Professor Brian Wheeller, Professor of Tourism: NHTV, Breda. The Netherlands
Art at the seaside? You must be joking.
In this provocative presentation, Brian Wheeller offers a personal view of the deployment of art at the English seaside. Shortly before his assassination in 1963, John F Kennedy declared “We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda: it is a form of truth”, Truth at the best (and worst) of times is subjective: when it comes to art, then, truth is not only subjective but, by its very nature, elusive. When art, as catalyst, is charged with an economic prerogative the picture, never clear, becomes ever more opaque. Incorporating the controversial and the conventional, Wheeller’s presentation draws on an array of recent examples at English resorts where art, in its many guises, has been utilized, primarily/purportedly as a (potential) tourist attraction.
Peter Vlachos, Director, London Centre for Events, Management, University of Greenwich
The trickle down effect of creative culture in Ontario
Peter Vlachos argues that whilst much attention has been given in recent years to the instrumental use of culture as a mechanism to (re)brand urban areas and to promote urban economic development, much less attention has been paid to smaller cities, towns, and rural areas and the role that cultural industries production and consumption can play. In his exploration of these issues, Vlachos examines the waterfront town of Trenton, Ontario in Canada, discussing the trickle-down of 'creative/cultural cities' urban development policy rhetoric from larger cities to smaller urban regions, and the conflict between the implementation of a 'creative/cultural cities' framework and the maintenance of an overall mixed economy environment.
Professor Peter Vujaković and Dr Alex Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University
A Sense of Plaice? Visitor maps, heritage and place branding in the coastal towns of the Transmanche region.
Through a review of the tourist maps of south-east England and Northern France, Peter Vujaković and Alex Kent examine the role of ‘visitor maps’, their role in place-branding, and their place in the celebration of the arts, culture and heritage of seaside towns. Although maps offer an important opportunity for collaboration between the local authorities, businesses and artists to develop a unique selling point through the ‘sense of place’, Vujaković and Kent argue that this opportunity has rarely been exploited to its full potential by the coastal towns along the south-east coast of England.
Professor Phil Hubbard, University of Kent
Retail gentrification and the futures of Margate
Phil Hubbard challenges the idea that regeneration can occur only through agendas which support the ‘creative classes’, noting that the increasing abstraction of Margate as an artistic and creative seaside town ignores the social and economic needs of much of the population, for whom the gentrification of retailing will serve little use. By focusing on some of the resistances to the Portas initiative, Hubbard poses the question: who does Margate belong to? Hubbard argues that the privileging of leisured consumption over daily social reproduction is problematic in the context of a town characterized by influxes of both the affluent and less affluent.
Dr David Jarratt, University of Central Lancashire
Seaside heritage and sense of place: the case of Morecambe
David Jarratt recounts how, over the last 15 years, various attempts have been made to regenerate the struggling resort of Morecombe, in Lancashire, including the re-opening of the art-deco Midland Hotel by Urban Splash. Through a series of in-depth interviews, Jarratt explores the subjective relationship between personal identity and the physical environment, finding that, for his interviewees, the place identity of Morecambe operates on different inter-connected levels – as part of a collective identity, as part of their past, as part of them, and tied to distinct social and leisure usage which is little explored in the contemporary form of seaside resorts.
Dr Kate Bedford, University of Kent
Bingo and the Seaside Edge
Kate Bedford explores the phenomenon of Bingo by relating it to the concept of ‘edgework’, a term used in sociology to describe a cluster of activities that involve voluntary risk-taking and danger-seeking. From the 1950s debates about the explosion of bingo in holiday camps to the current campaigns by the industry lobby group The Bingo Association, we see that the mix of the game and the seaside have influenced debate about gambling regulation. Using participant observation in bingo halls, and interviews with bingo hall managers and local licensing authorities in Thanet and Blackpool, Bedford seeks to unpack the place-specific nature of the regulatory debate about bingo, asking what this everyday site of gambling at the edge of the island might reveal.
Professor Owen Evans and Tristi Brownett, Edgehill University and Canterbury Christ Church University
The Whitstable Biennale: Immersing Town and Community in Art and Culture
Owen Evans and Tristi Brownett explore the role the Whitstable Biennale arts festival plays in the town. By encouraging the artists who exhibit during the event to respond to the life and heritage of Whitstable and its community, the Biennale immerses the local inhabitants in an artistic, creative and cultural experience. Evans and Brownett frame their investigation in the context of recent debates about arts, health and wellbeing, and posit that the Whitstable Biennale is a good example of how arts festivals can play a meaningful role in developing social capital, enhancing community cohesion and generating wellbeing.
Dr Anya Chapman and Dr Duncan Light, Bournemouth University
Working with the carnivalesque in seaside resorts: An employee perspective
Anya Chapman and Duncan Light argue that previous research on the carnivalesque nature of seaside towns has focussed on the behaviour and experiences of visitors and holiday-makers. However, there has been little analysis of how other groups in seaside towns respond to the behaviour of visitors. Acknowledging that little is known of how those who work for (and with) tourists, respond to the excessive and unruly behaviour of visitors, Duncan and Light consider this issue with reference to employees at an amusement park at a seaside resort in northwest England. Using in-depth interviews they explore how employees viewed, negotiated and responded to the culture of the carnivalesque among visitors to the park.
Nick Ewbank and Sally-Ann Lycett, Nick Ewbank Associates and the De La Warr Pavilion
The De La Warr Pavilion and Bexhill-on-Sea: a Case Study of Culture and Social Capital
Nick Ewbank and Sally-Ann Lycett present the findings of their recent research into the generation of social capital by the De La Warr Pavilion (DLWP) in Bexhill-on Sea. Ewbank and Lycett will show how they employed a series of innovative methodologies in an adventurous three-month research project, evaluating DLWP’s strategy of adopting norms and values such as inclusion, co-operation and reciprocity, and by making available space for social interaction. Taken as a whole, Ewbank and Lycett’s findings demonstrate how DWLP builds social capital and plays a critical role, both in the heart of its local community, and as a nationally significant creative hub.
Dr Ziene Mottier, Dr Bernadette Quinn and Dr Theresa Ryan, Dublin Institute of Technology
Examining cooperation in the development of cultural seaside towns in the West of Ireland
Ziene Mottier, Bernadette Quinn and Theresa Ryan will present their research into two destinations on the west coast of Ireland: Galway/Connemara and Westport/Clew Bay. This area is recognised as an iconic region of Ireland, due to the perception of the rugged Atlantic Coast, the culture and heritage of the islands and the attractions of Galway. In addition, the region has a vibrant, well established and well recognised arts & culture sector. Mottier, Quinn and Ryan ask how products, activities and experiences created and produced in the ‘cultural’ sector become integrated into these coastal towns and attract tourists, identifying a number of concerns and challenges in integrating the sectors of tourism and arts and culture. Overall, however, Mottier, Quinn and Ryan find a very high positive disposition towards co-operation between sectors, and identify firm foundations upon which to develop a strategy to build co-operation which will aid the evolution of these coastal towns.