being in public spaces than men. But there are also other categorizations that can contribute to our understanding of the great variations in people's images of public space, as for instance the professions of different persons.
An architect will not see the public space in the same way as an advertiser. The first one will maybe think of how the public space could be optimized in terms of trying to create a fluid and accessible space. The second one will maybe focus more on trying to see what people pay attention to in order to find where an advertisement
1
Larson, M. and Fredriksson C. (2007) Destinations utveckling genom evenemang i sastningar på sportarenor och multikoncept. In: Bohlin, M and Ehle, J, Utveckla turistdestinationer, Uppsala
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will be seen by the majority of passers-by or at least by the type of consumers that the advertiser would like to address.
Public space is mostly considered as an element of urban space although it also exists in a perhaps vaguer sense in rural environments. At least it seems necessary that several houses, properties or private buildings surround this space. In other words it would seem to be difficult to consider a space as public if it is just the space that surrounds an isolated individual habitation. Streets and squares are generally the main public spaces. To put it more precisely this space should be called
“public open space” in order to distinguish it from other public spaces that are closed environments, such as a public library. In addition, some public spaces distinguish themselves from private spaces that have a similar function, for example private and public hospitals.
This concept of public open space brings up many political, social, economic and environmental issues. Although supposed to be accessible to everyone, in practice public open spaces do not always offer this broad accessibility. There are several reasons for that but certainly the main one is that the authorities have to try to ensure that public open space is accessible to the majority of citizens and for that they may have to limit the access to individuals that for instance present a risk of frightening people because of violent behavior. But the borderline between control and freedom is diffuse. For instance, one could also say that authorities abuse their power when they limit people's self-expression in the public open space for the main reason that this expression could disturb the established order. A public demonstration maybe might turn out to be violent but sometimes this could maybe be understandable, for instance in the context of governmental repression.
Cultural events in public open space can certainly be found in almost every civilization in the world as an important conveyor of collective identification. It could bring us back to the ancient Greece when theater plays were open to all citizens on the agora. The purpose of those plays was to remind people of the limits of their freedom by showing them stories about the gods and goddesses.
2Among well-know public events were the Athenian festivals of Dionysus.
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http://www.clio.fr/BIBLIOTHEQUE; Frazier François; Le theatre grec: fêtes civiques, chefs d'oeuvre éternels; 23/07/2009
3
Seaford R. (1994) Reciprocity and Ritual. Clarendon Press, Oxford, p.237
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Another example, from the Roman Empire, is the famous expression from Juvenal saying that common people were only interested in “bread and circuses”.
Indeed, in this period, consuls and emperors organized the distribution of flour for free and arranged games in order to limit the risk of riots and revolts. The games mainly consisted of violent gladiator performances played in outdoor arenas.
Today's cultural events in public open space seem to have a relatively heavy
“cultural baggage” in their heritage in the sense that they include a large number of elements that have not always been recorded in the past, and this makes it difficult to really know how those events have emerged. But the popular aspects of those events appear to be essential, certainly because those events are taking place in the public open space that, as I wrote above, is supposed to be accessible to everyone. Many different elements are present at cultural events in public open space. I suppose that the most significant aspects are the gathering of people and the appropriation and use of the public space for cultural purposes which are often associated with an affirmation of identities.
1. My aim is to study the significance for a place of cultural events that involve the use of open public spaces, with respect to both positive and negative effects concerning social/political cohesion, economic development and environmental issues. This will be done through three case studies.
2. I will focus on the issue of people's passivity and/or participation in such events and try to explore the way in which these contrasting attitudes may be related to cultural events in public space. In the same way, I will try to see how the celebration of traditional customs and local cultural heritage, in open public spaces contribute to the development of socialization and creativity in the community.
1.3 Method
Since several years I have been interested in studying performing art in public space.
In my last years of study in geography for a bachelor degree in France I wrote a paper about Hip-hop performers in the underground of Toulouse. After that, I wrote short papers more or less related to this subject during my geography master studies in Sweden. For my final master paper I wanted to continue along this line. I was also interested in the UNESCO section of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
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Heritage of Humanity. I tried to find a topic that could capture both the work of this section of UNESCO and the theme of performing art in public space.
Through my research, I found the carnival of Binche which is recognized as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. According to my sources this event appeared to have important elements of performing art with plenty of music and dancing. However, I also wanted to attempt a comparative study in order to be able to present a broader overview of performing art in the public space. Indeed, with only one study object I thought that my conclusions would be maybe too narrow. In addition, I am living in Sweden, so I thought that it could be interesting to try to find a similar subject in this country. A relatively famous cultural event takes place in Uppsala called Sista April, the last day of April, Walpurgis Night. This event also contains performing art, especially musical performances.
Then, my supervisor Hans Aldskogius told me about a cultural event in Gimo, a small town just north of Uppsala, called Knutmässo. I thought this event would be interesting to study because it shares one characteristic with the carnival of Binche, namely the emphasis upon displaying masks, costumes and having parades. Finally, I had got three study objects for illustrating my subject of performing art in the public space.
As my work has progressed, I have come to the conclusion that my study deals more with cultural events than performing arts. Even if performing arts have their place in my study, cultural events appear to be more what I finally came to focus upon. For instance, I believe that performing art in the public space contains other elements that have no place in this study, as for instance “buskers”, people that make performances in the street. Such activities appear to be essential for a study of performing art in the public space. My subject is more focused on cultural collective public gatherings. Consequently, I felt that cultural events in public open space would be a more appropriate description of what I included in my paper. Emotions rearrange priorities and set a new hierarchy of goals.
