Art, Culture & Cultural Policy Anwar Tlili Department of
Education & Professional Studies Kings College London Module:
Art, Culture & Education 01 October 2013
Slide 2
Outline of Contents Arts/Cultural Policy; Historical Overview
of UK Cultural Policy Art as we know it; Art in relation to
competing concepts of culture Culture and the arts as part of the
field of public policy in the UK The shift in post-war Britain from
private patronage to state patronage as part of the welfare state
ethos; then New Right and New Labour policies Tensions,
contradictions and challenges Points for discussion: Implications
for artistic creativity and the democratization of culture and the
arts How arts/cultural educators can/should relate to cultural
policies?
Slide 3
But why Policy? Culture and the Arts are now part and parcel of
public policy The need to understand the broader policy context,
its impacts and its implications for what professionals value and
see as their mission Understanding history is an attempt to
understand the present and foresee future trends The different
moments of policy: its causes; its initiation; its writing and
framing; its documenting; its prescriptive meanings; its
dissemination; its individual/organizational/local interpretations;
its implementation; its impacts and effects (intended and
unintended); its evaluation
Slide 4
Art as we know it Art as we know it is essentially a modern
thing; an aspect of modernity Art as: - a social institution - a
professional practice - a category of thought (a mode of thought);
a mode of meaning-making - A distinct value sphere (Weber)
underpinned by a set of criteria for what counts as art for
aesthetic judgement/experience - as a field of study (aesthetics
and art criticism: Baumgarten the first to use aesthetics; Kant key
in founding it as a coherent area of study in its own right) - as a
field of government/policy intervention
Slide 5
The relative autonomy of art -Five arts came to be recognized
as a sphere of human activity: painting, music, sculpture and
architecture added to the more established poetry now valued as
ends in themselves (rather than seen as signs of prestigious
aristocratic lifestyle or as an aspect of religious practices) Art
developed into a separate domain, with own relatively autonomous
criteria
Slide 6
Art comprises above all the five major arts of painting,
sculpture, architecture, music and poetry On the other hand,
certain additional arts are sometimes added to the scheme, but with
less regularity, depending on the different views and interests of
the authors concerned: gardening, engraving, and the decorative
arts, the dance and the theatre, sometimes the opera, and finally
eloquence and prose literature this system of the five major arts,
which underlies all modern aesthetics and is so familiar to us all,
is of comparatively recent origin and did not assume definitive
shape before the eighteenth century. Kristeller (1965, pp. 497-98)
The Modern System of the Arts in Renaissance Thought II
Slide 7
The assertion of formalism: art no longer seen as an extension
of the beautiful in nature, nor an accessory or function to
religious ritual, nor as a copy of a perfect reality/truth/Idea
outside art (based on mimesis criteria art judged only on how
faithful/close it is to nature, or the original in general) The
standard aesthetics approach: the value of art came to be
determined in terms of the contrast between the content (the
message) of artworks and their forms: Art is essentially about the
creative manipulation of form The aesthetic element in art
associated with formal attributes e.g. with painting: colours,
lines and space; for music: sounds in time; dance: body movement
each art form has its peculiar formal properties and formal
constraints/possibilities
Slide 8
Adorno & Form Precisely when form appears emancipated from
any pre-established content, the forms themselves acquire their own
expression and content. Aesthetic success is essentially measured
by whether the formed object is able to awaken the content
sedimented in the form. Incontestably the quintessence of all
elements of coherence in artworks, is form The difficulty in
getting a grasp on it is in part due to the entwinement of all
aesthetic form with content; form is not only to be conceived in
opposition to content but through it As little as art is to be
defined by any other element, it is simply identical with form.
Form is the artifacts coherence, however self-antagonistic and
refracted, through which each and every successful work separates
itself from the merely existing. In artworks, form is aesthetic
essentially insofar as it is an objective determination. Its locus
is precisely there where the work frees itself from being simply a
product of subjectivity.
Slide 9
Art and the Capitalist Market Contrary to some idealistic
understandings of the social history of art, the market under
capitalism helped the development of art in many ways; art as a
good on the market However, art remains in a
contradictory/ambivalent relation to market values/circuits a
relation still very visible today It is precisely its distance from
market considerations, its non-economic value, that gives art its
social meaning and its value (Bourdieu: the logic of the artistic
field is an inverted economic logic)
Slide 10
Art going public to some degree Art thus to a great degree goes
public and becomes social: no longer simply something meant to act
as beautiful accessories to the private space of the rich and
powerful Art in that sense becomes culture art thus becomes a
public thing, though public still in very exclusive sense
(elitist): not very public
Slide 11
The Idea of Culture Culture as the best which has been thought
and said in the world (Matthew Arnold) The best and most highly
valued outcomes of human creativity: i.e. the best in what counts
as art, and more precisely high art (as opposed to popular/mass
art; popular culture) Elitist definition of culture can be shared
by both Left and Right: the case of Adorno and his Culture Industry
(2001/1944). Edward Tylors famous founding definition (1871) of the
anthropological concept of culture: that complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
Echoed by Williams (1952): Culture is ordinary a whole way of
life.
