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The Road of Peace

‘Das geht nur langsam und das geht immer wieder’

Vredesstraat

Sculpturenstraat in Europa Hommage aan Otto Freundlich Geïnitieerd door Leo Kornbrust

Renée Hartog 6077080

Author: Renée Hartog Supervisor: Jeanette Mak 2nd Reader: Jaap Boonstra

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als het individu

onlosmakelijk verbonden met omgeving en historie kiest voor meer dan kan het zijn

dat samenwerking een omgekeerde spin veroorzaakt en meer van dat meer verlangt

hoe de processen gedetermineerd worden

hangt vervolgens af van hoe de gemaakte materie zich ontwikkelt kwantitatieve tijd speelt hierin geen waarachtige rol

Wim van Sijl

when the individual chooses

inseparably connected to surrounding and history for more

then it can be

that cooperation causes an upside down spider and desires more of that more

how processes are determined

depends then of how the produced matter develops

quantitative time in this sense does not play an actual role Translation: Renée Hartog

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THANKS*DANK*MERCI*DANKESHÖN JAN BOR

for always pushing me forward

HENK WIJNEN

for this idea: no Henk, no thesis: looking forward continue working together

CORNELIEKE LAGERWAARD

for your positive energy and time in your busy life: such an energetic lady!

WIM VAN SIJL

for your hospitality: for spending time in your artwork (and great sandwiches)

CHRISTOPHE DUVIVIER

for your honesty: it was great spending time in Tavet between Freundlich’s art

PHILLIPPE HANSCH

for your honesty: hopefully this thesis will explain you what it is, The Road of Peace

ZHUO CHENG

for making this process fun! And making such good arrangements for the French trip.

KERSTIN SOMMER

for even showing up to meet me when you were sick!

LEO KORNBRUST

for the Road of Peace

BERTRAND & MICHELLE NEY

for coming all the way from Luxembourg to meet me. Next time Amsterdam & Luxembourg

USCHI MACHER

for taking me so seriously

JEANETTE MAK

for being the BEST supervisor ever do not underestimate the importance. I know.

MERAPI OBERMAYER

for making my report on this art project a true art piece itself

I DEDICATE THIS THESIS IN RESPECT TO OTTO FREUNDLICH TO, OFF COURSE, WORLD PEACE

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Table of Contents

Introduction ... 3

Description of the topic ... 3

Research questions ... 5

Societal relevance ... 6

Scientific relevance ... 7

The script: an outline on how to read this report ... 9

Theoretical Framework ... 8

European integration and European Culture: transactionalism has not developed while other early integration theories have failed ... 8

Transactionalism and European Culture ... 10

Collective action ... 13

Networks ... 14

Social organization and network organization ... 16

Operationalization ... 17

Methods ... 17

Data collection ... 21

Methodological section ... 21

The Road of Peace: Background Chapter ... 24

Otto Freundlich... 25

Leo Kornbrust ... 26

The Saarland government ... 27

Cornelieke Lagerwaard ... 28 Organizational structure ... 29 Networks ... 31 Data analyses ... 33 Germany ... 34 Background ... 34 Who is participating? ... 34

How do the involved actors and art pieces communicate to the public? ... 35

Events, overlapping networks and interactions ... 38

Concluding remarks on the empirical findings in Germany ... 46

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Background ... 47

Who is participating? ... 48

How do the involved actors and the art pieces communicate to the public? ... 48

Events, overlapping networks and interactions ... 52

Concluding remarks ... 53

The Netherlands ... 55

Background ... 55

Who is participating? ... 55

Who is participating? ... 56

Events, overlapping networks and interactions ... 61

Conclusion and reference ... 69

1. What is the historic background of the Road of Peace and how is it organized? ... 69

2. How active are the partners of the Road of Peace in France, Germany and The Netherlands? .. 69

3. How do the actors and artworks communicate with the public? ... 71

Could a network organization like the Road of Peace be seen as an agent of European consciousness and contribute to a sense of common European culture? ... 73

4. Should this initiative be supported by (European) policy makers? ... 75

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Introduction

A network analyses on how art projects could contribute to a sense of a common European identity

Description of the topic

The European Road of Peace is an art project intended to conceptualize European peace. The project is initiated by sculptor Leo Kornbrust, who began more than thirty-five years ago, in cooperation with sculptors from around Europe, with realizing sculptures in the free landscape around Europe (website Strasse des Friedens). The objective is, by realizing a continuous chain of sculptures (from Normandy to Moscow and from Amsterdam to Marseille) to conceptualize peace among the different peoples of Europe (website Strasse des Friedens).

The Road of Peace was introduced to me by the Dutch artist Henk Wijnen. As we spoke in the Amsterdam Art club ‘Arti et Amicitiae’ (Arti) about the

‘Monuments of Mankind’ (MOM) art work he produced for Arti, this is a group portrait of the most important actors of the club hanging in the big staircase of the club, I asked him about the reproduction of another MOM art piece, exhibited in the hall of Arti. He explained to me that this organization is called the ‘Strasse des Friedens’, the Road of Peace, an organization that connects many artist to promote the idea of European peace, based on the ideas found in an old manuscript written by painter Otto Freundlich. I was immediately fascinated by this ‘Strasse des Friedens’ and surprised to find the European idea alive in such an organization of artists to promote an idea that policy makers struggle with. Right then I knew I wanted to find out more, not only to learn more about the organization itself, but more importantly how or if this idea could be connected to European policy and integration. The idea originates from Jewish painter and sculptor Otto Freundlich. He was born in 1878 in Germany (now Poland) and died during the Second World War in a concentration camp. Freundlich was a pioneer in the abstract arts and

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based on his original philosophy, other artists have designed a street of sculptures: “The main theme being modern sculpture, and its characteristic spatial development he visualized a row of non-figurative sculptures in an open landscape as a concept of ‘a social process in appropriate metaphysical language.’”(flyer Road of Peace). In the original idea of Otto Freundlich it is about accessible tower-like sculptures that are not only made by

international known artists, but are also build in cooperation with local communities (website Strasse des Friedens). This presentation of communal work of artists with inclusion of the people is elaborated in later symposia. Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss, Freundlich’s longtime companion, formulated in a symposium in 1959 the perception of two crossing streets: one from North to South, ‘the road of human brotherhood’, and one from West to East, ‘the road of human solidarity in memory of the liberation’. The intersection of the two roads would be placed in Auvers-sur-Oise and would be highlighted by Freundlich’s original sculpture symbolizing his vision: ‘the tower of peace and the seven arts’ (website Strasse des Friedens)

The 1959 symposium, organized by sculptor Karl Prantl in Austria was attended by sculptor Leo Kornbrust and twelve years later he organized a second symposium in Saarland, Germany (website Strasse des Friedens). In 1973 the dredging in Sankt Wendel offers the opportunity to build sculptures of sandstone blocks. Kornbrust invites international artists to work with him and the idea of realizing the Road of Peace is born (website Strasse des Friedens).