4My study is primarily based on qualitative analysis through literature studies.
Beside, to complete my research, I used semi-structured interviews. Those enabled me to guide interviewees with prepared open questions that allowed them to relate their personal thoughts/experiences and approach essential issues I would not have
4
Howard Nigel (1993) The Role of Emotions in Multi-Organizational Decision-Making. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 44, No. 6, pp. 613-623
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thought about myself. I could let people say what they have to say. Non-directive interviews made it possible to explore the subject from as many angles as they please.
5One of the ethical imperatives of qualitative social research is the need to give one´s informants the right to comment upon and criticize one´s interpretations.
6In making semi-structured interviews, I could take part in the discussion and ask questions if I was not sure to understand the meaning of their purpose and also tell them how I perceived different issues. By this way, the informants were able to criticize or comment my interpretations. It was very rewarding to receive comments even if there was not always time to deepen them.
I started by interviewing people that I met randomly during my visit to Binche and its carnival. In addition, I fortunately had an opportunity to make more organized and prepared interviews with three citizens of Binche. Two of them are active in the carnival almost every year, whereas, on the contrary, the third one provides a different perspective since he has only been active a few times and does not stay in Binche during the carnival. To discuss with this third person that was not involved in the carnival but just originally came from Binche was interesting because it allowed me to get a more balanced view of how the event is perceived.
I interviewed the person responsible for the museum in Gimo and a citizen that has been active in the carnival of Gimo during her childhood. Discussion with my supervisor, a native citizen of Uppsala, observations in the field and random conversations with people met in Uppsala, helped me to complete and build my analysis of Sista April in Uppsala.
I decided that I would not be able to conduct a series of carefully planned interviews during the events in Binche and Uppsala. In view of the rather hectic atmosphere during the events, interviews would have to be more exploratory, impromptu encounters with people which perhaps might evolve into longer conversations. The interviews are of course not to be regarded as a representative sample but rather as opportunities to get specific insights into people's appreciation of the events. Those random interviews gave me the opportunity to discuss some less-documented matters and to compare the participants' and visitors' view point
5
Clifford N.J. and Valentine G. (2003) Key methods in Geography. SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi, p.118
6
Eyles J. and Smith D.M. (1988) Qualitative Methods in Human Geography. Polity Press, Cambridge, p.263
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with existing literature.
An important source of information has been my own personal observations during two of the events I have studied. I was present during the carnival of Binche where I was able to take part in the activities, to take photographs and to observe how people experienced the carnival. To some extent I was a participant observer,
although essentially an outsider.
I have lived in Uppsala for about three years and have experienced the Sista April events three times. Consequently I have been able to take advantage of direct personal observations as a sources of information, just as in Binche, but with a little more of an insider's perspective. In addition, I have been able to notice whether any changes have occurred during these three successive experiences of the Sista April.
In the case of Knutmässo in Gimo I did not have an opportunity to participate in the event, because it takes place in early January and I began my work later.
However, I did visit the place and its local museum in the late spring. This visit helped me to realize the work that people put into making huge papier maché figures and masks for the parade.
Thus, I believe that personal observations “in the field” have been a very important complement to other sources of information, such as documents, literature and interviews. It allowed me to feel and experiment the different atmospheres that the events create in the cities. Participant observation allowed me to experience the place and the event as if I was an “ordinary” visitor while observing sequences of the events and the place carefully in research perspective. It is important to participate as well as just observe.
7Ideally you will be able to show some things that are in many ways knows already but have simply never been closely described and analyzed before.
8Just the day after I left Binche, I chronologically wrote few pages about my experience of that carnival. I wrote what I did and who I met from the first morning to the last day. Those notes helped me to remember important details and to get a global view of the event as a participant observer. In addition, those notes were precious for later comments and comparisons.
I mainly used literature that deals with each of the three selected events.
7
Clifford N.J. and Valentine G. (2003) Key methods in Geography. SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi, p.146
8
Clifford N.J. and Valentine G. (2003) Key methods in Geography. SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi, p.144
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However, few academic works have been written about these events, so consequently I had to base my research very much on more general literature. I had to consider this literature carefully since in the context of cultural events, some documents may only heap praise on the events in order to attract more visitors. It appeared necessary to establish my studies on a broad base of different materials such as books, articles, museums and interviews. My work greatly benefited from me being able to read and listen to people who were emotionally attached to the subject of my studies.
My paper is, as already pointed out, largely based on qualitative material. I did not use any specific quantitative data. I wanted to see which components of those events are surviving or disappearing. Qualitative methods allowed me to answer the following questions: Why those events are still alive and attended? What are their impacts on people? Or at least, it made me better understand these matters.
Additionally, I believe that my research questions require above all a qualitative analysis.
They are mainly quantitative (as opposed to quantitative) in the case-studies, as might be expected of philosophy not inclined to accept a world of objects with specific measurable properties. But this is not to say that quantitative methods, even statistics, are no longer useful.
9Concerning the theoretical approach I used studies that have been made about space in general, and about urban space in particular. I focused on their commentaries about public space and about concepts such as spectacle and event. Those theories concern humanistic sciences in a broad sense but some are more focused on geographical and urban studies. I found the works of David Pinder, a British cultural geographer, particularly useful as a theoretical basis for my study.
