Frosina Krushkarovska

Culture and other curiosities

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Art and culture seem to be of the least interest nowadays. In the middle of our
constant political crisis, economic scarcity, ethical instability – whoever has the time to
take interest in book promotions, philharmonic concerts, art exhibitions? All of that costs
money and if, by any chance, it’s cheap, then it must be useless and boring - or so the
average citizen reasons. Cultural events that lack seriously good marketing (and a red
carpet) are usually scarcely visited. This is the case even with bigger events.
Sometimes almost everyone present are the organizer’s friends - plus the old lady who
comes for the free samples and the young gentleman who comes for the free wine.

In fact, I completely understand people who lack an interest in art. The inclination
toward artistic and cultural production and exploration is a tendency and a feeling you
were born with - if you lack it, the best solution would be to keep away. Or so it seems,
judging by the current societal situation and mentality. Just until a few decades ago
every educated person had to possess knowledge about art and culture. The ability to
duscuss Dostoevsky or Monet was considered a crucial trait. Today, however, we are in
a state when we don’t consider necessary that a lawyer or an economist should ever
have heard of Gernica or The Divine Comedy.

However, what I recently realized is the fact that people still don’t seem to know
what falls under the notion of culture as a field of work. How did they ever manage to
avoid that information? What kind of concept of living would that be?

Not long ago, at an NGO networking event we had a task, working in small
groups, to think of an idea for a joint activity we would potentially conduct. I, as would be
expected, was the only representative of an organization active in the field of culture - a
publishing house, to be more specific. My colleagues in the group were a woman
working in a business incubator and a man coming from an NGO active in the field of
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education. Although working in fairly different fields, we somehow developed an idea for
creating an online platfom through which we would sell books for children enrolled in
second to fifth grade. So, thinking about some basic aspects of that project, both of my
colleagues turned toward me with the question: ”And where would your organization fit
in here?” That was when I, a bit stunned, found myself trying to explain the ways in
which books are connected to culture and education to culture and art. With a bit of
beating around the bush, in an attempt not to offend them, while trying to be very
restrained – for me it was an absurd situation. For them, it couldn’t have been less
important.

However, the following moment during that same conversation probably offered
me some kind of comfort. While discussing about the kind of topic the children’s books
should cover, I suggested for it to be something about multiethnic integration.
-Oh, that is far too serious for second graders! - they exclaimed.
-Not at all - I said - values are created exactly at that early age.
Of course, what I had in mind were picture books containing illustrations of little children
of various nationalities holding hands, dancing and singing “It’s a small world, after all”
- Oh, no, that is far too complex for small children!
- Look, it may sound like a complex term, and it clearly is, but the essential
meaning of it is quite simple and natural. Especially with children there is nothing more
instinctive than open communication devoid of stereotypes.
They remained sceptical.

Multiethnic integration is a buzz-word today – a technical term frequently used in

order to “buzz”, “poke”, attract attention, and most importantly, to add fictional value to
any activity that’s being performed. Other buzz-words that come to mind are networking,
social responsibility and the like. By too much running around and chasing after quantity
we forget to stop and at least consider the words we use. We take heard but not really
understood concepts; we think that if we have heard a certain term enough times, we
automatically have the right to toss it around. The most important thing is to insert those
kind of buzz-words in resumes and descriptions as much as possible in order for them
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to sound richer and more effective and for those using them to seem more educated
and trendy – without a real understanding and by obsolete approaches. We automatе
ignorance!

Alright, I don’t actually consider the term “culture” to be this kind of buzz-word.
Maybe because people just don’t find it interesting enough. Additionally, the term “art” is
being used too often, but with the opposite effect of degrading its meaning. However,
what I find common and frightening is the striking lack of curiosity. It’s the lack of
interest to understand what we collide with in our everyday life – the misunderstanding
of culture as a key factor in the social and personal life, whether we like it or not. Even
more scary is the lack of interest to dive deeper into one’s own field of work, sticking
only to what’s been vaguely heard of and current fancy practices. If, as they say,
profession is a person’s second birth, I would argue that people who stand at the
margins of their professions have never left their fetus phase.

Finally, to get back to the initial issue of not being properly introduced to the
notion of culture: where does the root of that problem lie? What did we miss? Was it
education? Was it the too weak approach of the culture workers? I can’t imagine the
tons of patience I would need to turn the topic of this column into a practical goal.