Participatory action in the age of green urbanism. How Futurefarmers leapfrogged the culture consumer?

Abstract

This article looks at a shift in urban governance and policy-making from a culture-led approach towards a ‘green turn’ and an environmentally informed approach. The particular focus of this exploration is how public art practices participate in this ongoing reconfiguration. We are especially concerned with the parallel effort by public administration and the art community to activate citizens through nature-oriented, public spaces. Our main target of interest is the city of Oslo where we investigate the art group that goes by the name of Futurefarmers, whose engagement with land development relates to planning, cultural strategies, curatorial approaches and related art projects. Our findings indicate that while this work pursues a mission of its own, it also has the potential to advance its position in public space by representing green values in decision-making processes. We argue that through this ability to operate both within and outside the system, art practice can introduce interdisciplinary collaborations that can drive change in cultural policy.

Keywords:

• green urbanism
• participatory art
• cultural planning
• active citizens
• public art

Notes

1. The City of Valencia has recently launched a court case against home-grown architect Santiago Calatrava, the chief designer of The City of Arts and Sciences, because several buildings, including the opera house Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (2005), have fallen rapidly into disrepair and are generating more maintenance costs than revenue.

2. The Nordic branch of Citta Slow was officially launched on 2 January 2009.