In this context Kornbrust speaks about a ‘choreography of sculptures in the landscape’ (website Strasse des Friedens). With the idea of putting

Freundlich’s idea into practice an association to help this project getting realized was founded in 1971.

When the idea was born in the mind of Otto Freundlich, the Second World War was lying ahead. The fronts between East and West hardened. Although in the twenty-first century the ‘Iron Curtain’ no longer exists and we have a well established European Union, a democratic political body of a majority of

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European peoples, we still live in a world where peace is not a given status. Therefore, I wonder if an initiative like the Road of Peace could contribute to engendering awareness among the peoples in the European Union of this abstract idea of peace. This brings me to the following research questions: Research questions

The main question I want to answer is formulated as follows:

Could a network organization like the Road of Peace be seen as an agent of European consciousness and contribute to a sense of common

European culture and should this type of initiatives be supported by (European) policy makers?

To answer this question I will first need to get an understanding of the organization, the Road of Peace. Then, I need to find out and describe how the organization functions internally and finally I need to get an impression on how the organization communicates its aims to the broader public. In my methods I use unstructured interviews and participant observation. By means of these combined methods I want to answer the following

sub-questions:

1. What is the historic background of the Road of Peace and how is it organized?

2. How active are the partners of the Road of Peace in France, Germany and The Netherlands?

3. How do the actors and artworks communicate with the public? 4. Should this initiative be supported by (European) policy makers? To find the answers to these questions I examine different cases within the network by means of performing unstructured interviews based on an

interview guide. This interview guide is designed with the guidance of Becker and network theory. Becker comes to a conception of art as a form of

collective action. When studying art we can think of social organization as the network of all the people involved to make it possible for the artist to

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produce the work and are involved in displaying the work to the public (Becker, 1974: 767). It comes down to the following questions: who is participating to produce what events and who is responsible for producing the events? What is the overlap between different networks and what role do conventions and resources play? Drawing on network theory I want find out what the strength is of interactions in the network. Finally, based on my analysis, I want to be able to advice whether these type of projects should be supported b (European) policy makers.

Societal relevance

“The European Union is set up with the aim of ending the frequent and

bloody wars between neighbours (sic), which culminated in the Second World War. As of 1950, The European Coal and Steel Community begins to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace” (website Europe.eu).

When I was first told about the Road of Peace, the first thought that entered my mind was how close the central idea of the Road of Peace is to the central idea that the European Union was founded upon. Immediately I was taken when I realized how prescient Freundlich’s vision was, considering this idea of the Road to Peace is rooted in a time, before the Second World War and long before the European Union was founded in the 1950’s.

In the decades following, European Integration, economically as well as politically, increased. However, economic integration moved faster than political and cultural integration. Today, the many peoples of Europe are living interdependent of one another, but yet we cannot speak of a sustainable politically peaceful environment. Although this year in the Netherlands and in many other European countries, we have celebrated seventy years of freedom after the liberation at the end of the Second World War, war has been in and around Europe ever since. Until the end of the 1980’s Europe was divided by a wall. In the 1990’s war destructed the

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Union: political instability in the Ukraine, migrants arriving illegally in boats at the Italian border and the threatening rise of the Islamic State in the East. It is often argued that the peoples united in the European Union need to work together to face these problems. However, economic integration has

proceeded much faster than cultural and political integration. There is a single European currency and a European Central Bank, but collective political action still demands intensive negotiation.

It is often argued that a common European identity is a precondition for further going political cooperation. For example, Shore argues in ‘Building Europe’ that instead of creating union among the peoples of Europe, the EU has created a union of technical, political and financial elites (Shore, 2000: 232). Attempts to contribute to a European identity are for example a European anthem, the European flag and a European day (November 9th). These are top down examples, while Shore argues that top down led

programs have lost momentum. Drawing on Shore’s argument that top down European integration has failed, let us here examine a case of bottom up initiatives. To remind us to the foundations that the European Union was built upon, initiatives like The Road of Peace could be very valuable. Can these type of organizations contribute to a sense of a common European culture?

Scientific relevance

By examining the case of The Road of Peace, a network case, I will collect data and empirical findings that contribute to the knowledge of the concepts of collective action and social organization. Second, I apply network theory to understand how the network functions and how these type of organizations could contribute to make it possible to imagine Europe as a political entity and community.

The scientific relevance of my research lies within a contribution to the understanding of the relationship between network theory and bottom-up European Integration. By performing a case study on an organization that has

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a very abstract goal of contributing to peace in Europe, I want to find out how this network of artists, that has strong ties in cultural roots, could contribute to a sense of a common European culture. On the one hand, the organization could learn how to improve on the functional aspects of the network,

drawing from network theory. On the other hand, policy makers on the regional, national and European level could learn about the added value of strong ties and twisted roots that from a bottom up perspective could create a fundamental basis whereupon policy could be built.

In ‘Building Europe. The cultural politics of European Integration.’ Cris Shore describes the development of the ‘European Idea’ and how European elites have attempted to use culture as a tool for cultural cohesion among the peoples of Europe (Shore, 2000). He describes how different attempts of the European Commission throughout the decades, to create a top-down

European culture, have failed. However, as we see in the example of the network the Road of Peace, initiatives to contribute to a European identity are still alive. It is a good example of a bottom-up initiative based on horizontal relations. Mark van Twist, professor in public administration, describes in his essay ‘De Boom en het Rizoom’ today’s society as a network society; a

society that is shaped around horizontal arrangements. In this thesis, I aim to study the Road of Peace as a most likely case of a network of social

organization that could contribute to a sense of a common European culture: a network that is shaped on horizontal arrangements. I will first of all study this network to understand how the network works: how are the interactions within the international network? Secondly, drawing on the ideas of Becker (1974) by means of this empirical case study I want to contribute on the debate how the conception of collective action applied to art could generate a broader idea about social organization in general. He criticizes that when sociologists apply the metaphor of social structure on the arts they speak of it as implying (without proving or arguing the point), that collective action should occur regularly or often (Becker, 1974: 775). However, he states that this should not be decided by description, but by investigation. Thus, with the guidance Becker offers on how to study social organizations, I aim to

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contribute with my empirical findings to the debate of the relationship between collective action in the arts and social organization. When I have created an understanding on how the network functions I will be able to make statements on whether the network helps top down, being an agent of European consciousness to contribute to a sense of common European culture.