2 THE CONSTRUCTION OF URBAN SPACE
2.1 From preindustrial heritage to the information society
The concentration of population to urban areas has affected a large part of the world and has rapidly become intensified in a way that evokes many questions with respect to spatial planning. Despite the fact that towns have existed for a long time all over
9
Eyles J. and Smith D.M. (1988) Qualitative Methods in Human Geography. Polity Press, Cambridge, p.262
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the world, for example in Asian civilizations and in Mesopotamia, the transition from dominant agrarian societies to urban societies is a relatively recent phenomenon that has occurred during the last two centuries and is still in full swing today, even though there has also been a more marginal trend of moving “back to the countryside”. This massive urbanization has modified society’s organization, and raised questions on how to manage these new dominant urban spaces with respect to residence and service requirements.
Even if the previously dominant rural systems certainly were far from being well structured for all inhabitants, they offered an established environment for the citizens. The rural system integrated people into an already established social organization, into which the story of the family was related, usually linked with the cyclic time of changing seasons. Nowadays, people are gathering in cities together with large numbers of other people, with new links to people and things that are less evident. In the city, the individual has to construct itself his or her own environment.
In one sense, the urban space seems to have the ability to offer people greater opportunities. In this new space, an immensity of opportunities is offered to the inhabitants. People leave behind them their social rural order in which everyone knows everyone else and people keep track of each other. In rural areas, there is a social imperative that people have to follow if they do not want to get rejected from the community. In a way, in the city people become liberated from old social structures.
In comparison with rural agrarian society, the city appears to be a space that tries to be independent of the cyclic time of seasons and the succession of day and night. Cities tend to become places that are able to offer everything at every moment.
If urban citizens have the necessary economic resources they have the possibility to satisfy almost all their needs and desires at any time. To quote Amin and Thrift:
In the twentieth century, this night-time activity has expanded again, with the further growth of all kinds of incessant activity, twenty-four-hour opening of stores, twenty-four-hour radio and television stations, and so on; all signs of an increasingly urban population awake and active at night.
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Amin A. and Thrift N. (2002) Cities reimagining the urban. Polity Press Cambridge, p.119
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Moving to a city is often linked to the dream of individual development without the social constraints that follow from expectations that you have to partake in and make a contribution to the community. In the city, you can make success on your own. I suppose that the idea that urban space offers this freedom is based partly on the ability to be anonymous and independent of other people and of the cyclic time. The urban area appears to be the center of achievement, where the great image of individual success above all else is created. Everything seems to mostly evolve around the ability to pay for services and commodities. Access to almost everything requires money. Solidarity, mutual aid and sharing have mainly been put aside. These observations are mainly built upon literature and experiences of European urbanization. Even though urbanization in the entire world may have some common points, there are also their differences. In addition, the move to a city of one member of the family can be related to the hope of the rest of the family to get economic support from him or her. This phenomenon is, in some way, close to the phenomenon of people that move from developing countries to developed countries.
However, I do not want to argue for going back to the old agrarian system, although some aspects of that system could be useful in modern urban life. Neither do I think that the rural areas were idyllic places where everybody felt included and happy. It is not possible to divide so radically the way of life between rural and urban areas, notably because of the difficulties to distinguish between them when the boundaries between them become increasingly diffuse. In addition, the current way of life in rural areas is characterized by the use of cars, allowing people to live very far from and isolated from each other, yet able to interact over considerable distances. Consequently, the connections in rural areas also get complicated. Both urban and rural areas are linked together and take part in large spatial global systems.
However, I think it is possible to see some predominant characteristics of the rural and urban areas that have an effect on the respective type of societies.
In rural areas the imperative to be part of the collective may also offer each individual the advantage of some sort of guaranteed security. When you are known by everyone, there may be an uncomfortable feeling of being controlled by the community. On the other hand, there is the positive aspect of feeling secure because there is a kind of general caring for each other. The anonymity which results from living in urban areas has the advantage of not having to help anyone, because you do not owe anyone anything. However, the disadvantage is that if something happens to
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you, you are on your own. Individuals need freedom to be able to develop themselves and from their lives on their own conditions but they also need some structures to support them. This raises the question of how to manage the border between freedom and security and also the balance between learning from others and from oneself. There is a need to both get information from other people and to be able to express oneself. I think this could be related to the balance between knowledge and imagination.
In the rural area the balance between self-expression and assimilation of information, norms and behaviors has been regulated in ritualized events that often consist of the repetition of traditional behavior. Such traditions may have been brought to urban areas by migrants or maybe can be an occasion to get back to the rural area for the celebration of significant events that continue to be observed. But nowadays, individuals are surrounded by a mountain of other information that makes them question how they can combine all this new information with the old heritage and how they can use this information or put it into practice.
Everyone that moves to an urban area carries their own habits and history with them from their specific place of origin, and gets to live with other people, also carrying with them specific habits and histories from other places. In these convergences of cultures some people’s customs will predominate, others will be subordinated. People will adopt other customs or try to construct their own new customs depending on the context and their background.
The impact on social behavior integrated in the urbanization process was studied during the 1930's by the so-called Chicago School in the first sociological department in the world. Two figures in this group, W. I. Thomas and F. Znaneicki, wrote a book called “The Polish Peasant in Europe and America
”11based on studies of Polish people that migrated from Europe to the United States. They identified different phases that characterized this migration. First, the traditional Polish familial organization where the collective imperative with all traditional values and conventions that comes before individual interests prevailed. Then the process of disorganization and reorganization in the city with the decline of social rules for individuals and the development of more individual practices changed things.
