Transcultural Practices in International Film and Comic Festivals

International art festivals have become central platforms for transnational cultural exchange, often presenting themselves as spaces of transcultural dialogue. The problem, however, is that these exchanges are shaped by institutional structures that are far from neutral. Decisions about the cultural programming, funding structures, and collaborations determine which artistic productions gain international visibility and which remain marginal. This is important because festivals increasingly function as sites where cultural power is negotiated, yet little research has examined how these events reproduce or challenge structural asymmetries between the Global North and regions such as West Asia and North Africa (WANA). The big picture concerns how cultural visibility, symbolic recognition, and canon formation are shaped within global cultural fields, particularly in Arab-European cultural relations.

Against this background, the project investigates how international art festivals operate as sites of transcultural practice and cultural recognition between the WANA region and Germany within a broader European cultural policy context. The project analyses festivals simultaneously as cultural institutions, policy environments, and sites of symbolic recognition. It examines how cultural exchange is organized in practice, how artistic visibility is structured, and how festivals may contribute to more equitable forms of international cultural dialogue. Furthermore, the research seeks to identify structural conditions that enable and limit reciprocal cultural exchange.

Methodologically, the project combines qualitative expert interviews and field research, document and program analysis of art festivals, and discourse analysis of festival communication and social media. Interviews with cultural managers, curators, and artists provide insight into decision-making processes, funding structures, and the challenges of organizing transcultural cultural events. Program and institutional document analysis allows the project to map patterns of visibility, participation, and representation over time.

Partner:
AGYA:  Arab-German Young Academy

University of Bamberg:  Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg