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- The Citizen Voices Team
The Lesson of Calgary
by His Excellency Jean-Daniel Lafond
I went to Calgary at the invitation of Lance Carlson, president of the Alberta College of Art + Design. For the second consecutive year, Lance and his colleagues have programmed a series of lectures entitled Stirring Culture. He invites a selection of lecturers throughout the year to come and stimulate some group thinking about culture in a city which is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom, and is split between the status quo and change.
The first year of the series, he hosted a few big names associated with intellectual and artistic controversy—Bruce Mau, Frank Gehry and others—the idea being to really shake things up. These lectures, open to all Calgarians, are followed by a general discussion and draw an average audience of 800 to 1,000. Those attending are very representative of the Calgarian community: philanthropic businesspeople, artists, social and cultural activists, political figures, students, journalists and ordinary citizens with a participatory bent. The audience is both attentive and vocal. They all know that rapid economic development brings population growth, which causes upheavals in community life. Choices have to be made: what kind of city do we want, and what kind of community life can be developed when we know that money does not automatically bring happiness?
During that first year, Stirring Culture made the issue of arts and creativity the focus of collective reflection. In so doing, it embraced the issues and ideas we have been developing at Rideau Hall for nearly two years through Art Matters. We have found through the Art Matters sessions we have held in each province and territory that this concern is widely shared across Canada. Creators, decision-makers, researchers and, to an increasing extent, the general public are becoming aware that culture must be placed at the centre of community life as the essential fabric of our living together. It is not a question merely of preserving culture, saving it or celebrating it, but rather of regarding it as the heartbeat of social life. This was also one of the conclusions of the 10th Annual Canadian Arts Summit, held in Montreal on March 24, 2007. It was acknowledged at the same time that the arts, culture and artists do not quite occupy the place they should occupy in Canada.
In that sense, the process of questioning that Calgary has initiated through Stirring Culture matches the thoughts and actions we are engaged in at Rideau Hall, thus keeping faith with the desire, expressed by the Governor General immediately upon taking office, to "bridge our solitudes". We believe, in fact, that the best way of avoiding defensive attitudes and misunderstandings, and the resultant conflicts, in a Canada where cultural diversity is a reality is to develop our culture as a shared fundamental asset.
A UCLA study shows, for example, that high school students who go to the theatre or are involved in theatre are 42% less likely to tolerate racist behaviour than students who have little interest for it. In education, at all levels, the arts occupy an essential place, and it is the responsibility of creators, artists, thinkers and journalists to refuse to allow the minimization of the place reserved for the arts in education or in society. As we cope with major social changes accompanied by significant population movements, migrations and the mingling of population groups, culture is what enables us to overcome the distances between us, to build bridges between “them” and “us,” and to avoid regarding our fellows with hostility, suspicion or fear. Dialogue between cultures is what enables us to see others as human beings like ourselves, and to do so with generosity, curiosity and attentiveness.
I found confirmation of this in the debate that followed my lecture in Calgary: that culture is important to the survival of humankind, and that we, in Canada, who think and act in terms of culture are numerous. This is what brings a little sunshine to warm the sometimes overly cold realities of our daily lives. It also made me think of Ben Cameron, who rightly remarked at the conclusion of the Arts Summit that culture and the arts are like the family photographs that are all we can save—and, I would add, all that saves us from despair—when our house goes up in flames.
So before our world goes up in flames, let us protect the arts and culture in the same way we protect our family heirlooms.
That, for me, is the lesson of Calgary.
Jean-Daniel Lafond
3 Comments
So painters' statements hang in seldom-visited public art galleries, classical music is played by orchestras who must play low-culture music to even have a chance of supporting themselves financially, plays are not nearly as popular as Hollywood movies, and thoughtful movies play in sparsely attended art houses.
Most often, this high culture is patronized by the wealthier segment of society with pretensions, or in rare cases, aspirations to greater insights than afforded by the low culture which is their true milieu. These are the people who keep the painters, sculptors, classical musicians, playwrights and art-house filmmakers afloat financially, thus perpetuating their existence but not enhancing their value to the mass of society, which puts its money into perpetuating low culture, that which requires little thought and usually no existential revelations. It is mere entertainment, pandering to the lowest, trite common denominator of human emotion and thought.
Suivant sont mes pensées et mes croyances sur le sens de la culture et des arts dans une société.
La culture est une solution au chômage; les emplois de demain seront parmi les domaines de l'éducation, les recherches, la culture, les services, les sports, qui sont de plus en plus professionnelle. L`éducation, les arts sont absolument indispensables, non seulement pour développer notre civilisation technologique, mais aussi pour nous aider à s'adapter à notre monde en évolution.
Aujourd’hui nous changeons d'emplois plusieurs fois dans nos vies. Cela exige un esprit ouvert. Il est donc nécessaire de développer la créativité de chacun, si non, la perte du niveau de vie pourrait conduire à la panique, l'anxiété et nous conduire à la recherche d'un dirigeant autoritaire incapable de dissimuler les problèmes et donnera des promesse de solution simple et ceci pour rassurer la multitude. Je crois que le Fascisme ou la dictature révolutionnaire serait trop coûteux comme moyen de résoudre nos problèmes, cette catastrophe pourrait conduire à la destruction du XXIe siècle.
Les emplois dans les domaines susmentionnés, en particulier ceux de la culture et de l`art peut sembler peu rentables et, par conséquent, difficiles à financer. Ceci est une erreur de jugement. Pour comprendre, il s'agit de mettre la culture, l`art et l'éducation, où ils appartiennent. Personne ne demande à un enseignant(e) ou a un professeur d`être rentables. Nous savons qu'ils y sont, même si la société prend en charge les outils dont ils ont besoin.
Seulement quelques mots sur la question de la rentabilité d'enseignants, de professeurs, et par extension, les artistes, nous pouvons voir que, même si la société estime parfois qu’elle n’exige pas tous ces positions, les enseignants peuvent souvent être plus rentable en transmettant leurs connaissances, par exemple en participant à des Recherche scientifiques. La création artistique doit être considérée de la même manière; Même si le coût des prestations qu'il produit pour la société ne sont pas directement mesurables, cela ne veut pas dire qu’ils ne peuvent pas réaliser un profit, ou d'être autonome sur le plan financier. Nous devons comprendre que les arts est une importante contribution au développement du potentiel humain, qui est évidemment différente de celle des écoles ou des laboratoires de recherche.
Tout entretient le développement de l'emploi dans le domaine culturel. Certes, les dirigeants de certains pays ont considéré que l'art est subversif, dangereux, et probablement aussi le début d'une éventuelle révolution. Mais aujourd'hui, ce n'est pas une question de savoir si nous pouvons nous permettre d'encourager la révolution, elle est en cours. Il est urgent de trouver des moyens de le prendre sans trop de dommages, de destruction et de massacres. Je crois fermement que l'art peut nous aider à retrouver le chemin!
Participer dans l'art peut inspirer les spectateurs à encourager l'utilisation de l'art qui peut faciliter la réinsertion sociale, qui est rendue plus difficile par notre mode de vie actuels. Il est évident que non seulement l'individu, mais l'ensemble de la collectivité ont besoin de renforcir la cohérence sociale. Ce genre de travail est virtuellement illimité. Ceci pourrait permettre de résoudre certains problèmes de chômage qui mine nos sociétés. Les moyens financiers nécessaires sont disponibles, le seul problème, qui est d`une ampleur grave, est de convaincre les détenteurs des investissements de faire usage de la richesse pour le peuple, qu`ils ne le font pas. Actuellement, les incroyables richesses, qui sont disponibles sont confinés à des systèmes fermés, qui conçoit un choix entre les guerres, révolutions, les dictatures, ou crée un nouveau "contrat social".
Faut-il confier notre attention aux puissants qui nous gouvernent avec leur mur d'argent ou le pouvoir qui, n’amènent pas la protection essentiel à eux ou à leurs proches dans un environnement sûr et durable? Ils semblent croire le contraire, mais ils ne doivent pas oublier que, même les hommes aussi puissants qu’eux-mêmes, Sadam Hussein, le pape, John Kennedy, le président américain, ou Adolf Hitler n'étaient pas vulnérable
Nous pensons souvent que la beauté est futile et ne fait que décorer le monde. Mais la beauté et l'art qui se traduit par la créativité des humain n'est pas seulement un ornement, l`arts nous réjouie, nous motive et nous allège, puis l`Arts à aussi d'autres fonctions qui sont extrêmement importantes pour la race humaine, la beauté de l'art exprime la structure profonde de l'individu, la société et l'univers, cet ordre est essentielle pour la stabilité et la survivance de l'espèce humaine.