The script: an outline on how to read this report

First of all, it is important to get an understanding of the scientific theory that is relevant for the outset of this research. In the next chapter (2) I will introduce and explain some pre-theories on European Integration, explain the ideas of Shore on European identity building and the ideas of Becker on social organization and finally network theory. Then, a chapter (3) will follow telling the history of the case, the Road of Peace and some notes on the organizational structure and the overlapping networks. The fourth chapter will present my empirical findings and analyses, first introducing the German case, then the French and the Dutch case followed by a summary of my

findings. In the final chapter I will conclude and answer my research questions.

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Theoretical Framework

In this chapter I will present the theoretical background of my research. Departing from European Integration theories I support the argument of Cris Shore, that top down European integration efforts have failed while bottom up initiatives could help to engender awareness and promote acceptance of the European idea (Shore, 2000). The Road of Peace could be seen as such an initiative and could contribute to engender awareness of this idea

collectively. The Road of Peace is a network of artists. Becker gives insights in art as a form of collective action and I will use his insight for the

operationalization of my research together with insights of network theory since the object of my research is a network.

European integration and European Culture: transactionalism has not developed while other early integration theories have failed

Three different pre-theories on European integration, federalism,

functionalism and transactionalism, offer different perspectives on the goals they have in common: how to solve problems on dimensions that reach beyond the nation state level. They share a belief on how international

institutions can suppress conflict and the ultimate goal is a worldwide rather than a regional governance (Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, 2006:17-18). These three theories were popular in the 1950s and 1960s, the period that the European Union was founded and when the foundations for the EU as we know it today were established. From the perspective of federalism sovereignty is placed from the nation state to a centralized level of authority. Functionalists see the gradual expansion of economic cooperation as the means to reach peace. Transactionalist scholars offer a sociologically grounded vision of

integration. The idea is that interstate conflict is ended through the

formation of international ‘security communities’ in which feelings of trust and mutual identification means that member states will no longer consider war as a viable option (Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, 2006: 18).

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The pre-theories of European Integration have highly influenced the study and the empirical development of European Integration (Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, 2006: 33). Shore describes that the reality that a common European identity does not exists cannot be explained by federalism and functionalism (Shore, 2000). From a transactionalist perspective European integration came to a halt already in 1957, because while economic integration and functional integration continued, as explained by federalist and functionalist scholars, social integration did not continue (Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, 206: 34). However, recently there has been a revived interest in this approach (Kuhn, 2015: 2). Constructionalist scholars, for example, believe that empirical and theoretical insights prove that real integration happens where the agent and the

structure intersect by social learning (Checkel, 2006: 418-419). Within an institutional context people still interact and this interaction leads to social learning which can change the structure. If we can find the idea of a common European cultural identity still alive, initiatives like The Road of Peace are the locus to find it.

Let us thus look at how the Road of peace, as such an initiative, attempts to reach their goals. I want to do this by (a) examining how the Road of Peace functions as a network organization, drawing on network theory and (b) studying how actors and artworks communicate the aim of the organization to the broader public. To do this I examine different ‘knots’ within the network by means of performing unstructured interviews based on an

interview guide. This interview guide is designed with the guidance of Becker (Becker, 1974) and network theory and comes down to the following

questions: who is participating to produce what events and who is responsible for producing the events. What is the overlap on different participating networks and what role do conventions and resources play? What is the strength of interactions and arrangements within the network? Finally, based on my analyses I want to be able to advise whether these type of projects should be supported by (European) policy makers. If Shore is right that top down initiatives have failed to contribute to a common ground of European identity, bottom up initiatives might promote a European identity

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better, because bottom up actors interact and in the line of Checkel, social learning may appear.

In the following sections I will first elaborate on transaction theory and European culture and Shore’s concept of ‘an agent of European

consciousness’. I will then explain how I use the insights of Becker and network theory to do my research. Also the main concepts will be defined. Transactionalism and European Culture

Karl Deutsch and his colleagues pioneered transactionalism. They stated that Instead of only integrating the states elites and institutions, states should set a framework for increased cross-border transactions and networks among their publics, because these cross-border transactions lead to cross-border bonds of common identification and trust that would eliminate the risk of war (Kuhn, 2015: 1). Processes of social-psychological learning are triggered by international transactions (like communication, migration, mutual

services, military collaboration and tourism), that in turn produce common identities and trust among social actors (Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, 2006: 29). This idea is also supported by constructivism “(…)the most interesting puzzles lie at the nexus where structure and agency intersect. The real action,

theoretically and empirically, is where norms, discourses, language and material capabilities interact with motivation, social learning and preferences – be it international or European regional politics” (Checkel: 2006: 418-419). In ‘Debates on European Integration’ integration is defined as a ‘pluralistic’ security community that is the result of a process of social integration where stats retain their legal independence but supranational institutions may be formed through interactions among the different smaller security

communities (states). Transactionalism is criticized by other scholars shat state that from a transactionalist perspective it is not possible to explain the relationship between social international transactions and political change (Eilstrup-Sangiovanni, 2006: 29-32).

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However, for the purpose of this research the relationship between those transaction flows and political change is not the relationship I focus on. The aim of The Road of Peace is not to establish political, legal or institutional change, it is simply to contribute to a sense of shared beliefs: the idea that Europeans can live in peace on the peninsula.

In the recently published book ‘Experiencing European integration’ Theresa Kuhn tries to solve the puzzle why the transnational networks and activities, that have been proliferated, have not been accompanied by an augmentation in European identification (Kuhn, 2015: 5). She concludes (1) that only a small elite of highly educated young professionals interact frequently in transnational activities and these elites come predominantly from rich countries. (2) Not all transactions are successful: instrumental transactions and transactions with a global focus are less successful than sociable transactions with a European scope. (3) Negative externalities of increased economic insecurity and cultural competition occur and people that do not interact in transnational activities are more negative and Eurosceptic

especially when they live in more globalized countries (Kuhn, 2015: 127). She therefore states that it seems useful to promote transnational interactions especially among the lower educated and poorer members of society (Kuhn, 2015: 142).

The question why European identification is not augmented has also been studied intensively by Cris Shore in ‘Building Europe’.