Thomas and Znaneicki explain that this phenomenon of disorganization is due
11
Thomas W.I. and Znaneicki F. (1974) The polish peasant. Octagon Books, New York
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especially to the density of population in urban areas. According to them, the difficulties that individuals encounter when they try to adapt to new processes of organization are due to the fact that they have to break up their previous affiliations and create new ones. But they do not suggest that Polish migrants did forget their Polish culture and became just Americans. On the contrary, they argued for the constitution of an American-Polish society developed by mixed and provisional social structures, encouraging the formation of institutions that create continuity with the past, for instance: by festivities and bilingual schooling.
2.2 From rural passivity to urban passivity
In urban areas, but certainly also in some rural areas, people have to find a balance between a constant flow of information from many sources and what they carry with from their own background. This may create some uncertainty and instability that can be exciting and fruitful for some and stressful and problematic for others.
Individuals have to try to come to grips with this complexity of urban life. Does it really liberate people to abandon their own culture and adopt another? I think the problem lies in the ability to be both participant and passive. Just as freedom and safeness are necessary, so participation and passivity also appear to be essential components of social development. Societies today seem to have overdeveloped the passivity of people, notably because of the predominance of visual information.
There is a paradox here that may be characteristic of societies today. People were supposed to be free of their old traditional heritage and to be able to construct a new identity on their own. But instead, they got submerged by a wealth of new information that did not really let them react or interact.
This argument is inspired by the book “La societé du spectacle” written by Guy Debord, one of the main actors of the Situationist International movement, an artistic and political movement from the 1960's. According to him, the current society has become a society of spectacle, a process that started after the French revolution of 1789. Indeed, earlier most societies were working on a cyclic time, according to the seasons. But the French revolution broke down that system and introduced a new life rhythm with irreversible time.
Thus the bourgeoisie made known to society and imposed on it an irreversible historical time, but kept its use from society. “There was history, but there is no more,” because the class of owners of the economy, which cannot break
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with economic history, is directly threatened by all other irreversible uses of time and must repress it. The ruling class, made up of specialists in the possession of things who are themselves therefore a possession of things, must link its fate with the preservation of this reified history, with the permanence of a new immobility within history.
12The ideology of general liberty, proclaimed through the bourgeoisie revolution against the passivity of the cyclic time that it conquers, gets surrounded by a new passivity established upon spectacular time.
The French revolution sets in motion a process of modernization of societies, including the process of modern urbanization and held out hopes for the construction of individual liberty. This was fed by the image of an urban space offering individual liberty with the possibility to become free of all constraints of a traditional heritage.
In fact, instead of repeating old behavior regulated by cyclic time, new opportunities opened up for people moving to the towns that were supposed to let them create their own rhythm of life according to their own will. But this urban liberty does not seem to really have come yet. I think that Debord tries to argue that the rural passive system has been replaced by another passive system governed by the domination of the image and the spectacle. The differences between the rural and urban passivities could be characterized in terms of different levels or kinds of passivity.
While cyclical time was the time of immobile illusion, really lived, spectacular time is the time of self-changing reality, lived in illusion.
13However, I think it is important to notice that the current rural system is also dependent on this new passivity. In the traditional rural system, passivity lies in the repetition of behavior, but people take part in these events so consequently they are active even if the event is a repetitive act. In contrast, the urban passivity lies not in the repetition of spectacles but in the immobility of people watching them as a flow of images. Nowadays, the problem lies in the fact that people are not part of the events themselves.
14There is a dividing line between the creator of the spectacle and
12
Debord G.. (1987) Society of the spectacle. Rebel press, printed in Great Britain by A. Wheaton &
Co. Ltd, Exceter, n.143
13
Debord G.. (1987) Society of the spectacle. Rebel press, printed in Great Britain by A. Wheaton &
Co. Ltd, Exceter, n.155
14
Debord G.. (1987) Society of the spectacle. Rebel press, printed in Great Britain by A. Wheaton &
Co. Ltd, Exceter, n.200
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the passive audience. According to Debord, the problem is that communication between people has become altered because there is no interaction between them.
The information is only going one way, from the one that is producing the spectacle to the passive consumer. The consumers only get the image and the information that the producers impose on them, but the producers do not let people respond or react to the image and information.
Debord emphasizes the paradox of current societies that they have eliminated some of the constraints of geographical distances with new forms of communication and the free circulation of goods, but, uncannily, people living close to each other get isolated together, unable to communicate. With the development of mass communication over great distances, it becomes easier to control people, not least with the ability to broadcast and impose images on people which they are unable to respond to. This creates isolation between individuals. In a way, people lose their ability to communicate with each other because spectacles and images freeze them in an inert attitude. People are isolated together in a sense, surrounded by images.
Considered identities became defined by the ability to match them with the dominant picture of commercialization and consumerism. The ability to have disinterested exchange appears to be forgotten or is not recognized.
Debord argues that communities have to construct sites and events which have meanings for people through the reappropriation of the work that they do but also of their history in full. As an example, people who construct monumental building are often not the ones that use them. Or similarly, the construction of an event such as the Olympic Games in Beijing requires the use of many workers, but those workers did not take part in the games. They may have got the possibility to watch some competition, but here again the passivity of spectators’ limits the element of active participation.
Boorstin fails to understand that the proliferation of the prefabricated “pseudo events” which he denounces flows from the simple fact that, in the massive reality of present social life, men do not themselves live events. Because history itself haunts modern society like a spectre, pseudo-histories are constructed at every level of consumption of life in order to preserve the threatened equilibrium of present frozen time.
