Magnet places and collaborative circles, key to revitalizaing cultural production

Abstract

The objetive of this paper is to suggest a new window of opportunity for cultural policy. When the diffusion of cultural production does not work, proposals are usually aimed at intervening in the individual activity of the artistic creators or at investing more in the usual diffusion channels. Both answers may work. Nevertheless, scientific literature has identified two concepts that can be considerably effective: magnet place and collaborative circles. Their effectiveness was analysed in an artistic discipline that conducted an unusual cultural policy, that is bertsolaritza (improvised verse singing in the Basque language). The present study surveyed 3.644 people from the public and the potential public, and conducted 32 in-depth interviews to experts. Results suggest that giving priority to the creation of magnet places and collaborative circles may be a very effective cultural policy: in the context of cultural globalisation, they may be enriching sozialisation spaces for all cultural stakeholders, because they can promote interactions that otherwise would not happen, they can create appropriate conditions for creativity and fandom, and so they can significantly enhance cultural production.