Hidden riches

The words ‘art’ and ‘culture’ have many different interpretations, ranging from high art to popular entertainment, which makes providing for and accommodating all tastes a challenge. Although this is the major responsibility of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), the smallest department in the Northern Ireland Assembly, art flourishes in many unexpected quarters. This region has an inspiring record of artists, dramatists, writers, poets, performers and musicians, but artists and cultural entrepreneurs need encouragement, support and recognition. Throughout the Troubles, art played a vital role in keeping a spirit of hope and resilience alive.
The most evident gap in the provision for the arts is the absence of a major art gallery. £140m has been allocated for a new sports stadium, and although sport is important, art transcends all boundaries. In a country where boundaries are so much part of the habitat, art can bring a greater understanding of the different traditions. The Ulster Museum, MAGNI, provides a small space, but local, national and international artists deserve a dedicated space to have their work on view. The Royal Ulster Academy took a brave step in exhibiting in a semi-derelict building at Belfast Harbour Estate, which illustrated the lack of permanent exhibition space.
Number crunching
Fashionable economic and political philosophies try to reduce the arts to numbers, to production and consumer units, and to quantifiable marketing statistics. Artists have to make complex applications for funding and learn business jargon to secure commissions, when what they create and offer is so ephemeral and unquantifiable. As Oscar Wilde appropriately stated, our culture “knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Whilst it is appreciated that state-funded bodies must exercise due diligence in allocating funds, there must be a more humane and sympathetic system to assess merit and address distortion. The fact that the Lottery Fund (Arts) is administered by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) allows little room for objectivity or alternative views. This may be argued as administrative savings, but that does not solve the problem of potential bias when one person could be assessing applications for both ACNI and Lottery funding. Arts administrators proliferate, whilst artists leave the country in search of work.
There has been a heavy emphasis on infrastructure, led by demand from local councils: it is important that venues are safe, sound and accessible, but there must be a balance between expenditure on places and equipment and expenditure on quality cultural activities, and local actors and people. In Belfast, government has allocated £18m for arts infrastructure to lead the way in social and economic regeneration. Further allocations for infrastructure have been made by DCAL (£36.1m for 2008–2011) and the Lottery (£9.45m), mainly directed to the larger organisations. But where are the studios for artists and musicians? Where can travelling performers store their sets and costumes? In France, local communes pay nominal rents for empty property and allow artists and crafts people to utilise these spaces as workshops and galleries, thus transforming the villages, building clusters of artistic groups, and creating a tourist amenity and attraction which has spin-off effects for other local businesses.

Looking for a champion
In Northern Ireland, over 60% of the working population is employed by government and associated organisations. The independent business sector is unusually small. There is little substantial wealth to support the arts, so artists are very dependent on government assistance or popular taste. Generous business donors are rare. Arts & Business does superb work in matching businesses keen to support the arts with artists. These partnerships are imaginative, transformative and galvanising for all involved, and can create profits. Champions for the arts in Northern Ireland are rare. It requires courage, independent thinking and knowledge of the impact that arts can have on individuals. Jenny Cooke at mt4uth (Music Theatre for Youth), Pauline Ross at The Playhouse, community groups in Lislea and the Craic, Coalisland, Brian Irvine with the Ulster Orchestra and Moving on Music, Neil Martin, Camerata Ireland under Barry Douglas, and the Belfast Print Workshop immediately come to mind. The new Libraries Authority demonstrates how libraries can take a lead in cultural and educational provision across all ages. There is a need for leadership and good governance on the boards of artistic organisations. Standards need to be set, skilled board membership sought and more professional management established. The establishment of Audiences NI, to bring expertise in marketing and development, consultancy and training services, has been a positive step in highlighting the benefits of professional skills and working together.
Self examination
Northern Ireland tends to look too closely inwards, which is perhaps due to our historic make-up. It is strongly linked to inherited English cultural systems, but could look outward to other regional and international areas: floodlit mountain walks to the words of its respected poets; the St Georges Square Art Fair which is a must for purchasers of all tastes and financial means; poetry readings on board a Clyde cruiser. The Republic of Ireland has been visibly successful over the past ten years in assisting artists locally and internationally, and investing in venues and events, but is now encountering a more turbulent passage through uncharted economic times.
The Northern Ireland government does have an appreciation of the importance of art, both for the well-being of the society and the creation of an identity, but also as a tourist attraction. Tourists coming to Northern Ireland have limited fare: they do not know where to access galleries or cultural spots. All the emphasis is on the Giants Causeway, Fermanagh Lakes, the Titanic Quarter and bus tours of the famous political murals. The Tourist Board should be developing a promotional calendar of events in locations where tourists arrive from, as there is currently no visible evidence of the arts. There is insufficient contact with other previously war-torn communities in Eastern Europe, but with the new wave of immigrants bringing their cultures to Ireland we should be more inclusive and open to their talent. Not only is Europe a window of to new ideas and experiences, but the European Commission also provides additional resources. Without the vibrancy and generosity of the arts and artists we would be a diminished society. We must strive to infuse our lives with its excitement.