Where the arts have previously been used as a tool of cultural expansion, they are now increasingly a feature of co-operation between different cultures. Yvette Vaughan Jones celebrates the passing of internationalism in the arts and explains the role Visiting Arts will play in facilitating future partnerships.
The notion that the arts reflect national aspirations and help define national ideals is increasingly difficult to sustain. As the world becomes more global and inter-thematic, special interest groups, such as conservation, environmental or faith organisations, work across national boundaries, and we now experience the greatest movement of people across the world in millennia.
Respect
Visiting Arts mission statement is to strengthen intercultural understanding through the arts. It has become apparent to many policy makers that intercultural dialogue is essential, if we are to live peacefully and productively both within our own borders and with other people. In an increasingly global and interdependent world, where encountering cultural difference can scarcely be avoided, the ability to enter into respectful dialogue is a vital skill for nations, communities and individuals. Countries are rarely mono-cultures and Britain itself has certainly developed many vastly diverse areas of cultural interest. So, how far have our institutions in the UK and beyond adapted to recognise the shift?
There are some very exciting recent initiatives that look at new aesthetics, new partnerships and new constituencies. The recent Artes Mundi Wales International Visual Art Prize shortlist shows artists who live and work in many different countries, whose cultural influences are multi-layered and whose work is as relevant to sites in Africa as galleries in New York. It is an exploration of a new aesthetic that eschews the bland internationalism that had become the currency of international festivals. But what about artists wishing to develop international partnerships? Beyond just the financial challenges, there are countless practical issues that need to be taken in to account, from permits and visas to tax and insurance.
Successful dialogue
Over the past thirty years, Visiting Arts has become a leader in promoting the flow of international arts into the UK and offers advice and signposts on what to do and who to talk to. As the landscape changes, though, so must the organisation. We want to expand the number of players engaged in intercultural dialogue to ensure new ideas and agendas are addressed; we want to link closer with the UKs diaspora communities and recent residents; and we are keen to integrate our activities (see the inset feature for a good example of this). We want to create stronger more sustainable partnerships through addressing some of the big issues of the day. We have identified three key elements to successful intercultural dialogue: intelligence, facilitation and growth.
Intelligence gathering involves creating an understanding and familiarity of the cultural context, knowing who the key cultural players are, the concerns and interests of those players, and the aims and ambitions of the project and of those involved. As with any liaison, it is important for partners to read the signals of each party, to interpret the language, spoken and unspoken.
The second element is in the mediation of face-to-face meetings. Whether this is a meeting of people, artworks or audiences, the process by which they are brought together is as important as the quality of the work/participants themselves matching the right people in the right environment, if it is a placement or a curatorial visit; matching the right artists to curators, if it is an exhibition or performance; and creating the right materials and relationship with the audience, if it is part of a festival or season of work.
Constant refreshment
The third element is growing and developing the sector both overseas and within the UK. There needs to be a constant refreshment of the pool of cultural players to ensure interculturalism does not become a club for the few. As new people come into the field, we need to make sure that the experiences of the older players are passed on. This can be done through structured skills exchange or through more informal networking. At Visiting Arts we have developed a range of programmes that ensure there are constant opportunities for new entrants and for established people to keep up to date with initiatives for example, exploratory visits for cultural attachés to travel within the UK to make contacts and discover their interests. Attachés change and institutions change their policies, and so this programme is vital in maintaining knowledge in order to help attachés promote the arts and culture of their country.
Visiting Arts is committed to staying at the forefront of this new era of interculturalism and by developing our intelligence and facilitation skills, along with encouraging growth of the sector, we will continue to strengthen intercultural understanding through the arts.
Yvette Vaughan Jones is Director of Visiting Arts.
w: http://www.visitingarts.org.uk
Dan Perjovschi is known in Romania for his drawings, which explore with humour the cultural and political scene in Romania. In early 2004, he took part in the Artist to Artist International Scheme, a programme jointly run by Visiting Arts and the Henry Moore Foundation. He was paired up with well-known British artist Graham Ramsey. From this visit Dan was invited back to Scotland as artist in residence at the Collective Gallery, during the 2004 Edinburgh Festivals, supported by Visiting Arts. Dan has since kept in touch with Visiting Arts and in October 2005 advised on a UK curators visit to Romania run by Visiting Arts and supported by The Ratiu Foundation.