Bread and Circus

Bread and Circus will be an inspiring symposium that will be focusing on how culture as a Creator of dignity can play an important part in the fight against poverty. As keynote speakers we invites enthusiasts who represent different polarities on a value scale, and we want to explore witch questions that arise when they are invited to a dialogical conversation. In the workshops the focus is turned to “The personal involvement in a global perspective” - where we want to explore one specific topic seen from many different perspectives.

All the participants on the Congress and the Festival are invited to attend the Symposium for free. We will guarantee that both the keynote speakers and the moderators are professional and inspiring.

The initiative to this event is from the Norwegian Theater Council, after a request from the Department of Culture to examine poverty issues in cultural organizations.

The goal of this project is to establish new arenas for participation in cultural activities for those with fewer resources and, and to increase the participation of these underrepresented groups within local culture and organization. The Theatre Council believes that culture- first and foremost the amateur culture – can be an important bridging tool in reaching social groups who are not usually active in cultural organization.

The European Year for combating poverty and social exclusion 2010 and the UN’s Millennium Development Goals have been important arenas for the debates on fighting poverty. The report “The role of culture in preventing and reducing poverty and social exclusion” from the European Commission says:

“Ensuring effective access to and participation in cultural activities for all is an essential dimension of promoting an inclusive society. Furthermore, participation in cultural activities can also be instrumental in helping people and communities to overcome poverty and social exclusion.”

The issue of poverty is a difficult and extensive theme in itself, and to draw in the cultural perspective makes this even more complex. We wish to research these contrasts through arranging a symposium during the festival Tromsø Dialog 2011. The goal is to create an arena where different values can meet.

Symposium

The symposium will take place on the 19th of July 2011. The framework for the symposium will be the concept ”World Cafe”. This is a method whereby large groups can talk about difficult questions with dialogue.

The participants gather in a large room and sit in groups around small tables. Two facilitators lead the program through questioning the participants. All those around the table take part and reach agreement on a shared question which they present to the rest of those present. The next phase involves moving to another table and gathering to look at a different question. The people moving to a new table will vary during the session.

We would like to bring in a new dimension to this concept through introducing ”World Arena”, where we will bring strong personalities with a significant personal engagement together to meet in a new arena.

On a global level we seek presenters who represent contrasting values in regard to poverty. On the one hand someone who has large material wealth, but who gives from their own abundance to charitable causes. On the other hand someone with a non-materialistic position.

On a national level the opposing views will be represented by two different attitudes to the significance of culture in working with poverty. Locally, the presenters will be passionately engaged people with differing points of view from the Tromsø region.

The moderator will have the important task of bringing the presenters together in dialogue. The moderator will together with these persons explore new questions brought to light when two leading lights meet on an equal basis.

In the debate on poverty the focus is often on action, on varying measures and activities, and the questions asked often center on ”How?”. In this symposium we wish to focus on “Why?” and to see whether new perspectives come to light when two differing points of view meet.

The values which emerge from this session will form the basis for the questions which are asked during the last part of the World Café.

When: July 19, 09h00-18h00
Where: Rica Ishavshotell - Rica Hall