Looking For Non-publics

5. "Non-Publics" of Legitimised Cultural Goods. Who are they?

Chapter 5 “non-PUbLICs” oF LEgItImIsED CULtURAL gooDs. Who ARE thEy? Luz maría ortega Villa autonomous university of baja california, Mexico as for the working classes, perhaps their sole function in the system of aesthetic positions is to serve as a foil, a negative reference point, in relation to which all aesthetics define themselves, by successive negations. pierre bourdieu, 1984: 57 Like many research projects, the one presented here began with apparently simple questions and became more complex as time passed and some answers were obtained. From the daily observations of how events promoted by cultural institutions were attended by nearly the same group of people (the majority of whom were academics or higher education students, some economically privileged persons, a few others who were eager to learn and be “cultivated,” but never any low-income people), and because institutional discourses from public cultural institutions in Mexico commonly establish as one of their main objectives the accessibility of the general population to the benefits of artistic production and institutional programs on culture, a question arose: What cultural goods do low- and medium-income people consume? 94 | Looking for non-pubLics In 2003, a research project was initiated, titled: “Consumption of cultural goods by low- and medium-income groups in Mexicali” (Ortega, 2004), which aimed to provide descriptive information on the consumption of cultural goods by those specific income groups in the capital city of the state of Baja, California, as a means to support arguments on the effectiveness of the cultural initiatives launched by the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC, the state university) and the Instituto de Cultura de Baja, California (ICBC, State Institute for Culture). These two institutions were funders of the project, but were not involved in establishing its purpose and objectives, as the funds were awarded based on a contest, in which projects were subjected to a double-blind evaluation. The project studied the general character traits of consumers of cultural goods. The most salient finding was that responses related to the consumption of cultural offerings provided by the UABC, ICBC and other cultural institutions were almost completely absent. For example, in 88.4% of the surveyed households, no one had been to a theatre in the year prior to the survey (either to watch a play, concert or other scenic art performance). Across age groups, adults had the highest percentage of attendance, at 3.4%. Visits to art galleries and exhibits were mentioned in 19.4% of the households, again, mainly among adults. However, when asked about specific places, only 3.2% of individuals in the household had visited the State Art Gallery, while in 95.2% of households, not even one person had attended the UABC Art Gallery or the Literary Cafe, a state-managed space dedicated to literary readings (Ortega & Ortega, 2005). In contrast, 99.1% of households sampled had at least one television, and 39.7% had two televisions. Paradoxically, the percentage of households with three television sets was higher in the lowest economic level (17.5%) than in the highest level (13.9%). In 92.7% of households at least one individual had attended the most popular shopping mall in the city (Ortega & Ortega, 2005). Being a quantitative study, it did not offer much data to answer such questions as: “Are there any differences in consumption patterns among this apparently homogeneous group?” “How do these people choose cultural goods?” “What elements – contextual, educational, familial – are linked to the preferences observed?” To obtain these answers, a qualitative approach was needed. A second phase of the study was conducted in 2006–2007 to complement and explain the results of the previous study from a social theory perspective. This paper explains some of the main results of both studies, and some conclusions may be derived about the large part of the city’s population who are not familiar with the cultural institutions or what they offer, do not attend the events promoted by them, and, as will be shown, are not even interested in participating. “non-pubLics” of LegitiMiseD cuLturaL gooDs. WHo are tHeY? | 95 5.1. methOd The study on which this article is based consisted of two stages. The first stage involved a survey among 72% of households in Mexicali, capital of the State of Baja California, in Northwestern Mexico, considered a low and medium-income population, according to a previous study on marginality levels in that same...