ABSTRACT

Cultural institutions are growing in importance as tools of cultural policy and for promoting the city brand. Moreover, these major cultural institutions devour the lion's share of public subsidies, sparking debate on the legitimacy of such public largesse and its “value”. In this connection, one needs to ask to whether opera houses are “cultural white elephants” whose sheer cost greatly outstrips their supposed public benefits. This paper analyses the case of Valencia's Palau de les Arts, where the neo-Liberal discourse of management flexibility was combined with a shocking lack of accountability. Moreover, the creative city frame, neo-Liberal discourse and practices, the elitist management and disconnection from local cultural have spawned a herd of “cultural white elephants” that have become the hallmark of Valencian cultural policy.

摘要

文化机构作为文化政策工具和提升城市品牌的重要性日益增加。此外，这些主要的文化机构吞噬了大部分公共补贴，引发了关于这种公共慷慨的合法性及其“价值”的争论。就此而论，歌剧院是否是“文化白象”，其成本远远超过其所谓的公共利益。本文以瓦伦西亚的Palau de les Arts为例进行分析，新自由主义的管理灵活性话语与令人震惊的缺乏问责制相结合。此外，创意城市框架、新自由主义话语和实践、精英主义管理和与当地文化的脱节，催生了一群“文化白象”，成为巴伦西亚文化政策的标志。