PUBLIC ART. ON THE RELATIONS OF ARTISTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY EXPECTATION

sobre as relações entre as perspectivas artísticas e as expectativas das políticas de desenvolvimento urbano

Abstract

S In the face of global economic restructuring, culture-led regeneration and development has gained a key role in strategies to deal with the urban crisis. With city authorities competing globally to foster their cities’ images, public art programmes are increasingly touted as interventions capable of achieving a wide range of social and cultural outcomes, thus helping to provide a new economic base in postindustrial settings. As a consequence, urban theorists have come to discuss public art mainly in strategic or instrumental terms. It can be asked, however, whether such a perspective is suitable to engage with the self-concerned and idiosyncratic nature of much artistic practices. Against this background, this paper attempts at exploring the specific rationality of artists who engage with the urban realm. Departing from qualitative interviews with artists working in Scotland, the relationship between artistic perspectives, on the one hand, and expectations of city authorities, on the other hand, will be discussed. By doing so, a more circumspect understanding of public art in the context of urban development can be achieved.