Review by Jennifer Hinves, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader, MA Cultural Management, at Northumbria University
(Bristol Cultural Development Partnership 2002, £6.00 [£8.84 inc p&p*])
As government funding becomes increasingly complex and demanding, so cultural organisations actively seek alternative support and work to position culture within the new investors? marketplace. This slim volume brings together the cultural and corporate sectors ? the art and the business ? in a manner designed to maximise the mutual benefits each can achieve. It is a useful contribution to the effective development of such partnerships and carries an endorsement by Arts & Business. Bristol?s film festival support comes largely from Bristol?s film industry so it is unsurprising that the study has a fairly narrow field of reference. This is perhaps an indication of how much further the new marketplace has yet to be explored. The analysis of the sponsorship for the Brief Encounters Festival is informative, if anecdotal. The primary sponsor conducts little in the way of formal evaluation and objectives hinge, unsurprisingly, around industry positioning. The improvement of career paths for employees and the creation of talent pools for employers also rates. The notion of ?corporate citizenship? is introduced in this respect. The case study basis of the text keeps it grounded in practice. The book is relevant to several aspects of cultural management ? sponsorship and fundraising, project management, marketing and development. The discussion of evaluation is particularly helpful to those practising or studying within the rapidly professionalising field of cultural management. Hopefully other case studies will add to the growing understanding and expectations of partnerships between cultural organisations and the corporate sector.
*For further information and invoicing, contact SAM?s Books, see Directory p16.