Slide 12
A Policy for Culture? Prior to WWII, the UK state tried to
remain uninvolved with the arts: the laisser-faire approach The
only intervention was restrictive (to uphold standards of public
morality/decency): essentially censorship without proactive support
or patronage for the arts. With a few big exceptions: -its
involvement in engineering and supporting national museums and
local museums to civilize the masses (Bennett 1995); to construct a
narrative of nationhood and national grandeur (Anderson 1991) -the
BBC (1927): combining education as well as entertainment with a
purpose to educate/cultivate the nation; the voice of the nation
(above divisions and factions) - subsidies to support orchestras
and operas (from the 1930s) - British films (to compete with the
all-powerful Hollywood) - The Poet Laureate contest/position
Slide 13
The turning Point: CEMA The turning point occurred around 1940
during the adverse years of WWII. 1940: setting up CEMA the
National Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts To
defend British national culture Help heighten a sense of national
identity and grandeur Raise morale in times of adversity Funded by
the Board of Education
Slide 14
The Arts Council coming onstage Keyness initiative (John
Maynard Keynes). Building on the CEMA precedent The Arts Council of
Great Britain 1946 The initial intention was to set it up based on
Royal Charter In effect it has functioned as a quango: quasi-
autonomous non-govt organization Sir Ernest Pooley: a very
important experiment state support without state control.
Slide 15
The Post-war settlement State patronage for the arts formally
started in 1946 with the Royal Charter The post-war settlement
helped stabilize the role of the Arts Council within the arms
length governance framework: funded by government but not directed
by govt Agreement among all politicians that state support for the
arts should continue The ethos of the welfare state Principles of
social democracy: interventionist state and redistribution The
example of the Southbank Centre emerging from the 1951 Festival of
Britain.
Slide 16
The Royal Charter Overall aim: to develop knowledge,
understanding and practice of the fine arts inclusively, and in
particular to increased accessibility of the fine arts to the
public and to improve the standards of execution of the fine arts
and to advise and co-operate with Our Government Department, local
authorities and other bodies (p. 3)
Slide 17
Fine arts vs. what? Fine arts remain undefined: vague remit;
vague criteria for allocating funds Differences compared to CEMA:
-Excluding some art forms; a narrow conception of art; less
regional/local focus (CEMAs regional offices were phased out, but
re-introduced later in the 1960s). -Perceived as more about
allocating grants than promoting arts and making them
accessible
Slide 18
Major Developments mid-60s - Arts Council now under Dept of
Education and Science (DES) - Under DES: creating Office and Arts
and Libraries (AOL) - Treasury = DES = AOL = Arts Council =
Arts/orgs Gov rep for the Arts (but not a full minister) speaking
on behalf of the arts sector in Parliament Thus: Gov moved closer
to the Arts Council, whilst still formally upholding the arms
length principle: now the independent but accountable formula 1967:
Amending the Charter: Arts replacing Fine Arts (but still no
definition what the range of these Arts looks like) Inconsistency
and nervousness about appearing as regulating the Arts (or as
dirigiste)
Slide 19
Post-60s Effects Significant increase in the public expenditure
on the arts (especially the earlier part of the 1970s) Debate
around what forms of art should be funded and why. Traditionalists
vs. anti-elitists championing alternative and broader range of art
forms The spirit of 1968: art activism; egalitarian ethos among
artists and art professionals Politically conscious art
practitioners taking advantage and enhancing the role of community
arts and arts centres)
Slide 20
The Thatcher/Tory Years Rolling back of the state and
anti-welfarism Public sector restructuring and cuts in public
spending Cuts in state subsidy for the arts The Arts Council in no
win situation Encouraging and mainstreaming private sector support
for the arts via sponsorship 1992: creating the Dept of Heritage
Culture as an industry or set of industries that can help economic
growth instrumentalism
Slide 21
The Rise/mainstreaming of Sponsorship Offering tax concessions
to sponsors Creating ABSA (Association for Business Sponsorship for
the Arts now Arts & Business): a coordinating role between
sponsors and arts organizations; founded in 1976 (on the
Rockefeller model): the figure raised from business sponsorship
from 600,000 in 1976 to 686 million in 2009; 1988 opened offices in
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
(http://artsandbusiness.org.uk/)http://artsandbusiness.org.uk/
Slide 22
The New Labour Years The vision came out in Creative Britain
(1998) The creation of DCMS Dept of Culture, Media and Sport
(taking over from the Dept of Heritage created in 1992) Brought
under its umbrella a wide range of dispersed policy areas: the
salience of the concept of the (popular) creative industries:
emphasis on linking culture to the economy, promoting national
forms of cultural expression (especially British cinema); the
social value of culture, creativity and social inclusion: access
and excellence go hand in hand (Chris Smith) Thus the
claim/ambition/principle: artistic value, cultural (and even
social) inclusion, economics are not at odds with one another, but
complement another.