1515
Debord G.. (1987) Society of the spectacle. Rebel press, printed in Great Britain by A. Wheaton &
Co. Ltd, Exceter, n.200
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2.3 Unexplored new spatial opportunities
The problems of space appropriation have been studied by David Pinder, professor in cultural geography. He emphasizes the need to try to rethink the concept of space, giving it broader meanings. He refers to ideas of the Situationist International movement that saw the growing power of images with the development of media and communication used for political and commercial purposes. He connects this movement with different currents of thought and with researchers that have been thinking about space, such as Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey. These writers recognize the possibilities of creating a truly social space within the urban space and they criticize the actual urban system specifically because of its instrumentalization of people that makes them unable to create their own space.
They recognized cities to be key sites in the reproduction of social relations of domination as spaces of alienation and control. But at the same time they were concerned with the possibility that lay embedded within these environments as they viewed cities as potential realms of freedom through which people could transcend alienation and create space in keeping with their own needs and desires, thereby realizing their true selves as living subjects.
16[…] it looks towards a city of freedom in terms of the realization of desire and as an oeuvre created by peoples themselves.
17In his book “Vision of the City”, Pinder presents an overview of studies that have been made about urban space as well as space in general. He refers to utopian suggestions of ideal cities such as the one by Thomas More, already in the early 16
thcentury. All those contributions suggest that people must be able to create their own space. Consequently, any concrete plan for the organization of space seems impossible since it could be considered as an imposition of a system on people's life.
Nevertheless, some tools could certainly be found that might encourage people to appropriate space.
Pinder discusses the ideas developed by Constant Nieuwenhuis, who took active part in the group Situationist International. The point that he defends seems to
16
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.128
17
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.198
17
be that people must be liberated from their work and their economic responsibilities in order to be able to create a space that goes beyond the dual categories of work and leisure. Nieuwenhuis imagines a new city called New Babylon where people would be “homo ludens”, man the player, moving and playing through urban dynamic labyrinths with reference to the current development of systems of leisure societies.
Indeed, the modern societies characterized by intense mechanization and new technologies have the ability to gain a surplus value from free time. However, the surplus value of free time presents the thorny problem of not being equally accessible and shared. This generalization of letting people be creative seems to be in conflict with
[…] the freedom of elite social groups that depend upon a strict division of labor and the exploitation of others.
18Lefebvre also saw the possibility of full self-realization and free expression of ambition through radical social transformation of the city. He criticized the ways in which space currently is constructed. Particularly, he criticized the present triviality of everyday life and habitual behavior. Both contribute to the reproduction and the perpetuation of oppressive relations, and are the reasons why creativity and fantasy are unable to find their natural expression. For that reason Lefebvre attached great significance to art and artistic expression. He saw the city as a central place in a movement to find the way to an aesthetic uprising against triviality and uniformity.
He saw the urban space as a site for resistance and revolutionary change. Lefebvre argued for “the right to the city”, which includes the right to participate fully in urban life, to appropriate space and defend the right to be different. The city should be a space of togetherness with room for differences.
But how would it be possible to let people create their own space? In situations of social and political conflict some possibilities may appear. Referring to Paris of May 1968, Lefebvre wrote:
Paris changed and was restored – the vistas, the streets, the Boulevard Saint- Michel which, rid of automobiles, again became a promenade and a forum.
19One important obstacle to the formation of a more “human” urban life is the domination of car traffic. It leads to a situation where possibilities of appropriation
18
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.227
19
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.235
18
and participation of space instead are transformed into the development of individual isolation. Social interactions become limited to just the points of origin and the points of destination. Indeed, spontaneity and surprise become limited because of the pre-determined use of each part of spaces. When walking along a street, if you meet someone you know you will probably stop and exchange a few words. But if you are driving a car, it is obviously more difficult to stop spontaneously. Projects to create pedestrian cities are indeed quite common and in many towns some streets which used to be accessible for car traffic can be used only by pedestrians and for non- motorized transports. The purpose is to keep away motorized traffic from the core of the city. For instance, in Uppsala, the central street Dragarbrunnsgatan became a street with limited motorized traffic. Consequently, the motorized traffic has been transferred to the Kungsgatan, a street parallel to Dragarbrunnsgatan. Similarly, in Toulouse, the large avenue Alsace Lorraine, which used to be characterized by intense car traffic, was transformed into a pedestrian street.
Bent Flyvbjerg demonstrates with the concrete example of a planning project in the Danish city of Aalborg how difficult is it to carry out such projects for pedestrian or non-motorized cities.
20Many actors are involved in the organization of public space and have their own interests that come into conflict with the interests of others. The main object of this project was to move the bus station to the center of the town (Nytorv place) in order to facilitate access to the center for its citizens. This project also intends to transform some car streets into bike and pedestrian streets. On the whole, the main reasons for this project are to reduce dangers for pedestrians and cyclists because of cars, and also to limit air pollution, noise and traffic jams.
But some were opposed to the project, in particular because when you cut off access to the center for private cars you run the risk of reducing the consumption of downtown goods by car users. Thus, there are two main groups that defend two different and opposed views of how the town should be planned. But, in fact, there are also many other groups or persons that defend some parts of the project and are against other parts. Consequently the project becomes fragmented and difficult to implement.
20
Flyvbjerg, B. (1998) Rationality and power. Democracy in practice. The University of Chicago Press
19
The technical department that planned this project is confronted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry that is against this project. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry argues that car users are the biggest consumers of down- town goods (compared to pedestrians and bicyclists) which is why, according to them, the project is irrational and detrimental to Aalborg’s economy. This argument can be understood but at the same time it hinders other ways to develop the city.