The evidence of this study suggests that “(…) the EU has created not union among ‘the peoples of Europe’ but an ever closer union of technical, political and financial elites in Europe” (Shore, 2000: 232). Shore states that the

formal top-down EU-led program of integration has lost momentum, while informal bottom-up Europeanization continues (Shore, 2000: 228). A second important critique of Shore is towards federalism: “A more philosophical critique of the European project, however, depends on whether one agrees with the federalist argument that the nation-state is obsolete and a threat to peace, that we have entered a post-nationalist era of history and that

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supranational institutions like the Commission are more likely to guarantee stability, prosperity, peace and democracy for Europe’s citizens” (Shore, 2000: 231). “However, the perceived loss of national sovereignty has resulted in claims by many governments that the expansion of the EU has become a threat to nationhood and this has fuelled an upsurge of defensive cultural chauvinism and regressive regional nationalism throughout Europe” (Shore, 2000: 231-232).

In the search for a sense of what is meant by a European culture, the first step Shore takes is to define ‘agents of European consciousness’ “(…)all those actors, actions, artefacts, bodies, institutions, policies and

representations which, singularly or collectively, help to engender awareness and promote acceptance of the European idea” (Shore, 2000: 26).

For this research I take the definition of Shore to define a European agent of consciousness:

Hence, according to Shore’s definition we can see the Road of Peace as ‘an agent of European consciousness’. All these agents “contribute to creating the conceptual and symbolic foundations that make it possible to imagine the new Europe as a political entity and community, and to conceive of oneself as part of that community” (Shore, 2000: 26). Could The Road of Peace, being an agent of European culture, thus contribute to make it

possible to imagine Europe as a political entity and community and by means of this imagined community include the lower educated and poorer members

A European agent of consciousness is defined by forces and objects through which knowledge of the European Union is embodied and communicated as a socio cultural

phenomenon: in other words, all those actors, actions, artefacts, bodies, institutions, policies and representations which, singularly or collectively, help to engender awareness and promote acceptance of the European idea (Shore, 2000: 26)

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of society collectively? As such an agent the Road of Peace helps to engender awareness of the European idea collectively.

Collective action

To research whether the Road of Peace could be seen as an agent of European consciousness we need some theory to operationalize this

research. The social scientist Becker came to a conception of art as a form of collective action as early as in 1975.He states that when we study artwork we can think of social organization as the network of the people that make it possible for the artist to produce the work and are involved in displaying the work to the public (Becker, 1974: 774). Because art is created by networks of people acting together it is social in nature and therefore proposes a

framework in which different modes of collective action can be studied

(Becker, 1974: 775). When we apply the conception of collective action on art it generates broader ideas of social organization (Becker, 1974: 775). He criticizes sociological writers of speaking of social organization or systems without reference to the people whose collective actions constitute the organization or system (Becker, 1974: 767). When applying the metaphor of social structure on the art sociologist speak of it as implying (but not even proving or arguing this point) that collective action (and the people involved acting together) should occur regularly or often (Becker, 1974: 775).

However, this should not be decided by description but by investigation. “Social organization (and its cognates) are not only concepts, then, but also empirical findings. Whether we speak of the collective acts of a few people –a family or a friendship– or of a much larger number –a profession or a class system- we need always to ask exactly who is joining together to produce what events” (Becker, 1974: 775). To conceive these empirical findings Becker proposes to find the answers to the following questions: who is participating to produce what events and who is responsible for producing the events? What is the overlap between different networks and what role do conventions and resources play?

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Furthermore, network theory can give some more insights to be able to answer the above questions.

Networks

In his essay ‘De Boom en het Rizoom’ Mark van Twist describes today’s society as a network society; a society that is shaped around changing horizontal arrangements. A feature of network steering is that it is not the solely the government that operates as steering actor, but other actors can point to the right direction as well. The purpose of governmental actors is then to facilitate those actors to organize themselves (Van Twist, 2010: 21). Van Twist hands some proposals that fit into the idea of network steering, but states that it is difficult to fit these in traditional vertical steering mechanisms in bureaucracy. Therefore, he states, empirical research is needed (Van Twist, 2010: 53).

In his essay, Van Twist uses the metaphor of a rhizome to describe today’s society. He draws on this idea of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari (Van Twist, 2010: 10). Literally, a rhizome is a horizontal

branched root structure, that cannot simply be traced to a single plant on the surface, but underground the roots intertwine and create new connections. A good example is the internet: it does not exist by virtue of singular

structures or hierarchy, but by the virtue of ‘links’ or dots in an endless network of reciprocal connections (Van Twist, 2010: 11).

A society, he states, is not designed, is not an organization, is not logically build. A society is a network of networks that are all somehow connected, but meanwhile there is no coherence: it is fragmented and layered. This is as well an important feature of a rhizome: connection without coherence. Just like in a rhizome root structure, in society there is a connection between all

individual parts, but these different parts (like different roots) develop also autonomous and there is no system in the connections that arise. Connection and meaning is ad hoc, continuously changing and (most often) by

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The story of the Road of Peace is a good example as above described dynamics show: it is not something that has been designed, it is a

developmental process that is continuously changing on its own. The Road of Peace is a network of international artist. They are the dots in the network and this is actualized by the signing of a ‘charta’ but this act does not yet connect any of the dots. For a ‘working’ network interactions and

arrangements are needed. The network is coordinated from the center, because this is where Leo Kornbrust (initiator of the Road of Peace and sculptor) and Cornelieke Lagerwaard (chairman of the board of the Road of Peace) have developed the network since their involvement. How the center could facilitate the knots is then an obvious question. I will elaborate on the actual organization more deeply in the background chapter. It is first

important to conceptualize the above introduced concepts in this chapter. The picture below gives a first impression of the above described theory.

Network

Rhizome

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Social organization and network organization

Becker states that in social and humanistic sciences it is accepted that knowledge and cultural products have a social base. The conception of collective action applied to art generates broader ideas about social

integration in general. (ref). If we focus on a specific artwork it proves useful to think of social organization as a network of people who cooperate to produce that work.

This raises the question how to define a network. Drawing on insights from three fields in the social sciences (public policy, political science and

organizational sciences) Kickert et al. conceptualize policy networks: “Policy networks are more or less stable patterns of social relation between

interdependent actors, which take shape around policy problems and/ or programs” (Kickert et al., 1997: 30). Rhodes defines the concept in the context of the British government: “(…)sets of formal and informal

institutional linkages between government and actors structured around shared interest in public policymaking and implementation. These

institutions are interdependent. Policies emerge from the bargaining between the networks’ members” (Rhodes, 1997: 1244). Interdependency is in both definitions a key concept. “Actors in networks are interdependent because they cannot attain goals by themselves, but need the resources of others to do so. (…) Interdependency is based on the distribution of resources over various actors, the goals they pursue and their perceptions of their resource dependencies” (Kickert et al., 1997: 6). Important in the definition of Kickert et al., is also “more or less stable patterns of social relation’. This is exactly what is criticized by Becker: “When sociologists speak of social structure or social systems, the metaphor implies (though its users neither proves, nor argues the point) that the collective action involves occurs ‘regularly’ or

‘often’ and further that the people involved produce a large variety of events/ But we should recognize generally, as the empirical materials require us to do in the study of the arts, that whether a mode of collective action is

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recurrent or routine enough to warrant such description must be decided by investigation, not by definition” (Becker, 1974: ).