Slide 23
The Creative Industries Turn The New Labour Govts push to
harness culture to an economic agenda as well as social policy
agenda (e.g. culture-led urban regeneration) An explicitly
instrumentalist approach to culture Focus on the cultural
activities and products that can have an immediate and tangible
economic benefit/impact Commodification of the arts (Gray 2007) New
managerialism and performance management brought into the cultural
sector
Slide 24
New Labours Vision Create the Future (Labour Party 1997) states
that the cultural industries are vital to the creation of jobs and
the growth of our economy. The creative and media industries world
wide are growing rapidly we must grasp the opportunities presented.
Chris Smith (in Creative Britain): given the levels of growth
already experienced in these fields, given the flow of changing
technology and digitalisation, given our continuing ability to
develop talented people, these creative areas are surely where many
of the jobs and much of the wealth of the next century are going to
come from (Smith 1998)
Slide 25
Questions/scepticism around the creative industries Came under
criticism from various angles (e.g. Garnham 2005; Galloway &
Dunlop 2007; Gray 2007; Oakley 2009) Delimiting creative
industries: their distinctiveness? Creative industries: areas of
artistic and cultural creativity to be supported for their cultural
and economic impacts; or areas of creativity expected to make a
creative input into other sectors: the innovation-driven economy
The knowledge economy argument: more about revenue from creative
activities and intellectual property within an innovation regime
(Oakley 2009), than about harnessing the social and civic
values/uses of the culture and the arts
Slide 26
In the Mapping Document, the term creative was chosen so that
the whole of the computer software sector could be included. Only
on this basis was it possible to make the claims about size and
growth stand up. However, this inclusion had two valuable policy
consequences for the interests involved. It enabled software
producers and the major publishing and media conglomerates to
construct an alliance with cultural workers, and with small-scale
cultural entrepreneurs, around a strengthening of copyright
protection. (Garnham 2005, p. 26)
Slide 27
Dilemmas in Cultural/Arts Policy Aesthetic value vs. social
value Professional vs. amateur Regulation vs. creativity Catering
for the best or for the most: a long standing dilemma for the Arts
Council and for approaches to cultural policies in general To give
people the chance to be creative and experience vs. appreciate the
creativity of others Harness that creativity to economic ends quite
a different matter
Slide 28
References Cited Adorno, T.W. (2001/1944) The Culture Industry.
London and New York: Routledge. Adorno, A. (2002/1970). Aesthetic
Theory. London: Continuum. Anderson, B. (1991) Imagined
Communities. London: Verso. Bennett, T. (1995) The Birth of the
Museum. London and New York: Routledge. Bourdieu, P. (1995) The
Rules of Art: Genesis and Structure of the Literary Field.
(Translated by S. Emanuel). Stanford, California: Stanford
University Press (originally published 1992). DCMS (1998) Creative
Industries Mapping Document. London: DCMS (revised 2001). Galloway,
S. & Dunlop, S. (2007) A critique of definitions of the
cultural and creative industries in Public Policy, International
Journal of Cultural Policy, 13(1), pp. 17-31. Gray, C. (2007)
Commodification and Instrumentality in Cultural Policy,
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 13(2), pp. 203-215.
Kristeller, P. O. (1965) Renaissance Thought II: Papers on Humanism
and the Arts. New York: Harper Torchbooks. Labour Party (1997)
Create the Future: A Strategy for Cultural Policy, Arts and the
Creative Economy. London: Labour Party. Garnham, N. (2005) From
cultural to creative industries: An analysis of the implications of
the creative industries approach to arts and media policy making in
the United Kingdom, International Journal of Cultural Policy,
11(1), pp. 15-29. Oakley, K. (2009) The disappearing arts:
creativity and innovation after the creative industries,
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 15(4), pp. 403-413 Smith,
C. (1998) Creative Britain. London: Faber & Faber. Williams, R.
(1952/1989) Culture is Ordinary, Resources of Hope. New York:
Verso, pp. 3-18.