Opera houses as cultural white elephants? The effect of the creative city model, bureaucratic mismanagement and lack of accountability in Valencia's opera house

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cultural institutions are growing in importance as tools of cultural policy and for promoting the city brand. Moreover, these major cultural institutions devour the lion's share of public subsidies, sparking debate on the legitimacy of such public largesse and its “value”. In this connection, one needs to ask to whether opera houses are “cultural white elephants” whose sheer cost greatly outstrips their supposed public benefits. This paper analyses the case of Valencia's Palau de les Arts, where the neo-Liberal discourse of management flexibility was combined with a shocking lack of accountability. Moreover, the creative city frame, neo-Liberal discourse and practices, the elitist management and disconnection from local cultural have spawned a herd of “cultural white elephants” that have become the hallmark of Valencian cultural policy.