Aalborg is in fact adapted for car users. For this reason, it is not surprising that car users are the main consumers. If the town is able to plan for better access by other groups of consumers such as pedestrians and riders, these groups will certainly get a greater chance to become the dominant group of consumers. But the problem is that these transformations involve some economic risks that can also influence Aalborg’s economic situation when faced by the competition from other cities. This example seems to be a good illustration of how such projects, meant to slow down the intensive and bustling rhythm of cities mostly caused by car traffic, are difficult to put into practice.
In the development of projects to create an urban space made for and by the people who live there and use it, the role of paths and walks appears to be an essential component that the researchers in urban planning seem to evoke relatively frequently. They point out the discussion about being able to be a flâneur and a flâneuse in the city and the advisability that such opportunities are opened up.
In his article “Subverting cartography”, Pinder discusses different ideas concerning cartography that have been developed by particularly the Situationist International but also the Lettrist International and the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus which inspired the Situationist International. They all considered it to be very important that the ability to stroll around and walk in the town should be linked to cartography. The Situationists encouraged pedestrians and dwellers to use paths and roads in ways that could divert them for their own purposes.
[…] they were more akin to de Certeau's pedestrians and walkers and favored an immersion in the streets. They wandered through the space of the everyday and tried to map out the play of power in the city, as well as the play of possibilities: the potential openings to a new and richer life that they believed was currently suppressed by existing social relations.
2121
Pinder D. Subverting cartography: the situationists and maps of the city. Environment and Planning A 1996, volume 28, pp. 405-427, p. 413
20
The Situationists saw in the map a significant resource for transgressing the boundary between art and everyday space and thus something that would make possible the reappropriation of the urban landscape by the people. They emphasized that maps should not only be considered in the logic of a panoptic regime of domination
22or as an object that is supposed to show the “true city”, but that they should rather be considered as something that works, that performs and that affects the ways in which urban spaces are conceived and lived.
23It should be envisaged as a tool that enables us to try to understand new aspects of the city and to explore new opportunities.
[…] to facilitate the construction of situations, and creating an environment of perpetually changing labyrinthine forms.
24Debord highlights the opportunities for diversion through maps of ecological urbanity, as in the urban models of Ernest Burgess from the Chicago School.
Adbelhafid Khatib, a situationist, used the term “zone in transition” (from the Chicago School) to characterize Les Halles, a central district in Paris. He tries to point out how government redevelopment plans would expel the local population to the suburbs and how financial and commercial institutions formed both “practically and symbolically a defensive perimeter for the smart districts of capitalism” in taking over a strategic place like Les Halles.
25This leads us to another important aspect that Lefebvre notices in the movement of May 1968: the reconquest of the urban center by people who have been forced to move to the urban periphery. Suburban people got the possibility to reappropriate the heart of the city. The Situationist International saw the movement of May 1968 as a general critique of all forms of alienation:
22
Pinder D. Subverting cartography: the situationists and maps of the city. Environment and Planning A 1996, volume 28, pp. 405-427, p. 424
23
Pinder D. Subverting cartography: the situationists and maps of the city. Environment and Planning A 1996, volume 28, pp. 405-427, p. 424
24
Pinder D. Subverting cartography: the situationists and maps of the city. Environment and Planning A 1996, volume 28, pp. 405-427, p. 416
25
Pinder D. Subverting cartography: the situationists and maps of the city. Environment and Planning A 1996, volume 28, pp. 405-427, p. 415
21
The recognized desire for dialogue, for completely free expression, and the taste for real community found their terrain in the buildings transformed into open meeting places and in the common struggle.
26Because of this movement, the intensive cadence of production was suddenly interrupted. But it did not take long until things went back to the former life order.
Any traces of insurrection were rapidly removed from the streets. However, the event did not leave people indifferent, media and all sorts of other communicative productions brought forth many spin-offs. May 1968 yielded a flow of debates and discussions. Nevertheless, Michael Watts has been critical concerning the way the events were interpreted and called it a “death narrative”. According to him, there is no point in considering what the revolutionary movements and actions opened up for, but instead:
There is a need to attend to those openings and to think about how they show us ways of doing politics differently that are still significant today.
27It seems necessary to resist the construction of a segregated urban space where citizens become distanced from each other and separated according to their social background or other differences. If people are to be able to appropriate their space the aim must be to avoid projects that determine where people have to be.
Gentrification and museumification of neighborhoods and urban centers are schemes that can illustrate how politics of planning exclude disadvantaged social groups from some part of the city, in ways similar to the ghetto system that puts people into selected zones far from the city center.
There has been a tendency that imaginative or idealized city models have been appropriated by private interests, thus contributing even more to create a segmented space that contradicts social ideals of an urbanization of equal opportunities. For instance, Howard’s utopia of the garden city has mostly been used for the construction of private property.
Howard's disappointment would be not only at the narrowing and instrumentalisation of the garden city vision where its social ideals have been sidelined, writes McKenzie, but also more specifically at the absorption of his
26
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.236
27
Watts M. (2001) '1968 and all that..'.Progress in Human Geography 25, pp.157-88
22
vision in the United States into private housing initiatives and common- interest developments that McKenzie calls "privatopia".
