Conference agenda – Creating funding connections

Sarah Gardner previews an opportunity for funders from across the world to meet to discuss their common concerns and share their strategic solutions.
It is rare for the world?s arts and culture funders to be gathered together in one place to discuss their issues and challenges. Their first chance was in December 2000 at the World Summit on the Arts and Culture, held in Ottawa. There delegates voted to establish a formal network of funding agencies, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), to maintain the international connections that were such a valuable feature of the Summit. Established in mid 2001, the IFACCA secretariat has for two years been building its role as an international resource for everyone interested in public support for art and culture, and the second World Summit is now due to take place next month, hosted jointly by IFACCA and the National Arts Council of Singapore.

Connecting will again be at the heart of the Summit which has the theme ?Creating Connections: Trends in Government Support for Artistic Creativity?. Participants ? representatives of arts councils, culture ministries and cultural policy experts ? will explore ways in which they can forge connections in their own countries to strengthen their capacity to support artistic creativity.

Internationalism in cultural policy

An international perspective is increasingly seen as important to understanding and designing national cultural policies. One major reason for this is undoubtedly a perception of commonality in issues of public policy and the arts around the world. So often, it seems, arts and cultural agencies in different countries face remarkably similar issues. For example, the drive for greater accountability in arts funding, especially to governments; the imperative for a more strategic approach to arts support in the face of tightening budgets and increasing demand; and the changing nature of arts practice and communications brought about by advances in technology.

In his mapping of international cultural research, Professor Mark Schuster1 notes that this internationalism in cultural policy analysis and research has spawned a host of international cultural policy networks. IFACCA is one such network, established with aims of consolidating the collective knowledge of arts councils and culture agencies, adding value to that knowledge, and improving the management and sharing of information on arts and cultural policy.

Common issues

A crucial rationale for establishing the IFACCA network was to avoid ?reinventing the wheel? in arts and cultural policy research. At the Summit in 2000 it was evident that many issues in arts and cultural policy are replicated around the world, and that if a researcher or policy analyst is faced with a policy problem, they can be fairly sure that someone else in the world has already developed a strategy to address it. But finding out who to contact and where the information is recorded is not always easy. Experts at a meeting on cultural policy research in the USA noted that ?many cultural policy reports and documents are ephemeral and out of circulation ? the so-called gray literature ? and therefore difficult to capture?.2

IFACCA?s network has already begun addressing research and information shortcomings on a number of common issues in arts and cultural policy. Through ?D?Art?, a collaborative research programme that uses the IFACCA network to uncover ?grey? information, reports have already been released on how to define professional artist for tax and benefit systems; conflicts of interest policies in arts funding; and successful dance policies and programmes. Current investigations include how to encourage arts philanthropy through tax provisions, and the different models for providing legal services for artists.

The D?Art service is demand driven. Topics are raised by people working in the field, so the programme focuses on contemporary issues in arts policy. This ability to tune research into the needs of practitioners is one of the benefits of a network such as IFACCA, especially in an area such as cultural policy that receives only a fledgling academic interest.

The value of the collective is also evident at international gatherings such as the forthcoming World Summit, which is designed by and for arts and cultural policymakers. The topics under discussion are directly relevant to participants, having emerged from the secretariat?s frequent and wide-ranging interactions with members and the field, and been endorsed by a board which includes experts in government funding of the arts and culture from South Africa, Singapore, Finland, Ireland, Canada, France and Latin America. Foundations and sponsors have provided generous assistance to help delegates from developing nations attend the Summit, ensuring voices will be heard from around the world.

Some topics are about the day-to-day business of arts councils and similar agencies, for example: the alternatives to grant making, such as strategic leadership and research; arts advocacy arguments; new mechanisms for growing financial support to the arts; and the balancing of objectives in cultural policy. Other topics are broader, focussing on sector-wide issues such as the place of the arts in development, and the implications of new technologies, creative industries and innovation to the arts. The opening address by Ho Kwon Ping, high profile chairman of Singapore?s Banyan Tree Group, will provide an overview of the global social and economic trends that are most relevant to the arts, and raise issues that will surely permeate discussions throughout the Summit.

Sarah Gardner is Executive Director of the Sydney-based International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies

(1) Schuster, M. (2002) ?Informing Cultural Policy? The Pew Charitable Trusts)
(2) Stewart, R., and Galley, C. (2003) ?The Research and Information Infrastructure for Cultural Policy: A Consideration of Models for the United States, The Pew Charitable Trusts, p5