Reciprocity- A pillar of culture, creation and democracy
Culture & Education Symposium 2013
Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
The 5th edition of the Symposium Culture and Education, organised by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in partnership with RESEO, took place on Wednesday 10 July 2013 on the theme “Reciprocity- a pillar of culture, creation and democracy”.
Culture is a pillar of our societies, and forms an integral part of all people and their lives, young or old, rich or poor, from all cultural backgrounds.
Is it then not rather arrogant to believe that we can “educate” people to culture? Large arts organisations formerly often viewed education projects as a sort of alms for the less fortunate, the people “far” from the culture the large organisations deemed “valuable”.
Thankfully, this notion of opera education is radically changing, as the recognition of the value of diversity takes its rightful place in societies.
Education is a road in both directions, and reciprocity the principle of creative learning programmes.
But what exactly is the return by the participants to the artists and institutions? What examples exist in which both sides meet each other on eye-level and are valorised? How can we overcome the unilateral “giver-receiver” mentality in all fields of life, from creation in the arts, education and our societies?