Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Number 2 | Page 15

essays from the historian Angela Bartie and cultural producer Hannah
McGill. Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance and
Politics has partnered with IICR for this year’s programme, bringing the
expertise of � faculty coordinators and �� Fellows for our ����-�� programme.
The essays also include Faith Liddell’s interviews with � of Edinburgh’s
festival directors on the theme of anger and anxiety represented through the
arts. In order to accommodate �� essays, the long form scholarly essays and
brushstroke articles are shorter than our usual format.
This special issue of Arts & International Affairs explores the cultural interests
and values that resulted from the idea of ���� festivals from both hierarchical
and participatory perspectives. The themes in this special issue move from
the micro/individual levels to the macro/global levels. We begin with what
constitutes high and low art and how taste is internalized among individuals.
Then we move to how artists find a creative voice to represent their world.
The third and fourth themes deal with the role of art in witnessing human
history, especially its evils, and the extent to which artistic empathy carries
over into our everyday life and politics. Next, we move to societal and global
levels to examine how and why culture wars take place, and discuss the state
of global values.
We cannot assert that the Global Cultural Fellows comprehensively represent
all voices from around the world. However, they do represent important
geographic, demographic, and intellectual diversities. These �� individuals,
appointed from all regions of the world include cultural activists, artists
and performers, and entrepreneurs, and they are well-connected with many
communities. The group of Fellows includes � practitioners from Scotland
and � from Syria. After their week-long immersion exploring cultural
interests and values, the �� Fellows will undertake projects upon returning
to their home organizations and institutions over the course of their yearlong
appointment.
We will report back to you on the outcomes of the participatory deliberations
from our Fellows and invite you to follow along their discussions starting in
August on the IICR blog which can be found at www.iicr.ed.ac.uk/blog.
In the meantime, here is a catalogue of cultural conversations to start this
important project exploring our cultural values and interests.
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