Connecting with foreign markets is being seen as an increasingly popular way to build audiences and participation. Claiming that the sector is finally waking up to the opportunities presented by China, Rachel Parslew (p5), says that building trust is critical when it comes to developing relationships with Chinese counterparts. A readiness to understand cultural similarities and differences may be an easy thing to state in principle, but in practice can prove tricky. She says that British people need to recognise the importance of face to Chinese people, whilst Sally Lai (p6) notes that the Chinese adherence to punctuality can limit opportunities to develop dialogue. Nonetheless, Michael OSullivan (p6), asserts that, our cultural institutions are coming to see a China dimension to their work as essential to their future as global leaders.
There is clearly much good work to be done in China, but for artists wanting to come and work in Britain, there is worrying news. Chloë Reddaway from the National Campaign for the Arts (p8) writes that the Governments new Points Based System (PBS) of immigration will serve to add significant costs to the price of touring in the UK. There is a strong sense that this move will serve only to jeopardise programming, with the arts sector inexplicably not afforded the price protection given to students and tourists. Indeed the PBS measures seem particularly cock-eyed, not to say brutal, when you consider that Parliament recently acknowledged the growing importance of the arts to what it terms 'cultural diplomacy'. It seems totally perverse that organisations such as the British Council are being actively encouraged to build cultural links abroad, whilst at the same time Government seeks to impose measures that will effectively stop many foreign artists and their organisations from visiting the UK. The effects of this are clear enough to anyone with the eyes to see it: art will not be performed, audiences will not be developed, business will not be done, links will not be made, and cultural diplomacy will be relegated to the status of yet another well-intentioned, but essentially meaningless phrase. Sound familiar to anyone?
Nick Jordan, Editor
Arts Council England has set up a website offering pensions advice for arts professionals (see p4). Do you feel that you have made adequate provision for your own pension? Vote online at http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk