From local to global: selling Belfast abroad

Abstract

Once described as too parochial and lacking a clear sense of where it is headed, Belfast is now actively seeking to market its local culture at home as well as abroad. Responding to new world trends such as cultural and experiential tourism that gives emphasis to creating experiences, the City Council’s latest cultural strategy (2012-2015) reflects the Council’s commitment to promoting new ways of visiting and discovering Belfast, notably through site-specific arts projects. Focusing on the year 2012, which saw Belfast host a series of world-class events, this article examines how central culture and the arts have become to the city’s developmental strategy and its re-branding process as a cultural place with a distinct flavor. Drawing upon a host of recent artistic projects – occurring in a variety of contexts – this article examines the move towards the globalization of local culture and the internationalization of the arts sector and the consequences of this shift. It argues that while the inclusive dimension of some major urban development projects like the Titanic Quarter is questionable, the city’s endorsement of a model that places culture at the heart of the city’s rebranding process has led to a redefinition of what local culture stands for, opening up new avenues for arts organizations that wish to embrace the local as well as the global and explore all the possibilities the creative space offers including in the realm of conflict transformation, social inclusion and place-making.