From rescue to recovery: a time for renewing relationships
We’re all in it together, but each of us has to deal with their own problems so it’s not surprising if people sometimes make the wrong choices, says François Matarasso.
This is an awful moment to be responsible for a cultural institution. Forced to close the doors overnight, you are flung into a torrent of demands and unprecedented decisions. There are staff who will need paying within days; freelance artists who can’t do their work; fridges of perishable food in the café; health hazards to assess; anxious trustees to reassure; donors to placate. Emails and phone calls flood in at all hours, each one asking questions you can’t answer, if only because you have no idea when you will reopen or in what conditions. After the first hours, you’re trying to save money wherever you must while honouring commitments where you can. Staff not furloughed have become ‘unproducers’ – dismantling the arrangements for future productions, exhibitions, festivals and events. It’s like producing, but with more pressure and no reward. Others are rapidly creating the digital offer through which you hope to keep an audience and demonstrate that, behind the shuttered facade, everything is fine – no, really, we’re coping, still working, thanks for asking. We’ll be back, very soon.... Keep reading on Francois Matarasso's blog
This is an awful moment to be responsible for a cultural institution. Forced to close the doors overnight, you are flung into a torrent of demands and unprecedented decisions. There are staff who will need paying within days; freelance artists who can’t do their work; fridges of perishable food in the café; health hazards to assess; anxious trustees to reassure; donors to placate. Emails and phone calls flood in at all hours, each one asking questions you can’t answer, if only because you have no idea when you will reopen or in what conditions. After the first hours, you’re trying to save money wherever you must while honouring commitments where you can. Staff not furloughed have become ‘unproducers’ – dismantling the arrangements for future productions, exhibitions, festivals and events. It’s like producing, but with more pressure and no reward. Others are rapidly creating the digital offer through which you hope to keep an audience and demonstrate that, behind the shuttered facade, everything is fine – no, really, we’re coping, still working, thanks for asking. We’ll be back, very soon.... Keep reading on Francois Matarasso's blog