28To take another example, Disneyland could illustrate this idea of zoned spaces, with controlling and surveying systems intended to direct people’s behavior. In this case it becomes easier to locate functions and decide where people can do different things and consequently people's behavior gets confined. The flexible and ludic megastructures constructed in the 1960s do not really seem to follow the aim of a unitary urbanism. Pinder tries to reconnect to and emphasize the idea of an open and flexible space developed according to utopian ideas. But he does not seem to argue for the flexible space created only by capital interests, with for instance the development of geographic mobility for flexible and temporary workers or the construction of neutral structures that can respond to the needs of flexible firms. As the New Babylon of Constant should be constructed by the people themselves, it involves a proliferation of multiple, open-ended and continually renewed space- times.
In their case the situationists encouraged a radical politics that was nomadic, creative, outside formal channels, and concerned with self-realization and the production of autonomous spaces.
29In all those social movements and protest actions Pinder seems to find possibilities to develop other ways of urban living that should encourage people's imagination.
The actions include the staging of temporary parties and festive appropriations of public spaces, and the provocative reworking of those spaces to non-utilitarian and ludic ends.
30Indeed, public space appears to be an essential component of attempts to enable people to meet, discuss and act. This space seems to have become reduced in scale and invaded by commercials interests. In addition, the use of public space for no other purpose than passing through is often accepted as a normal and unavoidable process. But, as discussed by Pinder, there are some consciousnesses involved in the development of a creative and dialogue-open city with imagination.
28
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.249
29
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.245
30
Pinder D. (2005) Vision of the City. Edinburgh University Press, p.261
23
In the next sections, I will discuss three cultural events in the public space, explore their different characteristics and finally examine, to some extent, if they can contribute or not to the development of creative and dialogue-open cities.
3 THE CARNIVAL OF BINCHE 3.1 General character of carnivals
The carnival seems to be an appropriate example for illustrating the subject of cultural events in public space. Most carnivals take place in the street and the artistic dimension is usually an important component of carnivals. Music, dance and costumes are the main components of the carnival. Nevertheless, music and dance creativities are maybe less important than the costumes. The carnival’s main focus is the originality, the beauty and the funny and exotic character of the costumes. But every carnival seems to have its particularities and there are many types of carnivals.
I will focus on a Belgium carnival: the carnival of Binche. It is certainly the most famous carnival in Belgium and also one of the most famous in Europe.
3.2 Binche, the town, an historic and economic overview
Binche is a medieval Belgium town of around 30,000 inhabitants (2008) in the province of Hainaut. Its origin dates back to the beginning of the 12
thcentury and is attributed to Baudouin the 3
rdand his wife Yolande De Gueldre. We know that in 1125, Baudouin the 4
thstarted building a fortified wall surrounding the town. The construction of the ramparts that can still be seen today lasted for about a century and the layout was finished in 1230. Since then, nothing has been added. However, some parts of it have been destroyed or removed. The ramparts had 20 towers and 6 gates and ran along 2 km around the town center. 1750 meters of the wall are still standing today and provide a unique example of ramparts in Belgium.
In the 14
thcentury, Binche became a significant market for textiles and leather products. Notably because of the varied countryside with a partly forested landscape around the town there were good opportunities for the development of livestock farming that produced skins and wool.
Nevertheless, the city had its most prosperous time during the 16
thcentury when Marie of Hungary, the general governor of the Netherlands, decided to
24
construct a sumptuous palace. Later, the city was devastated by several military occupations that despoiled and burned most of the city. It was not until the 18
thcentury that Binche would regain some prosperity, mostly through handicraft activities. The lace of Binche became famous for its extreme delicacy. The town also became a center for the production of cutlery, cobblers, hat making, dress tailoring and breweries.
31All this knowledge in the clothing industry certainly helped to develop the splendor of the carnival by creating a large potential for costume creativity.
After the Second World War, the city encountered some economic difficulties.
Throughout Europe, clothing industries were closed down and Binche does not seem to have been an exception to that. Especially, the lace of Binche had to compete with the cheap Asiatic lace production and the mechanical lace production. Since several decades, the economy of the region is in stagnation or in decline with a high level of unemployment. There is some potential in the fabrication of lace but otherwise the town seems to be in search of other activities. The merchants and businesses of Binche get stiff competition from the shopping center situated outside the city.
Today, the city mostly focuses on tertiary activities and especially tourist activities with its carnival and its medieval rampart as major attractions. Parallel to the carnival, an international museum of masks has been created in Binche; with a rich collection of precious masks and costumes from the entire world. This museum gets an average of 20 000 entrances a year. In addition, the brewery “La Binchoise” is working well.
32Because of economic difficulties, many people from Binche have moved to larger towns in Belgium with greater professional and economic opportunities.
Nevertheless, Binche citizens show a strong attachment to their city and especially to its carnival. Many people who used to live in Binche will come back every year during the carnival because they see it as a crucial and not to be missed event. It seems to be the event around which all Binchous can gather. Binchou is what a Binche citizen is called. Many Binchous will do everything not to miss the event. But this event also attracts people from other parts of Belgium as well as international visitors. The carnival has thus saved Binche from a total eclipse. For instance, it is
31
Relevard M. (2002) Le Carnaval de Binche. La Renaissance du livre,Tournai, p.14
32
Information collected from the librarian Sabine Maüseler of Binche museum
25
said that during the carnival all the stores and businesses of Binche make as much money as they make during the rest of the year. The carnival carefully preserves its traditional way of celebrating the event and tries to resist attempts to commercialize it. But certainly and paradoxically, those aspects are significant factors that make the event so attractive. As few other events in Europe, the carnival of Binche has preserved an exotic authenticity from a long past.
3.3 Components of the carnival
The carnival of Binche is definitively a very important event for Binche citizens. It seems to be in their minds during all the year. It is not just a spontaneous festivity where people decide to dress up in costumes on the carnival day. In fact, Binche citizens are talking about their carnival during the whole year; they talk about the ones in the past and discuss the one that is going to come.
