A British Council-funded debate at the Bergen 2011 Art and Audiences conference provocatively asked if the arts world has become obsessed with new audiences at the expense of great art.

Is audience development simply about ensuring there are decent numbers of people to appreciate the work of artists, musicians,… Continue

What is audience engagement really about? How does one build a better relationship with the audience?

Here, Line Alsaker. sums up the in-depth section New Ways of Engagement - the session included eight speakers, each with their different – yet related topics. Ulla Laurio and Isabel Lowyck talked about engaging young audiences, Christian Payne, Aura Linnapuomi and Nils Petter…

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What's the difference between Good Audience Development and Bad?

Full of intelligent analysis and clear argument, Audiences Northern Ireland have produced this excellent 'manifesto' which explains why they do, what they do (full report in Audience Development Library below).  Or follow the link to their web site:

http://www.audiencesni.com

Audience development is all wrong - it's code for simply dumbing down the art. That's the provocative conclusion of Tiffany Jenkins in her address to Bergen 2011, Art and Audiences. 

"In a desperate attempt to be popular, arts managers second-guess the masses and go for the simple and obvious, rather than the difficult but worth it, kind of exhibition. The obsession with new audiences leads to predictable exhibitions, where curators programme work…

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Greater focus on audiences and the idea that Norway’s efforts in the field of cultural policy have not achieved the goal of reaching a wide audience now enjoy widespread support among those involved in cultural policy in Norway. Minister of Culture Anniken Huitfeldt is personally involved, she has been on a study trip to London and she secured funding for the continued existence of the newly established member organisation Audiences Norway in the last national budget.…

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