Be careful what you wish for – how the indirect impacts of culture came to overshadow its inherent value

Recent turmoil at the Australian National University has raised a serious issue about the way we view and discuss creativity and culture. For many decades there were profound attempts to explain how arts, culture and creativity in general had immensely broad impacts across society, including in the economy – attempts that I was part of. That was, and remains, extremely important, but, partly as a result of these attempts, the inherent long-term impacts of arts, culture and creativity have increasingly been ignored and only the broader flow on impacts, often the more immediately practical ones, have been emphasised. In a neo-liberal universe that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing, understanding and managing this complex balance is crucial.

Even though I am a long-running Adjunct with the University of Canberra and over the course of my career have worked closely with a number of universities, I don’t in any way claim to be deeply knowledgeable about higher education – I just recognise its value. For me arts, culture and creativity are my focus and higher education and arts training only figure in relation to this.

‘It was apparent that for too long there had been a narrow emphasis on ‘art’ at the expense of ‘culture’ and on ‘excellence’, as counterposed against participation and involvement. The whole community arts and community cultural development movement, from which I sprang, was predicated on breaking down this artificial dichotomy.’

These issues are rearing their head in the national capital at the only national university in Australia, but they resonate everywhere, as culture and education, learning, research and innovation become battlegrounds in a world that, in the words of Oscar Wilde, knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

During my working life, as I moved through involvement in different parts of the cultural sector, it was apparent that for too long there had been a narrow emphasis on ‘art’ at the expense of ‘culture’ and on ‘excellence’, as counterposed against participation and involvement. The whole community arts and community cultural development movement, from which I sprang, was predicated on breaking down this artificial dichotomy.

On the one hand conservatives loved the elitism of art, on the other hand, as part of the culture wars, they used accusations of ‘elitism’ to beat the ‘elites’ – not their elites, the real elites which rule the world, but those they identified as bringing progressive politics to the fore.

The privatisation of cultural support

New moves by governments in Australia to lay the groundwork to help broaden support for creativity and culture are important and need to be considered carefully and seriously. However, we also need to be cautious about reinforcing a trend for Government to withdraw from long term direct strategic support, as the underlying pressure of neo-liberalism, deregulation and privatisation moves us further and further away from the historically essential direct role of the Australian public sector in economic, social and cultural development.

I see that the NSW Government is responding to the crisis of survival being faced by artists and arts and cultural organisations of all kinds from ‘the burden of rising costs, rapidly shifting audience trends and waning philanthropic support’ by focusing on the promise of tax reform. This is after a long period of shocks to the creative sector that have threatened its viability.

 

Navigating the shifting currents of the NSW, Australian and global environment. 

‘There is a strong focus on tax reform for the cultural sector across State governments with engagement from the Australian Government, linked to a broader national focus on tax reform generally.’

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald, which you probably won’t be able to read because of its paywall, noted ‘Australia’s struggling culture sector could be handed much-needed extra funding under plans to use a radical shakeup of the nation’s tax system to alleviate the burden of rising costs, rapidly shifting audience trends and waning philanthropic support.’ Options being considered include ‘exempting prize money from GST, giving wealthy benefactors added incentives to donate, taxing vacant commercial spaces and allowing arts workers to claim new expenses.’