Based on these insights I make a distinction between networks and policy networks.

Operationalization

I want to find out if and how The Road of Peace could function as an agent of European consciousness by analyzing the network. First I will have to find out how the actual human relationship take shape within the organization. Thus, I need to understand the interactions between the participants in the

network. Second, I want to understand how the sculptures interact with the public. Do these sculptures communicate the idea that The Road of Peace is built upon? In other words: does the Road of Peace act as an agent of

European consciousness by helping to engender awareness of and promoting the European idea or how could the network improve this agency?

Methods

My approach to the research will be of qualitative nature. Qualitative research methods are in line with interpretative epistemology, which emphasize the dynamic, constructive and developing nature of social reality (Devine, 2002: 201). Researchers operating in this paradigm value primarily the perspective

A policynetwork is a coherence of more or less stable

patterns of social relations between interdependent actors, that take shape around policy issues or programmes.

Actors in a network are dependent on one another and interact with each other (Rhodes, 1997: 1244)

A network is a coherence of social relations between

interdependent actors. Actors in a network are dependent and interact with each other (Rhodes, 1997: 1244)

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of conscious actors that give subjective meaning to their actions and

interpret their own situation to in relation to the situation of others. “Thus, intensive interviews are appropriate when seeking to understand people’s motives and interpretations” (Devine, 2002: 201). Within the interpretative variant of qualitative methods one of the main methods is the case study (Boeije, 2012: 20). In a case study the researcher studies a phenomenon in the natural context. The case study is regularly used in organization and policy research and the subject is often the evaluation of a practical problem with reference to, for example, a new program (Boeije, 2012: 21). In this research the Road of Peace is the case that is evaluated to see if this as part of a new program could help to engender European awareness. Most often the case is studied as complete as possible.

This means that data is collected at different levels (Boeije, 2012: 21). For practical reasons (limited availability of time and linguistic difficulties) I limit my research in this case to three sets of partners in the network: the French partners, the German partners and the Dutch partners. I try to include all actors involved at all levels around these partners. Second, as many methods of data collection are being used to study the phenomenon from different perspectives, like interviews, observations and document analyses (Boeije, 2012: 22). This method is called triangularization and I will use this for my research. Third, the phenomenon is not studies isolated from the relevant environment in which it appears. Therefore, fieldwork is required and I will visit partners, actors and art pieces in their specific environment. When doing this fieldwork I take an ethnographic approach, making field notes to use as data. The Road of Peace is a network of artists. I study this network from a public policy perspective, however for the existence of the network the most important factor is the it consists of artists. These artist contribute to the network from an artistic perspective. I will thus have to take this in

consideration and I need to make a translation from the meaning they give to their art and their position in the network, to the meaning that the artworks communicate.

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To get a first understanding of what the Road of Peace is and to get an impression of what to expect the documentary made by Gaby Heleen

Bollinger in 2011 will serve as background document. Later in the research further documentation will be used, to clarify and complement the findings in my interviews.

Thus, to understand how artworks communicate to the public fieldwork and observations are required. I will visit the locations of the art pieces and the environment of the involved actors and make field notes that can later be analyzed as in the example given in Boeije (2012:30).

To understand the interactions between the participants in the network I will use the method of in-depth unstructured interviews.

Two features of unstructured interviews are of importance: (1) the interviewer should formulate questions that fit into the reference framework of

interviewees; (2) the interviewer should be focused to give space to good interactions with the interviewee, thus create a positive atmosphere (Boeije, 2012: 58). As an instrument for the interview a topic list is designed. The researcher translates the research questions into the questions on this list to be asked to the interviewees and all questions on this list should be relevant for the research questions. These lists can be long and structured or short using keywords (Boeije, 2012: 58).

My interviews will be unstructured. Open questions will give interviewees the opportunity to elaborately speak about the topic. When necessary, questions will be asked to push the conversation in a certain direction or to find out more about the meaning of perceptions in the conversation. The topic list I use will be unstructured, using keywords to check whether all topics are covered. Extended interviews are usually done with a small number of

informants (Devine, 2002: 198). This method is often used when the goal is to discover the subjective experience of people and how they give meaning to these experiences (Devine, 2002: 199). This is why I believe this method will suit my research. “Qualitative methods are also good at tapping into the

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thought processes or narratives people construct. In-depth interviews allow people to tell their own story in language with which they are familiar” (Devine, 2002: 199).

To collect my data I make use of purposive sampling, this does not generate statistical representativeness, but is meant to represent diverse

manifestations in the research group (Boeije, 2012: 50). One of the methods in purposive sampling is the snowball method. “Snowball sampling (…) is a method that has been widely used in qualitative sociological research (…) it is created through a series of referrals that are made within a circle of people who know one another” (Berg, 2006: 12). Interviewees will be asked for other relevant candidates until all relevant material is collected (Devine, 2002: 205). It is a network method that permits in which people refer to each other (Berg, 2006: 12). It is interesting to find out more about reciprocated choices in various relationships in the network. This method is suitable for my

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Data collection

Methodological section

The first interview I have taken was to get an understanding of how the Road of Peace was initiated and how it developed over the years and to get a first understanding on the organizational structure. For this, I spoke to the director of the network, Cornelieke Lagerwaard, who is involved for many years and as well has a helicopter view. Additional sources are the many books about the different projects and symposia and the documentary by Heleen Bollinger. Based on these sources the background chapter will give the reader an understanding of what the Road of Peace is.

It was easy to get access to the important actors in The Road of Peace, Henk Wijnen brought me in direct contact with Lagerwaard and I was given

complete trust and openness. Lagerwaard provided books and documents of the organization and the documentary on her own initiative and when asked to give access to certain documents I she provided them immediately. After our interview I was invited to visit Sankt Wendel.

