This week in ArtsProfessional, consultant John Matthews argues with passion and wit for dumping the age-old wheel reinvention that pervades the cultural sector (p13), and for breaking down the arbitrary compartmentalisation of management disciplines, artforms and different cultural experiences. His comments are timely.
The ever-vigilant National Audit Office (p3) has drawn attention to the income generating activities of DCMS-funded museums and galleries, and suggested that “there may be scope to take collaboration beyond the sharing of information and into the pooling of some key resources.” Hallelujah. For too long, too many people who work in the cultural sector have been content to limit their horizons to the particular part of that sector that they inhabit. Ever heard an arts manager say “the performing arts are different, so there’s nothing I can learn from the visual arts/museums/film/heritage /commercial theatre” (delete as applicable). Or what about those who say, “London/ the North West/Wales is different, so there’s nothing I can learn from the North East/ Scotland/Devon/France”. And of course there are many more who say “I’m in marketing/finance/production/fundraising so, there’s no need for me to know about …” (fill in the blank). Just as ostrich-like are those who simply don’t believe that the commercial world has anything to offer them in the way of example. But in this case the commercial world, tends to be far less prone to wheel-reinvention than the subsidised world, as it’s too expensive and undermines profitability. In the arts we must seek ever more ways to collaborate and share our knowledge and experiences if we’re to be taken seriously when criticising the Government for its failure to deliver a genuinely joined-up policy structure. After all, as John Matthews points out, audiences remain blissfully unaware of the artificial distinctions implicit in cultural policy when making their decisions as to the artforms and organisations they wish to support.
Published: 09-02-2004