“One important thing to understand is that the carnival is made up of rituals and traditions that are truly sacred for the Binchous, it is not an improvised thing.
There is a saying: “In Binche, the King Carnival never dies”, which means that as soon as one carnival is finished, every Binchou is already thinking about the next one and looking forward to it. Binche and its inhabitants live for the carnival, the carnival is the soul of Binche and Binche is an integral part of the carnival. It is carefully prepared during the whole year and the celebrations starts 6 weeks before the carnival itself: it is a slow process; the atmosphere builds up and reaches a climax on Shrove Tuesday when the long awaited Gilles finally come out for this unique day.”
33The Gilles are the Kings of the Binche carnival, and all the rituals turn around them. The Gille is the emblematic figure and certainly the central component that makes up the specific identity of Binche’s carnival. There are many restrictions as to who can become a Gille. It is necessary to be a male citizen of Binche since at least five years or to have relatives which live in the city. Furthermore, you can only be a Gille in Binche if you have not been a Gille in any other city. Indeed, the towns around Binche also celebrate carnival (always after the one in Binche) and have their Gilles. Their celebrations seem to be less spectacular than those in Binche. The other
33
Chiêm N. a Binche citizen interviewed during the carnival of Binche 2009
26
towns
the Shrove
a special
ack home. This fact creates a
café. Many societies have disappeared and new ones have been created. For instance, appear to be less exigent or strict about the carnival’s rules. Binche’s carnival is the starting point for all the carnival celebrations in the region.
It is only allowed to wear the costume of the Gille in Binche and on Tuesday, not in any other place and absolutely not on any other day. In other words, there are very specific time and space rules with respect to being a Gille.
All the Gilles are dressed almost in the same way; they wear a special costume with predominantly red, yellow and black colors and a white cap hiding all their hair. Their costumes are made of burlap and on them are 20 pictures of lions, no more nor less. They have two big humps made of straw, one in front, and one on the back. In addition, they wear a special belt called “apertintaille” with seven or nine bells. The Gilles must always have something in the hand. Different instruments are used at particular times during Shrove Tuesday. In the morning they hold a “ramon”
(a small broom) in their hand that they throw to people that they want to greet. In the afternoon, they will switch from the ramon to a basket full of red oranges that they will throw into the crowd. In the morning, but only from around 9 to 13, they wear
mask painted with green glasses and a mustache. The mask is protected by copyright so that it can be made and sold only in Binche and worn only by Gilles.
In the afternoon, Gilles wear an impressive hat made of ostrich feathers. But only if the weather is fine because otherwise the feathers get spoiled and they are horribly expensive to buy. If it suddenly starts raining, the wives of the Gilles will quickly take the hats off their men’s heads and bring them to a safe place. Citizens of Binche will open their door for this purpose. Another significant and curious rule that governs the Carnival is that the Gilles are not allowed to move anywhere without a drum player that must follow them and give the rhythm to the Gilles’ famous dance steps. That is why a drum player comes to pick up each and every one of them, accompanies them wherever they go and walks them b
strong link between the Gille and the drum player. It is also interesting to note that a Gilles on Shrove Tuesday is not supposed to sit down.
Gilles gather in what is called a “society”. A society is a group of Gilles.
Currently, there are 12 different societies. In all, there are about a thousand Gilles.
But the number of societies is not definitive. The birth of the societies and their evolution is quite mysterious. They used to be formed by a group of friends that had their meeting place in a café. The societies were designated by the landlord of the
27
the society of Gilles called The Splendides, created in 1947, disappeared after the carnival of 1961
34. Several reasons can explain the fluctuation of the societies. For instance, when there were too many people in a society some members decided to leave the society and create a new one. In the case of disagreements, people also left the society and started a new one. In 2001, the most recent society of Gilles was formed - they are called the Arpeyants. They came from the society of the Inca
them. They are the
itizens of Binche left those societies of fanta
they have not changed at all.
holding hands. The two last ones are sort of dress rehearsals with drums and music
because they had different points of view about certain matters.
There are also three so-called “société de fantaisie”. These are societies mainly made up of children, and girls can take part in two of
Paysans (Peasants), the Arlequins (Harlequins) and the Pierrots.
Before, there were other "societés de fantaisie" made of adults like the Princes d' Orient and the Marins (marines). But because of the prestigious aspects and fascination that surrounds the Gilles, many c
sy and instead joined a society of Gilles.
In addition to the Gilles there are the musicians that take part in the cortege.
They are in part coming from neighboring places but some are also from Binche.
35The music of the carnival is typically played on drums and bass drums, trumpets and other instruments. There are 26 tunes. One of them is played only by drums and a fife, “Aubade matinale”, and it is heard only on Tuesday before eight a.m. Since the end of the 19
thcentury, these tunes have been fixed;
During the carnival, about 300 musicians are needed.
3.4 Sequence of celebrations
For the Binchous the carnival starts six weeks before the actual carnival. Each Sunday night there is a “soumonce”, a sort of rehearsal, of preparation. The first two are just drums rehearsals, the third and forth are soumonces with drums. During these, societies stride along the streets of the town accompanied by drums, their clogs pounding on the stones of the streets. Gilles dance in the middle with their ramon and apertintaille, the women and friends and visitors dance around them in a circle,
34
Relevard M. (2002) Le Carnaval de Binche. La Renaissance du livre,Tournai, p.120
35
