The
developed world has a range of competing aspirations for society and economy-
-but are we here in Northern Ireland starting to drift away from that
mainstream determination and recognition that the arts are good in and of
themselves and that as such they should be supported. Are we in danger here, of
being too driven by what some call hyper-instrumentalisation, which presupposes
that the arts will have a set of predetermined impacts and should be funded on
its ability to deliver just that? Or can we maintain an appropriate space to
allow artistic skills, sensibilities and vision to flourish AND be able to
harness that power to also achieve social benefit? These are the questions that
really strike a chord - not just to me, here, at this time, but right across
the globe!
Whilst
often debated, the hard reality for the 5000 + arts workers in NI and the many
hundreds of organisations, big but more commonly very small, who all strive to
offer the arts to as wide an audience and a participating population as
possible, that their reality is that might take incredible skill and technique
to make art, but actually securing that platform through finding the necessary
resources is an art form in itself and one that is increasingly competitive and
less rewarding due to funding cuts and another wave of local austerity and
shifting priorities.
In
this regard, whilst many organisations have been gearing up for a range of new
seasons of work and events, the quiet development of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland 5
Year plan has been under-way. This plan, to be further developed
over the coming 6 months, will offer all of us the chance to offer opinion and
shape the argument for how we develop the arts and indeed maintain the meagre
provision that we have.
By way
of contrast, take a wider look around today. In Scotland, simultaneously
developing its own Strategy and England, also reviewing its strategic outlook
for the years ahead, the conversation seems still to hinge on how to support
“new” and maintain “old”. Not so much protecting any sense of vested interests
but having the flexibility to support opportunity. But of course, the reality
is that without serious injections of public subsidy – there will be a nasty
trade-off between one and the other. We have seem this time and after and
indeed in the last local funding rounds here, we have witnessed something of
the same where a zero sum game, with ever fewer resource options means a
constant competition creating winners and losers.
Look at
Australia. With 26 years of unbroken economic growth and prosperity now
suggesting that Australia is in fact the second wealthiest nation on the planet
after Switzerland (of course). And yet, arts grant in aid has not kept pace,
with the most significant form of federal support increasing to around 177
million Australian dollars (£100 million) in the last fiscal year, up only 8
percent from 2011. But Australia
actually spends about 6Billion AUSD on arts and cultural budgets across local, federal and national government, so it’s
clear that the flexibility and the support to smaller agencies via grant-in-aid processes, outside the
“majors” (as the largest arts organisations are referred to in Australia) is
increasingly under pressure too. Although spending has stabilised after 2015
and a bonfire of organisations, there are massive challenges for the art
organisations and the communities of practice and audiences that they support
out there. Starting to catch my drift? You can read more here
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/02/arts/australia-performing-arts-funding.html
Elsewhere
in Australia, Economist David Throsby argues that governments should remain
committed to strong cultural policies in his Platfrom Paper Art Politics and
Money, published by Currency House http://www.currencyhouse.org.au/node/264.
Throsby is a distinguished Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, in
Sydney. Over
recent years he has traced what he calls the “economisation” of cultural policy
across the globe. Expenditure on cultural activities by governments is, he
observes, now primarily justified in terms of expected economic outputs. While recognising the
significant economic benefits of cultural activity can of course help bolster
the case for government spending, Throsby argues it should not act as the
ultimate reason for that support. Instead, the “core creative arts” of
literature, music, performing arts and visual arts, should be valued, first and
foremost, as public goods in themselves.
And,
just next door, albeit a few thousand miles south east, a re-dedication to the
arts is also under way in Aotearoa – the land of the long white cloud – New
Zealand.
We live in a country abundant in creativity.
As the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, and as Prime Minister, I want
to make sure the arts are accessible to all, that the arts are seen as a viable
career for our young people and that everyone, especially our decision makers,
appreciate how the arts - and all that sits alongside them - truly enrich our
lives.
So
writes Jacinda Ardern today in a press release. She is New
Zealand's Prime Minister and Minister for the Arts, Culture and
Heritage. Imagine, a dual role, First Minister and Minister for Culture - in NI
of course, we have neither!! . She goes on to say that:
I want to see a
country where the creativity and joy that comes from the arts is available to
the many, not reserved for a privileged few. I want to see a country where the
arts flourish and breathe life into, well, everyday life. I want to see a
country where the arts are available to us all and help us express ourselves as
unique individuals, brought together in diverse communities.
I believe the arts
and creativity are integral and inseparable parts of what it is to be human.
It concerns me that a
mind-set still persists in which only those things that can be counted matter,
and things not easily quantified are too quickly discarded.
We’ve instructed
Treasury to include cultural well-being as a core component of the new Living
Standards Framework. From Budget 2019: The Wellbeing Budget, we’ll be using
this framework in all our decision making. It will be the world’s first
wellbeing budget. And we’ve got a Bill in the House that will see the four
well-beings reinserted into to the Local Government Act, ensuring councils
deliver social, economic, environmental
and cultural outcomes to their communities.
Closer to home, former
Watershed Chief Executive Dick Penny stressed he is “more excited than ever”
about working in Bristol as he leaves his role of 20 years and heads a new
Watershed venture aimed at creating growth in the city.
Mr
Penny says culture in Bristol is booming. He is of course right, but some of
the major cultural infrastructure has been pummelled, losing in some
organisations’ cases 65% of funding in just one decision. Having run Watershed
for 20 years, he’s starting a subsidiary company called Ventures, a project to
help address challenges inherent in current funding arrangements.
In
his conversation with Arts Professional and looking at public funding in
general, Penny stressed that the pre-occupation with “constantly redrawing the
rules of engagement” is a constant issue.
“There’s
a push from the politicians to constantly fund something new. And what we
really need is sustainable, long-term development. That’s how you build
inclusion – because people who are excluded need to understand how they can get
involved,” he said.
“If
you keep changing the rules it’s bloody difficult for the people who are on the
inside, and it becomes impossible for anyone on the outside.”
Using
the Creative Industries Sector Deal as an example, Penny welcomed the contents
but also expressed concern “We all know in the cultural and creative sector
it’s a lot of freelancers and micro-work – so the historic industrial metrics
don’t fit the new creative knowledge industry,” he said. “There’s a mismatch
between the way funding is allocated and what you want to apply the funding to
– and the funding agencies get caught in the middle of that.” Adding that “if
you slavishly follow those and don’t look at the world you’re operating in then
you can end up being less engaged and valuable than you could be”.
https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/arts-organisations-must-look-beyond-funders-goals
So,
just scanning the horizon in the arts from Belfast to Edinburgh, Bristol,
Sydney and Auckland, the challenges are constant, steep and ever present –
funding, measuring the wrong thing, not supporting new initiatives and risks,
being too instrumental and shifting the goal posts for populations and arts
providers alike.
These
are challenges.
We are
part of that global conversation but we need more local voices to affect and
strengthen the direction that the arts take over the coming years. So, if you
haven’t already, offer your opinions to the Arts Council 5 year plan process
and watch this space for further opportunities to affect future policy.
The
arts matter, here, there and everywhere.