Following up, I have chosen a number of cases, official partners in the Road of Peace based on both practical and scientifically sound motives. I have tried to apply as much as possible a ‘most different case’ design within the bigger case, observing as many cases as possible closely. For logistical and

linguistic reasons I have chosen to visit two French partners, because I speak and understand the language very well. And this led me to the partners that are at the moment the least active partners, as I learned from the first

interview. In Pontoise and Auvers-sur-Oise I have visited the roots of Otto Freundlich. In Verdun I have visited the International Center for Peace. The cases in Germany are chosen because it is the heart of the organization. One of the newest and very active partners is in The Netherlands in Vianen, as I learned from the interview and also based on my own expectations, because

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it are the partners in this case that attended me on the project in first instance. In this case, it is easy to meet the artist and speak to them. In France it was not possible to interview the partners, however I could get their email addresses and instead of performing interviews I could perform an enquire by mail.

In Germany all relevant actors were available for interviews and took the time to receive me. All actors were open and it as easy to built trust. The only interview that was difficult was with Leo Kornbrust for two reasons: (1) he just returned from the hospital and therefore it was hard for him to speak and think clearly. (2) I do not speak German fluent which made it difficult to formulate my questions precise. I could move around freely in his house and take pictures.

In The Netherlands the actors were very welcoming as well. I could easily get in touch with them and they spoke freely.

The biggest dilemma and greatest difficulty was to stay objective. Soon I noticed that the trust I was given was connected to a ‘hope’ to bring the network forward. Most respondents pronounced clearly that they need to connect to a younger generation and often literally stated that I could fulfill this role. An article written by Loeber in 2006 deals with the problem how a researcher can deal with the type of problems around being involved as a researcher. She draws on the concepts of ‘phronèsis’ and ‘transformative learning’. “Pronèsis encompasses an element of compassion, which finds expression in commitment to understand the situation of the ‘other’ and to let that understanding come to bear in one’s judgment” (Loeber, 2006: 395). In this article Loeber describes how she as a researcher could generate more accurate findings because during the process she actively used the generated knowledge to facilitate interactions to help the process forward. “(…)

knowledge production itself entails the key to change provided that the knowledge production process features design characteristics that facilitate phronetic judgement” (Loeber, 2006: 395). Phronèsis is then the enabling of

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constructive action that moves the community from “flawed present toward an improved future” (Jennings in Loeber, 2006). It involves knowledge that enables us to act rather than knowledge that informs us. It does need an exceptional mode of participatory analyses: “The particularities of each of the participants must come to bear in the analyses in such a way that the result predicates action by members of the community. This means they have to learn” (Loeber, 2006).

During my research I showed compassion and understanding. In the analyses I show the particularities of actors and I show what actions can be taken by the members of the community itself. As a researcher I step into a bath filled with water which makes the water level rise. When I step out the bath the water level lowers again. The difference in the water level is measurable: in being open and fair on the process and by describing the particularities of the actors involved in the analyses I show the reader this difference in the water level.

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The Road of Peace: Background Chapter

In this background chapter I will introduce the story of the Road of Peace. I will try to untwine the roots in the rhizome as much as possible to give a clear chronological overview on how the Road of Peace has been born end lived among the past decades. It is based on the personal communication with Cornelieke Lagerwaard, she is the president of the organization and has been active in the organization for more than thirty years. Additional sources are the website and a number of publications about the Road of Peace. After an introduction this section will be structured around the actors that can be seen as the different roots of the network. It is followed by an overview of the organizational structure.

The Road of Peace is rooted in history. Different roots that follow upon each other shape the rhizomic fundament of the network. It is not something that has been designed, it is a developmental process that is continuously

changing on its own. It works, because it originates organically. Up till today ever more roots connect to the network. These roots intertwine and the outcome is more than the sum of the individual parts. In the time that Leo Kornbrust picked up on the idea of a road symbolizing peace, a road was a symbol of communication. In time, this road has developed to be more of a network and in contemporary times a network is the symbol for

communication. While the name of this network of international artists is still “The Road of peace’ it would be more accurate to speak of a peacenetwork. This network consist of partners that sign a ‘charta’: a contract that states the vison, the mission and the values of the organization. Partners sign the contract to commit themselves to the values and the goal of the

organization. These values are:

 The encouragement of peace and understanding between the peoples

 The reinforcement of conscience of cultural empathy in Europe

 To act actively for peace and against war and violence (Charta Road of Peace).

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All partners are always responsible for their own art pieces and activities. The board is responsible for the ties and interactions with and among partners. The sculptural street in Sankt Wendel is a physical fundament of the 5500 kilometer road through Europe with more than 500 participating sculptures. It could be seen as a headquarter of the network, because the board

members live and work around Sankt Wendel. So how did this network came about? The next section will explore the main roots and history of the

network.

Otto Freundlich

Otto Freundlich was born in 1878 in Stolp that was then in Prussia (now Poland). As an artist he lived and worked both in Germany and France. Freundlich was a pioneer in the abstract: “The main theme being modern sculpture, and its characteristic spatial development he visualized a row of non-figurative sculptures in an open landscape as concept of ‘a social process in appropriate metaphysical language.’”(flyer Road of Peace). In the original idea of Otto Freundlich it is about accessible tower-like sculptures that are not only made by international known artists, but are also build in cooperation with local communities (website Strasse des Friedens). His life-partner Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss was always very much involved in his work and he shared his vision most often with her. The original idea Freundlich

developed was a ‘mountainsculpture’ with accessible towers where both artist and civilians could meet and exchange ideas. He envisioned it with spotlights on top and located in an open landscape. Not in cities, because cities change continuously, but also not too far away from cities so people could easily visit. In the 1930’s the threat of war made Freundlich move to Paris where he felt at ease, but he was in the eyes of the French still a

German, so not easily accepted. During the Second World War he was forced to go into hiding. He moved to the Pyrenees, but was betrayed and because he was just above sixty years old directly transported to extermination camp Sobibor. Kosnick-Kloss survived and her further life she elaborated on the ideas of Freundlich. The idea of the two crossing roads must have been hers, because one road symbolizes the liberation. One road ‘the road of human

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solidarity in memory of the liberation’ lies from west to east, from the

Atlantic Coast where the allied forces had arrived to Moscow. The other, from north to south, ‘the road of human brotherhood’ lies from Breda, the

birthplace of Van Gogh to Aix-en-Provence where Cézanne lived and worked. The intersection of the two roads lies in her vision in Auvers-sur-Oise and is highlighted by Freundlich’s l sculpture symbolizing his vision: ‘the tower of the seven arts’ (website Strasse des Friedens) renamed by Kosnick-Kloss ‘the tower of peace by the seven arts’. This point of intersection does not

symbolize something universal, but is rather personal and romantic. In Auvers-sur-Oise Freundlich and Kosnick-Kloss celebrated many of their holidays and it was a place where they always felt very happy. It lays in a protected nature area, so the idea remains an utopia.

