Impacts of Graz 2003

In 2003 Graz was the European Capital of Culture. I was the Director of Production and Marketing and the Vice-Intendant responsible for the programme. Graz had a very rich cultural scene and it was very lucky that it was the only city in Europe that held the title that year. We were very lucky because the City of Graz, the Government of Styria and the Republic of Austria who funded this project decided to set up an independent company to run it. This way the team could set the goals of the projects and develop the programme. One of the major goals was to show to people that culture is one of the vital ingredients of society. We had a budget of almost 60 million Euros and we decided not to put the money into already existing projects. We made an open call for projects and ideas and out of these a group of around 20 team members developed the programme. Graz also had many infrastructural deficits at the time. For 20 years we had a discussion running about the establishment of a Museum of Modern Art, but it was only with this “magical year” of 2003 that things were made possible. With the title things suddenly acquired a “turbo” pace because the politicians understood that this is a big chance when Europe will focus its attention on Graz and when we have to give a very good performance. Of course we had to think also of sustainability and what will happen after this “magical year.” In my opinion this worked very well for Graz. In terms of infrastructure, Graz had before this no suitably large hall for events nor a contemporary art museum. In preparation for 2003 this infrastructure was built up in the city, including the Kunsthaus Graz, the house of literature, the children’s museum, concert and performance venues and other venues built through private-public partnerships. This completely changed the face of Graz compared to the previous years. But the most important effect has been the following. The Graz people always had a kind of complex that they are the second city of Austria, that they are poorer, that they don’t have icons like Salzburg has Mozart. With the European Capital of Culture year, this changed completely – this complex had disappeared, the Graz people felt proud of their city and of the programme, proud that the city was in international focus. They were really friendly and open to the people who came to Graz. The increase in visitors was another important impact of the project, the number of overnight stays increased by 26%. Never before had so much money come into the city for the building of infrastructure and for art projects. We tried to create a kind of virus, a fever, which was transmitted directly to the people. The ECOC project has benefited the entire city and its cultural scene. Of course the opera is the opera, but also the young and the “off” scene have benefited a lot from the chance to be in the attention of the Europe, from the chances and connections to the other parts of Europe they made as a result. The most positive impact of the ECOC year was that Graz was marked on the map of Europe as a very open-minded city, a centre for living and for arts and culture. It changed the thinking and the behaviour of the local people a lot.

CultureFighter

Eberhard Schrempf

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