Juan Carlos Rico

Tourism: towards the consumption of culture

(research project)

Part One: The Preamble

The title of this text begins with the confusing title of cultural consumption, since in reality they seem to be two opposing concepts. Even so, I stand by it because I foresee that, unfortunately, in the years to come, culture will move closer to the principles of consumption, which will mean the loss of its essence. But let's take it one step at a time

What do we mean by consumption? If we refer to its definition and meaning, it is: the action of consuming food, goods or energy and, more specifically, using and/or spending a product, good or service to meet both primary and secondary human needs. In both cases it seems to speak of a closed process, with a beginning and an end, where the food, good or energy disappears definitively.

What do we mean by culture? This term is much more complex to encompass, as is shown by its use throughout history. This is how I explained it in the book Art, science and filoso a: three related immanent processes:

At the moment, doing studies on anthropology, it has struck me that the concept of culture is something very complex, extremely permeable and totally incomprehensible to define in some way, although many other adjectives could be added. I have the impression that its meaning, which we all seem to intuit, is much more nebulous than it appears at first glance.

The difficulty of reconciling the two terms/concepts

In any case, and despite the lack of definition of the concept of culture, it seems clear, at least in my opinion, that the fundamental difference is that culture is an open process, which means that it grows or diminishes with the passing of time, that its reception is always different and that it never ends, and this is the important thing, it is never finished, it is unlimited. Think of music, literature and art, every time we are confronted with them we acquire new sensations and knowledge.

How can such a wide-ranging process be enclosed in something as closed as consumption, this is the fundamental question to focus on. And associated with this other very important one, which I am convinced many institutions and companies are asking themselves: Can culture be economically profitable?

A work of fiction to try to explain it

I spent a long time thinking, reading and researching about all this, but I couldn't come up with clear guidelines as to how the process could be and, encouraged by some students, I resorted to breaking away from the rigid rules of the research paths and moving on to the liberated fiction where nothing tied me down. 

Although it may seem frivolous, I had applied this flight forward in other cases, discovering that the lack of impediments and the total freedom of movement generated ideas that I would never have foreseen in the most scientific ways, and which were perfectly applicable later on in the process.

Recent visits to and analysis of the Forums in Rome, the Forbidden City in Beijing and Santa Soa in Istanbul have brought me to the forefront of reflection on the way we teach heritage and art, an issue that has been of fundamental concern to me in my research work, as has been reflected in many texts, although focused specifically on museums, but I believe applicable to the field of culture on both a theoretical and practical level.

But I am not interested in the analysis of the causes, which, as I have already indicated, is already being studied; what I am interested in is to study the consequences from a pragmatic point of view, which does not mean that I have the solutions, but simply new information that complements the causes and which can bring us closer to tackling the problem more effectively.  Technical lines of work:

1. Gauging and spaces. On the one hand, we need to solve the physical limitations of the space (at certain times it is impossible to move with the minimum space required). Closed spaces are not the same as open spaces.

2. Secondly, time, by studying the duration and breaks (sometimes not only physical), proposing the opportunity to stop at appropriate places along the route, as the studies on attention - time, etc. are not respected. The visitor must be able to plan it; he/she must be active.

3. And finally, analyse the content: which themes should be prioritised, how should they be explained, and what should be the hierarchy, since people normally have a very partial and distorted knowledge of what they are going to see, and it is important that they leave with general concepts that remain in their memory and that they can complete, if they wish, individually in their environment.