Leo Kornbrust

The second important root is the German sculptor Leo Kornbrust. He was born in 1929 and at the age of five kept as a prisoner of war. He was released, but he had to walk back from the middle of Germany back to Saarland where he lived. At a young age he knew he wanted to create things with his hands. After a period of making church benches as an apprentice he realized that he wanted more and he was accepted at the academy of

Munchen where he was educated to become a sculptor. When he was a stipendium in Rome, at the Villa Massimo, the German art academy for talented young artist in Rome he read in the paper Karl Prantls call for international artists. This Austrian sculptor organized the first international sculpture symposium. He invited artists from all over the world to work with him in the quarry. The idea of working together in open air attracted

Kornbrust, but at the time he did not work in stone yet. Kornbrust returned to Sankt Wendel and worked in his studio in the centre, and later in his second studio, a barn outside the centre, on small stone sculptures.

From friends in Berlin he took notice on what happened in the early sixties in Berlin where many artists protested against the wall being build. They did so by together in open air sculpting art out of pieces of the wall. Again,

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Kornbrust admired the idea, but he did not participate. In 1967 he participated for in the symposium organized by Prantl and in 1972 he organized a symposium himself in Sankt Wendel. This was the third international symposium in Germany and the first one ever organized in Saarland. At that period the concept of symposia was a serious way of

practicing art. Many famous artist wanted to participate and the symposium was a great success. It is important to bear in mind that at this time

Kornbrust had still not heard about Freundlich. At the same time, around 1974, two books about Freundlich were published: one work catalogue by Joachim Heusinger von Waldegg, and second the writings of Freundlich himself. In the same year an opportunity arose in Sankt Wendel. When an industrial site was being enlarged, pieces of sandstone needed to be

removed. Kornbrust lobbied with the local government to treat the sandstone very carefully so that it could be used as raw material for sculpturing.

Without a determined plan he succeeded and this is how the third root starts to grow.

The Saarland government

Plans were developed by the government to restore a walking path in the region for leisure purpose and to boost tourism. A part of this path passed through the symposium that Kornbrust had successfully finished. The first piece of a sculpture road originates here. Kornbrust started to invite

international artist to pick stoned that were placed alongside the walking path. When his Berlin friends visited him they told Kornbrust about the bookd they read about Otto Freundlich. Kornbrust was touched by the idea and dedicated, out of respect, a piece of the road to Otto Freundlich. Thus, elaborating on the idea of Freundlich we see here the concept evolving. Not the buildings that Freundlich envisioned, but indicated by the symposium, abstract art began to symbolize the same meaning. So the concept is changing and at the same time more and more people are starting o get involved.

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28 Cornelieke Lagerwaard

Lagerwaard came to Germany in 1986 and became director of the Sankt Wendel museum in 1988. She was hired for only a few years, but she remains to be the director of the museum until today. She was fascinated by the

sculptures on the road dedicated to Freundlich from the moment she arrived. As a closure of the project an exhibition around it was organized and that became a big event in the museum. She became acquainted with Kornbrust in that period and then it was quiet around the sculptures for some years. In 1993 Kornbrust was visited by some initiators on an art project around the celebration of Franco-German political relations and as well 35 years of cooperation between the French government and the Canadian French

speaking community. They wanted to organize a symposium with five young artist from Germany, five young artist from France and five young artist from Canada and asked Kornbrust to take charge. He had been director of the Academy in Munich, and thus had a great network. For six intensive weeks long the fifteen artist were invited in Sankt Wendel to work on stone and conceptual artworks. Although in this period sculpturing was not so much of a popular art discipline anymore and the idea of symposia had led on some kind of inflation, many good and famous sculptors still approached

Kornbrust because they wanted to make something in the street.

From here on the network and artworks started to grow. Kornbrust worked on an eleven meter high building, in Salzgitter an artist worked on a steel sculpture and dedicated a symposium to Freundlich in 1999. Hundred more artists participated. The minister of culture in Saarland organized two more symposia in 2001 and 2002 bringing the total of symposia to four. At the same time, one of the friends from Berlin asked to become part of the network because the small stone sculptures that were made earlier, against the building of the wall, fits in the thematic idea. In 2005 the sculpture street was approached by the European LEADER project. In 2007 Luxemburg was the European Cultural Capital and the ministry worked intensively together in the international cross-border region. The LEADER project was a project aimed at facilitating the cultural activities around this cultural year. The Road

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of Peace had build a good reputation and was asked to participate in the project. This was off course financially very attractive and in the following years the Road of Peace had the opportunity the grow the network further, financed by the government. The amount of a yearly €260 000 made it possible to built a website and to hire one person as supporting staff to run the office. In three years time many developments contributed to the growth of the network. More and more partners wanted to join the network and relations arose in Luxemburg, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland and a documentary was produced by Heleen Bollinger ‘Das geht nur

langsahm’. After three years the funding stopped and for the moment the Road to Peace is ran by volunteers.

Organizational structure

The organization has a board, members, partners and one employee. The board is formed by the president, Cornelieke Lagerwaard, the vice president, Bertrand Ney, and the treasurer, Claudia with Leo Kornbrust as a honor member. The yearly structural funding of €7000,-- finances the website and one part-time employee, the secretary for 18 hours a week. Members are individuals that sympathize with the idea. Up to now they do not pay

contribution. Partners are participating artists or cultural organizations. They sign a Charta to underpin the support of the organizations philosophy. They held responsibility (financially as well as content-wise) of their own projects. Although the organization exists since a very long time, the organizational structure as it is today has been shaped quite recently. The first structure was given in 1971 when an association was set up to organize the

symposium in Sankt Wendel. Leo Kornbrust did not want to be in the board of this association, because as an artist he wanted to remain independent. The notables of the town of Sankt Wendel helped to organize the symposium and activities around it, as board members or members in the association. Leo Kornbrust’s wife, Felicitas was in the board as secretary (personal

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symposium had finished, to support the sculpture street actively as well as financially.

In 1988 Lagerwaard became director of the Museum in Sankt Wendel and one of the first exhibitions she organized was about the sculpture street. She became a member of the association. When in 2002 the Minister of culture approached the association to become part of a more internationally

orientated program, the original members of the association withdrew. Reaching a higher age the growing association became too large for most of them. It was then decided to set up a new association. Thus, from 2004 onward we can finally speak of the association ‘Strasse des Friedens’ or the Road of Peace. Kornbrust became the first Chairman with Lagerwaard as Vice Chairman. In 2013 Kornbrust became Honorary Chairman and Lagerwaard became Chairman. Bertrand Ney became Vice Chairman, he is a sculptor and some of his sculptures are part of the Road of Peace. He is based in the border region, in Luxemburg.

