Inaugural Lecture by Prof. Dr. Vera Allmanritter

Numerous exhibitions, classical concerts, spoken theatre, opera, ballet and dance performances are slowly filling the houses again as the pandemic subsides. Socio-demographically, it looks as if the "old" audience has returned. So far, so good?
Unfortunately, no. For one thing, the audiences of traditional cultural institutions were often older even before COVID-19 and younger generations were less interested in them. Secondly, current research findings show that the leisure behaviour of the population has changed in the last three years. The pandemic has led to a weaning off cultural visits in parts of the population: Many people who were previously still interested are now visiting cultural institutions less frequently than before. It is therefore becoming apparent that many cultural institutions are likely to face the challenge of continuing to fill their houses in the near future.
In the field of cultural management research, two approaches are currently being discussed as to what a solution might look like. "Audience development" is an approach that cultural institutions use to try and attract as many visitors as possible in the future. "Community building" is a second approach with which the institutions become more important in the reality of the population's lives - beyond actual attendance.
But what exactly are the current empirical results on audience development in traditional cultural institutions over the last three years and what can be derived from them as a forecast? What exactly are "audience development" and "community building" and to what extent can cultural institutions use these approaches to position themselves for the future?

Inaugural lecture
The inaugural lecture is open to the public, will take place in person and will be broadcast live in parallel. Interested parties are welcome to attend. Following the lecture, there will be a small reception in the foyer of House D.

Please register your participation in presence under the following link: https://www.iktf.berlin/tagungen/antrittsvorlesung-fachhochschule-potsdam/

About the person
Prof. Dr. Vera Allmanritter is a political scientist and cultural manager. She heads the Institute for Cultural Participation Research (IKTf), founded in 2020, within the public-law Foundation for Cultural Education and Cultural Counselling in Berlin. In 2018/2019, she worked as the scientific project manager of the non-user research project, funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe in Berlin and carried out in cooperation with visitBerlin and the Institute for Museum Research. Previously, she was a research assistant at the University of Hildesheim, the Jewish Museum Berlin, coordinator of the Centre for Audience Development at the FU Berlin and worked for many years as a freelance cultural manager.
She is co-spokesperson of the working group "Methods of Empirical (Cultural Visitor) Research" and deputy spokesperson of the advisory board "Education and Discourse" of the Goethe-Institut. She completed her doctorate at the Ludwigsburg University of Education on the topic of "Audience Development in the Migration Society".
She researches and publishes in the fields of cultural participation, cultural management, cultural marketing, cultural visitor research, audience development and empirical research methods and has taught at various universities.

Inaugural lecture
When: 24/01/2024, 7.00 pm
Where: House D / 011
Online: Zoom-Link
Meeting ID: 666 7213 5880
Identification code: 60405897