Community-Driven Cultural Spaces & the Covid-19 Pandemic
Résumé
Community-driven cultural spaces (CDCSs) occupy a significant segment in the cultural ecosystem of cities around Europe and are third places dedicated to work and collective activities, but also of a social space for exchange between different actors. Organized around a specific space- often an abandoned building or an old factory- and community centred in their mission and practice, they have turned into laboratories of artistic experimentation and social innovation, attracting diverse audiences and often contributing to wider social and civil goals in the neighbourhood they operate in. The disruption in their physical operations during Covid-19 calls for a deeper understanding of the changes adopted in their ways of working, engaging with different communities and re-defining their space-related organization. Forced to operate in a non-space condition, their adoption of practices will provide a roadmap for their future operation and a new articulation of the notion of space between the physical and digital spheres. The chapter questions the emerging understanding and use of space in the practice of CDCSs and its re-organisation to adapt to ‘the new normal’. The chapter discusses challenges faced and strategies adopted during the confinement period and the months following it focusing on case studies of such spaces in three European cities (Athens, Baie Mare & Nice). Data was gathered through desk research, interviews with management staff and field visits where possible.