Because Lagerwaard is director of the Museum of Sankt Wendel and because the sculpture street is an important attraction in Sankt Wendel, she can use some of the museum facilities for projects in the Road of Peace as well.

Furthermore, the treasurer of the Road of Peace, Claudia Besch-Moutty, works for the museum on the financial department.

The association has around sixty members. These are members that support the work of the association actively or financially. At the yearly assemble around twenty members are present. Besides members, the association also has partners: these are the artists or the professionals in the field that have signed the charta.

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The figure below shows the organizational structure schematic.

PARTNERS MEMBERS HONARABLE CHAIRMAN LEO KORNBRUST THE BOARD CHAIRMAN CORNELIEKE LAGERWAARD VICE CHAIRMAN BERTRAND NEY TREASURER CLAUDIA BESCH EMPLOYEE KERSTIN SOMMER SAARLAND MINISTRY OF CULTURE Representative USCHI MACHER €€€€ € ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE The Road of Peace

Networks

A small note must be added in this paragraph on the network like nature of the organization. The Road of Peace is a network of international artists and professionals in the field of the arts that have signed the charta to state that they will promote the ideas of the organization. As such, we could see them as ambassadors. These ambassadors use their art works to communicate the ideas of the Road to Peace to the public, but with this ambassadorship they also promote the idea to their own networks. Thus, the ambassadors try to integrate their networks into the greater network of the Road of Peace. In the region around Sankt Wendel the overlap is very intense. The actors involved can work for the Road of Peace and in their own network simultaneously. For

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example, Lagerwaard as director of the Mia Münster Haus and Chairman of the Road of Peace. Or Bertrand Ney, as a participating sculptor and as Vice Chairman. Second, Sankt Wendel lies in a border region, close to French Lorraine, and Luxemburg. From the Saarland Ministry of culture, Uschi Macher works in this international cross border environment. This could cause some confusion for the reader in the analyses, therefore I want to highlight this here, before we start with the analyses in the next chapter. In doing my research I first visited the French partners. However, because the German partners play a major role in the organization as a whole, in the next chapter I will introduce the German case first to avoid confusion. I will start with analyzing the German case on itself, mainly based on my fieldwork in combination with the taken interviews. Then I will present my findings on the network as a whole, based on the interviews with the same actors in

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Data analyses

In this chapter I will present my findings. First, I will introduce the German case, starting with a close up from the German case on itself and then more broadly how the network as a whole is viewed by the actors I interviewed in Germany. Then, the French and the Dutch case will be introduced.

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Germany

Background

Sankt Wendel is important because it is the center of the organization. Leo Kornbrust is the initiator of translating the abstract philosophy of Freundlich and Kosnick-Kloss, into something physical and visible. When Cornelieke Lagerwaard arrived for the first time in Sankt Wendel she was touched by the sculptures in the landscape (personal communication Lagerwaard, May 1st 2015) just as how Kornbrust was touched by the Ascension of Freundlich (personal communication Kornbrust, May 27th 2015). Sankt Wendel is the steering center of the organization and the sculptures in the landscape are the roots of the project. Second, the structural funding of the organization comes from the Saarland government. Thus, the board is located in Sankt Wendel, the initiator is located in Sankt Wendel and the most important funding comes from the region.

Who is participating?

In Sankt Wendel many actors have been involved, throughout the years and nowadays. The leading actors have been presented in the earlier paragraph on the organizational structure. To give the reader a clear understanding I will present their names and roles here again in the following figure:

Leo Kornbrust Sculptor * initiator * Honorable Chairman

Cornelieke Lagerwaard Director Mia Münster Haus * Chairman

Bertrand Ney Sculptor * Vice Chairman

Claudia Besch Treasurer * employee Mia Münster Haus

Kerstin Sommer Office Manager Road of Peace

Uschi Macher Policy Officer Saarland Ministry of Art and Culture, department of

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35 How do the involved actors and art pieces communicate to the public?

In Sankt Wendel the Road of peace is more visible then in France. The sculptures are to be seen in the landscape in the nearby rural area on a walking distance from the city centre. Around the museum information boards informs where the sculptures can be found and he sculpture street and the Road of Peace is given.

Inside the museum at the entrance, which is as well the entrance to the public library, a corner is dedicated to the sculpture street and the Road of Peace: small pieces of sculptures and posters of the sculpture street are shown.

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Furthermore, a brochure is available with walking routes and explanation on the sculptures. However, when I tried to find the brochure in the bookshops it was not available. The people in the shop did know what I meant, but they had to order the brochure, it was not directly available.

Finally, one of Kornbrusts pyramid sculptures is placed on a square next to the big church and surrounded by terraces. For Leo this sculpture is an important component of the Road of Peace: It is a pyramid dedicated to Otto Freundlich in four languages (personal communication Kornbrust May 27th 015). German, French, Polish and Russian. These are the linguistic area’s the West-East Road of Peace passes through. Another same pyramid is realized in Moscow and the third pyramid has yet to be realized in Normandy which is expected to be realized this year (personal communication Lagerwaard, May 1st 2015). These pyramids symbolize the beginning, the middle and the end of the Road. There is no sign besides it to explain what the pyramids mean or that they are part of the Road of Peace. However, as Kornbrust explains, the inscribed text on the pyramids should communicate this: “In memory of Otto Freundlich sculptor and painter born in Stolp 1878 died in Majdanek in 1943 to whom the sculpture street is dedicated” (personal communication

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Kornbrust does not interpret the pyramids as being real sculptures. He sees them as a means of communication (personal communication Kornbrust, May 27th 2015). This is why he emphasizes the importance of the four languages on the pyramids. Kornbrust explains that these pyramids are the physical pieces on how he developed the ideas of Freundlich in his own interpretation. By using the four languages he wants to communicate the idea that ‘we are all Europeans’

The sculptures were appreciated in the beginning, Kornbrust states, but soon people forget about it. Some people walk by more often and they take

pictures, but most people do not care about it. Kornbrust thinks that sculptures are too difficult to understand for people. You really have to be fascinated and you see that only by a few people (personal communication Kornbrust, May 27th 2015). Thus, this finding indicates that solely the

abstract sculptures as means of communicating an idea to the public might not be the suitable manner to function as an agent of consciousness.

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