Culture matters

Julian Bryant

Cultural activity – more than just a play

 “The set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs".

UNESCO, 2002

Different definitions of culture

 According to Raymond Williams: 1 2 3 “a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development” “a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group” “the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity” Williams R:

Keywords

London, Fontana, 1983 p87 (cited in Storey)

Aesthetic / cultural

 Art for art’s sake  “The best that has been thought and done”  Development of the spirit,  Psychic well-being

Developmental - education  

EXAMPLES of Cultural and Creative Entitlement

    • A chance to work with a wide variety of artists • To travel to places outside immediate environment • Work with highly experienced artists • Have someone to introduce you to experience to feel comfortable to go yourself later  • Gallery space planned into school buildings

DESIRED OUTCOMES

       • Seeing children being open and expressive • To be supported into adult life to continue arts activity • Diverse introduction to diverse

cultural

• Changing perspectives on the world experiences • An enriching experience for all • Something that encouraged whole school change • Full participation  Creative Partnerships http://www.creative partnerships.com/resources/resourcefiles/42248 . July 2004

Arts Employment

  At the end of 2000, 760,000 people were employed in cultural occupations in the UK, compared with 610,000 in 1993. Since 1993, unemployment within the pool of cultural labour has declined from 9.5 per cent to just 2.5 per cent. 

Artists in figures: a statistical portrait of cultural occupations ACE 27 Sept 2003

'The arts are a growing source of employment and an increasingly important part of our economy. Just in terms of hard economics, people working in the arts and culture contribute more to society than they take out – and that's before taking into account their positive and transforming impact on the quality of life in this country.’  Peter Hewitt, ACE

Economic

 Olympics  Community regeneration  Driving economic activity  Raising aspiration in education

Creative London

       London is the national base of the creative industries in the UK: 80% of the UK Film and Television industry 90% of music industry business;70% of recording studios 80 – 85% of UK fashion designers are based in London 52% of the UK overseas visitors market 3 world heritage sites: The Tower of London, Westminster and Maritime Greenwich 11 museums of designated national importance and 19 national museum venues

Stratford Circus and Three Mills City Fringes Canary Wharf & Trinity Buoy Wharf Deptford Creative Enterprise Zone and Creekside Excel World Heritage Site Royal Arsenal, Woolwich Greenwich Peninsula



Economic impact of theatre

The economic impact of UK theatre is £2.6 billion



The economic impact of theatre beyond the West End is £1.1 billion



The economic impact of West End theatre is £1.5 billion



Every audience member spends an average of £7.77 on food, transport and childcare when they visit a UK theatre outside of the West End



Every audience member spends an average of £53.77 on food, transport and childcare when they visit a West End theatre



There are at least 16,000 volunteers working in the UK theatre sector



ACE, The Economic Impact Study of UK Theatre 5 May 2004

The ‘Cultural Economy’

 The cultural industries are:  Bigger than the engineering sector  Employ 5% of the UK workforce  Create 10% of GDP  Earn 10% of export earnings  A fast growing, and stable, employment sector

Social

 Culture as class

Social

 Culture as class

Social

 Culture as class – Lear or Eastenders?

Culture as politics

  Local authorities – Culture plans Tessa Jowell – “The public realm”  'Established value' is something on which everybody agrees and which is embodied in the work of the listings and scheduling systems. But there are other, more contested aspects of heritage value such as aesthetic value, community value, evidential value and historical value.  keynote speech at the 'Capturing the Value of Heritage' event at the Royal Geographical Society Jan 26 2006

Culture as politics

 Whose culture?

 Whose voice is to be heard?

 Whose isn’t?

Some issues

 What is the role of artistic heritage?

 Is ‘technique’ a neutral matter?

 What kind of theatre/performance should we be making, which “we”, and for who?

 What is the role of public subsidy? In whose interest is it operating?

 Is culture another commodity?

College activities:

 Partnerships with FE Colleges  Contacts with TiE/community companies  Half Moon; Theatre Venture; GLYPT; Bubble  Talawa; Tara; Nitro; Yellow Earth  Working with the local community  Festivals  Specialist schools