Mapping European Cultural Actors: Addressing the Case of Belarus

Abstract

The present-day reports on European Union cultural policies demonstrate an unprecedented turn to the methodology of economic and cultural geography. The ambivalent consequences of this turn may be revealed, on the one hand, in the uttermost visualization and subsequent simplification of explanatory schemes and, on the other hand, in economic reductionism, which makes visible only a specific class of cultural objects. This chapter considers how Belarusian cultural actors might be neglected in terms of the ‘visibility strategy’ developed within the Eastern Partnership. This strategy is closely connected with the EU intention to delineate the contours of its economy and culture by mapping creative industries. A further implication is the endeavor to build a network of creative actors in neighboring countries as potential contributors to the EU’s innovative development. The delineation of creative industries and their chief actors have led to the emergence of the concept ‘creative Europe’. One of its defining features is the conspicuous convergence between the fields of economy and culture. The corresponding political programs on creative industries construct a language which privatizes the whole dominion of culture. Technically feasible, these programs become incomprehensible from the axiological standpoint of the third countries.