THE STATE OF CRITICISM AND THE (ALGO)RHYTHM WE’VE COME TO

With the reduction of journalistic criticism in the traditional media, cultural programmers are taking on a central role in legitimizing and promoting the cultural and economic value of artists and works. The space dedicated to criticism in the media is increasingly limited to the events agenda, restricting critical questioning and favoring cultural programming. In this scenario, the hegemony of programmers and curators becomes almost absolute, especially with the growing debate about the role of algorithms as co-authors of human curation, anticipating trends and shaping programmers’ creative choices. This dynamic not only intensifies the debate about the lack of diversity of voices in the cultural sector, but also highlights the urgency of criticizing algorithms, which are often based on under-representation. In addition, curatorial power, often reserved for a privileged elite, exacerbates the problem of representativeness.

In this forum, we will bring together curators, programmers, journalists, critics and researchers to:

• Explore the relationship between journalistic cultural criticism in decline and the rise of the role of cultural programmers as legitimizers of the cultural and economic value of artistic creation;
• Discuss how the concentration of curatorial power in an elite of programmers and curators impacts representativeness; and
• Debate the influence of algorithms on cultural curation and its implicationsfor diversity and representativeness in the arts.

Language: English | Simultaneous Subtitling: Portuguese

Topic: Culture and Policy