L`art nous donne une gamme de capacités humaines qui ne parvient pas à s'épanouir dans la vie quotidienne. La littérature, le théâtre, les arts plastiques, la musique, la danse et le cinéma explorer nos sens et notre intelligence tout au long de leur assortiment, à la surface et à la profondeur de notre inconscient. N'importe qui peut créer, ou tout au moins maintenir son imagination et sa sensibilité résonnance avec les œuvres d'artistes. Les humains peuvent utiliser toutes ses potentialités en vue de l'adaptation, l'entretien et le perfectionnement et ils doivent apprendre à accepter les situations différentes et à accepter leurs pairs dans toute leurs diversités. Les artistes peuvent souvent se créée une formation dans la solution de leurs problèmes, afin de mieux comprendre et découvert que nous ne vivons pas sur une île au milieu de l'océan; nous faisons tous partie de l'humanité et l'univers. Pour toutes ces raisons, nous devons défendre la liberté de l'art, et en même temps, de le protéger contre toute tentative d'abus à des fins politiques, idéologiques ou autres propagandes.
Guéganne Doucet,
Artiste peintre et sculpteur
Métisse Autochtone du Nouveau-Brunswick
http://www.gueganne.com
These are my own reflection on what is Culture and Arts in our society.
Culture can will alleviate unemployment in the social order; the jobs of tomorrow will be in the areas of education, research, culture, services, sports which are becoming increasingly professional. Education and the arts are absolutely essential, not only to develop our technological civilization, but also to help us adapt to our changing world.
We probably will change jobs several times in our lives. This will require an open mind. It is therefore necessary to develop the creativity in everyone, if not, the loss of benchmark could lead to panic, anxiety and push us to search for an authoritarian leader capable of glossing over problems or failing to solve them and promising simple solution merely to reassure the mass. Fascism or revolutionary dictatorship would be too expensive a way to solve our problems in the future, I believe, this could lead to the destruction of the twenty-first century.
The jobs in the above fields, especially those of in Arts may seem unprofitable and, therefore, difficult to finance. This is an error of judgment. To understand it, you must put culture and education where they belong. Nobody asks a teacher or a professor to be profitable. We know they are, even if society supports the tools their needs.
To dwell slightly on the issue of profitability of teachers, professors, and by extension, artists, we can see that even if society believes it does not require some of these positions in Arts, teachers can often be more profitable by transmitting their knowledge, for example by participating in scientific research. The artistic creation must be seen in the same way; even if the cost benefits that it produces for society are not directly measurable. It does not mean that it can’t make a profit, or be self-supporting. We must understand that Arts in their contribution to the development of human potential is obviously different from that of the schools or research laboratories.
Everything therefore calls for the development of employment in the cultural field. Admittedly, the rulers in some countries have regarded art as subversive, dangerous and probably as the beginnings of a possible revolution. But today, it is not a question of whether we can afford to encourage revolution, it is underway. We must urgently find ways to take it without too much damage, destruction and killings. I strongly believe Art can help us find the way!
Participating in the art can inspire viewers to encourage the use of art that would facilitate social recreation, made more challenging by our current lifestyles. It is obvious that not only the individual but the entire community needs to strengthen social consistency. This kind of work is virtually unlimited. It could solve some problems of unemployment that is undermining our societies. The necessary financial means are available, the only problem, which is a significant one, is to convince the holders of the investment to make use of the wealth in ways, they do not. Currently, incredible wealth, are available which are confined to closed systems where they have to multiply by a kind of self-fertilization. It is a choice between wars, revolutions, dictatorships, or creates a new "social contract".
Should we give attention to the powerful who govern us with their wall of money or power that cannot protect them or their relatives, in a safe and sustainable environment? They seem to think otherwise, but they should not forget that even men as powerful as themselves, the first being Sadam Hussein, the Pope, John Kennedy the American President, or Adolf Hitler were not vulnerable.
We often think that beauty is trivial and does nothing more than decorate the world. But beauty and art which is reflected by human creativity is not only an ornament. If Arts rejoice, motivate and alleviate us, then Arts also have other duties which are extremely important to the human race. The beauty of art expresses the deep structure of an individual, a society and the universe, this order is essential for the stability and the continuation of the human species.
Art allows us a wide range of human capacities that fail to flourish in everyday life. The literature, drama, visual arts, music, dance, cinema, explore our senses and our intelligence throughout their range, on the surface and in the depths of our subconscious. Anyone can create, or at least they can maintain their imagination and sensitivity by reverberating to the works of artists. Human can use all its potential for adaptation, maintenance and refinement and they must learn to accept different situations and accept their peers in all their diversity. Artists train in solving their problems, to better understand and discovered that we do not live on an island in the middle of an ocean; we are all part of humanity and the universe. For all these reasons, we must defend the freedom of art - and at the same time, protect it against any attempt of abuse for political purposes, ideological, or other hype.
Like beauty, art is not an ornament. It is crucial to our survival. "This is what we have to show as individual, to be recognized as part of the human species.
Guéganne Doucet
Indigenous Métis,
Artist painter and sculptor
New Brunswick
http://www.gueganne.com