In the experience society a good and fruitful meeting with culture and the arts does not, to the same extent as before, depend on the bourdieuesque cultural capital. Culture has largely become accessible to a more diverse user group, now that most cultural institutions understand the importance of reaching out to new users by addressing them in a language that speaks to, what I would call, "experience capital" or the "cultural capital 2.0". The term experience capital I have not seen used elsewhere, but I think it makes good sense to take it into use, as people working with culture today are not as busy only focusing on the traditional cultural capital and educating citizens to be able to appreciate the classical educational ideal.
Experience capital defined
To have experience capital quite simply refers to having the desire and ability to seek good times, and – in terms of seeking culture and the arts – it applies to many that a good experience only is possible if accessibility is not determined by prior knowledge and thus the conventional classical education. By being aware of the manner the art is disseminated in it is possible to make culture relevant and interesting to others than those who are particularly fond of the arts and already make use of the many cultural events and exhibitions that museums and other cultural institutions offer. And is it not what culture dissemination today has as its primary task? To communicate in a "language" which does not exclude, but include? The term experience capital is, with that in mind, a concept I consider useful in our field.
The postmodern museum adresses the experience capital
The concept of experience capital is, among other things, associated with the "postmodern museum" which is characterized by emphasizing entertainment from fundamental values such as insouciance, freedom, and openness which must be understood in relation to the "modern museum" that primarily focuses on education and information from basic values such as belief in development, culture, education, and progress (1). Not in the sense that the two museum types mutually exclude each other, but where the modern museum largely adresses the cultural capital, the postmodern museum appeals to the experience capital and thus to a wider audience.
An ethical and democratic aspect of the concept
Experience capital I further more understand in relation to a democratic and ethical aspect, since it primarily makes sense to talk about the capital form in relation to the political ideal that culture must be for all and thus also be attractive to the "non-user". The Danish Ministry og Culture has for example since its founding in 1961 sought to "give everyone access to quality cultural experiences", so that regardless of residence and social background one should have the opportunity to enjoy culture (2). That goal is far from reached, and recently a report on the future museum landscape in Denmark, from October 2010, says that the museum users are far from being fully representative of the population regarding gender, age and education. Therefore the great challenge to ensure that museums are for everyone, and that a cultural marginalization of certain population groups are prevented, still remains.
In the challenge to prevent cultural exclusion lays an ethical aspect: we namely do not want to exclude, but offer everyone good and meaningful experiences that one can take part in without already knowing a lot about the fine arts. Knowledge which often depends on social aspects and upbringing. For it is no secret that people who have a special interest in culture typically live in large cities and have higher educations than non-users, who often live in the province or what now in Denmark is commonly known as ”peripheral Denmark”. If we overlook this part of the population, we reproduce what the Danish social commentator Lars Olsen calls "class society 2.0", where the cultural and intellectual aspects of inequality factors are important (3). As cultural mediators we can thus help to prevent social inequalities and ensure that culture is not reserved only for the few.
Additional information on experience capital
Experience Capital as a concept I have described and in depth worked with in my thesis which I finished in December 2010 at the University of Copenhagen, where I studied Danish, Philosophy, and Dissemination of culture. The title of the thesis is Experience capital in peripheral Denmark – but is culture reserved only for the few?
In the thesis I operationalize the concept by using it in my analysis of the cultural institutions "Fuglsang Kunstmuseum" (Fuglsang Art Museum) on the Danish island Lolland and the culture festival "Lys over Lolland" (Light across Lolland) which in very different ways communicate their cultural objects in a part of the country, where most people don't have higher educations and aren't frequent users of culture. The particular challenges associated with being a cultural institution in the outskirts of Denmark I investigate in my thesis, as I argue that it's of great importance to adress the users' experience capital and downplay the importance of prior knowledge and thus cultural capital – if one in a meaningful way want to reach out to the users who actually live in the area. I will soon publish an abstract here on the blog summing up the content of the thesis in further details.
What do you think about the concept?
This is my first introduction to the concept "experience capital". I wonder what you think about it? Leave a comment or ask a question in relation to the term here on the blog – then I'll get back to you and fill in on the concept. (Also, please feel free to comment on my English language, grammer and comma, as I am struggling to get it better.) I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
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(1) Skot-Hansen, Dorte: Museerne i den danske oplevelsesøkonomi – når oplysning bliver til en oplevelse (2008), s. 70 (Museums in the Danish experience economy - when information becomes an experience, p. 70)
(2) http://kum.dk/Kulturpolitik/Tilgangelighed/
(3) In the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, on the 5th of February 2009, journalist Jesper Vind Jensen writes about Lars Olsen's book Eliternes triumf. Da de uddannede klasser tog magten (2009) (The triumph of the elite. When the educated classes took over power)
