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| Seattle Symphony Orchestra with Sir Mix-a-Lot. |
Some cultural organizations
are interested in evaluating their programming and the ways they package and
prmote it, aiming at diversifying their audiences. On the one hand, this is a
necessary step towards accomplishing their mission. On the other hand, it is
also a question of survival: how long will they exist for if they don´t manage
to renew their relationship with people?
When the issue is the
diversification of audiences, a certain concern usually emerges: and what if,
by trying to establish a relationship with new people, we alienate our old
friends, those who have followed and supported us for a long time?
When this question arises, two
examples come to mind.
Starting in the US, and now
also in Britain and Australia, theatres promote the so-called “relaxed sessions”. They were
first introduced to allow families with autistic children to enjoy a play
together, as a family. Lights and sound are regulated, absolute silence is not
required, people are allowed to leave the room in the middle of the play. Small
adaptations which ultimately make these sessions accessible also for parents
with younger children, people with mental disabilities and their carers, people
who are new to a space or art form, etc. Relaxed sessions are clearly
advertised, not only with the aim to promote the offer, but also to inform
other people that these sessions will present slight changes to the usual
presentations. Thus, the latter may choose to attend them or opt for another day.
The issue is somehow the same
when it comes to popular museums or blockbuster exhibitions which attract large
number of audiences, many people being first comers. Queues, lots of people in
front of the artworks, photos being taken, loud conversations, a constant buzz.
Not exactly some museum lovers´ cup of tea. What to do? Apart from controlling
the number of visitors through the online issuing of tickets for specific time
slots, maybe also let people know when things might be calmer, allowing for a different
kind of experience? Like early in the morning and, especially, late in the
afternoon; during late night openings; in some cases, at lunch time; in the
middle of the week; on beautiful days rather than rainy days? A number of
museums and travel guides are already giving this kind of tips.
I guess the real issue here
is: is there only one way, some people´s way, of enjoying an exhibition, a
play, a concert? Is there a ‘correct way’ of doing it? Does this offer belong
only to a specific kind of audience? Are we really sending old friends away by
trying to make new ones?
I would like to stress at
this point that I am not suggesting altering an organization´s mission or
product in order to establish new relationships. A different product would mean
a different organization, a different mission and a different relationship, not
the one we are concerned about. This means – in order to give a recent example
- that when the Seattle Symphony Orchestra boasts of holding a unique place in the world of
symphonic music since 1903, its concert with Sir Mix-a-Lot, altough it seems to
have been fun, does nothing special towards fostering a relationship with new
people for the love, understanding and enjoyment of symphonic music. The
orchestra is simply moving into a different territory in order to bring more
(and different) people in - although we have to take into consideration the
fact that the lady who seems to have enjoyed the concert the most declared that
she was thinking of returning and had got the orchestra´s schedule – she will
return for what, though?) - read the article in the New York Times.
The cultural offer is not the
property of certain audiences, does not belong to a restricted number of
people. It belongs to everyone interested and also to everyone that could be
interested but hasn´t had the chance to taste it. Thus, I believe that cultural
organizations can and should provide for more than one type of audience and by
this I mean that they can look for different ways of presenting a specific
product. Sometimes, it might not be
possible to do this simultaneously, pleasing everyone at the same time; but
it´s possible to do it separately so that everyone may find what they are
looking for. Other times, it might bring together old and new friends, allowing
each side to possibly discover new aspects of what they thought was known to
them.
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