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Letters
What follows is an open letter to Mike Russell MSP,
Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution, concerning Creative
Scotland (the proposed merger of the public bodies, the Scottish Arts Council
and Scottish Screen) that will shortly be sent to him. The letter was formed
through open group discussion and concentrated exchanges between artists
and members of Variant’s affinity
group. If you concur with the letter and wish to sign it, either in a personal
or ‘official’ capacity, then please email Variant at: variantmag@btinternet.com
For ongoing analysis of the Creative Scotland debacle, please visit: creativescotland.blogspot.com
Open
Letter to Mike Russell MSP, Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution
Dear Mike Russell,
Re. Promotional Culture versus Democratic Culture: The Case of Creative Scotland
After a long series of confusing twists and turns over cultural policy in Scotland
it is clear that there is considerable controversy surrounding the proposed cultural
body Creative Scotland. We believe Creative Scotland is already impoverishing
culture by promoting and envisaging it in overwhelmingly industrial terms. This
misguided approach ultimately fixates on anything or anyone that can be bought,
sold or put into debt1, and stands against the spirit and letter of the UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions which
came into force in March 2007.2
So far, the formation of Creative Scotland has been a largely opportunistic political
and bureaucratic exercise in a country which suffers from significant democratic
deficits despite our devolved parliament. It is therefore vital that this organisation,
if it is to truly represent the interests of culture, builds moral and democratic
authority. We take your recent ministerial appointment as evidence of the seriousness
of this problem at the heart of Creative Scotland.
It is disappointing that your first public meeting, at the Traverse Theatre,
Edinburgh (18th February 2009) about the new cultural agenda was with a selected
gathering. Many people who wanted to attend, such as the President of University
Colleges Union in Scotland, were excluded. It should go without saying that there
are intertwined problems of protecting criticality and freedom in education as
in culture. However, the ‘Team Scotland’ ethos already expressed for
Creative Scotland3 demonstrates far narrower promotional and business-led objectives
that neglect these and other treaty obligations in cultural policy.
Other countries which have also ratified the UNESCO declaration, such as Sweden,
recognise prosperity as an important consideration in cultural aims4. Yet, in
contrast to successive pronouncements in our country, Sweden’s policy explicitly
states the need to counteract “the negative effects of commercialism”.
Evidently Scotland and Sweden’s leaders in the cultural policy area are
not singing from the same song sheet. However, given that both nations are signed
up to the same universal rights and obligations, we, as citizens, are entitled
to ask why there has been absolutely no sense in Scotland’s political discourse
of all the ways that culture and commerce are not compatible?
Is it that Scotland is conforming to an old slur against its people and is now
ruled by the same short-sighted money-minded people, the best of whom have presided
over financial disaster, or is it that we have not been represented in accountable
and truly democratic terms? In either case we see the dominant ethos of Creative
Scotland as deeply flawed. It is highly inappropriate that Creative Scotland
is being forged by bankers and businessmen who are evidently insensitive to,
or ignorant of, the broad implications of cultural policy. Their patronage or
support for certain cultural activities is no qualification and does not enable
them to address culture as whole. We therefore urge the resignation of Ewan Brown,
Peter Cabrelli and Chris Masters from the board of Creative Scotland on the grounds
of their inability to fully discuss this key issue of democratic society with
politicians, civil servants and wider communities.
In accordance with our international obligations under the UNESCO convention
from March 2007, it is also essential the following points are recognised in,
and made central to, Creative Scotland’s ‘core script’:
• Culture must be protected from commerce, particularly from the economic
processes of globalisation.
• The very idea of ‘Team Scotland’ is a symptom of these competitive
processes and should be removed. It is not a means to defend diversity of expression,
nor does it promote international co-operation. These two obligations should
be clearly addressed.
• The poverty, and consequent lack of autonomy, of artists and cultural
workers must be acknowledged as a key issue that should be addressed by any cultural
organisation seeking to articulate the public interest and the common good.
Notes
1. “The Government wants Scotland to be recognised
as one of the world’s most creative nations - one that attracts, develops
and retains talent, where the arts and the creative industries are supported
and celebrated and their economic contribution fully captured.” [our
emphasis] Published - 5 February 2009, Support For Creative Industries: Roles
And Responsibilities - Core ScriptThe previous minister Linda Fabiani stated: “If
formed, Creative Scotland will add to the range of funding sources available
to artists and creative practitioners. As well as grants, it will develop a wider
portfolio of funding methods including loans and investments.” This was
reinforced further in a Sunday Herald article, where it was reported, “A
spokeswoman from the Creative Scotland transition team stated: ‘Creative
Scotland will be looking at a range of alternative investment models, with the
aim of finding and increasing sources of funding.’ Tax incentives, venture
capital, loans and corporate investment are all potential models previously mentioned
by the transition team.”
2. Culture is itself broadly defined in the convention as a complex phenomenon; “...consequently
cultural goods and services convey identity, values and meaning and cannot be
treated as mere commodities or consumer goods like any others...” p4 ‘UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions’.
3. 5 February 2009, Support For Creative Industries: Roles And Responsibilities
- Core Script
4. “The objectives of national cultural policy include safeguarding freedom
of expression and creating genuine opportunities for everyone to make use of
that freedom; taking action to enable everyone to participate in cultural life,
to experience culture and to engage in creative activities of their own; promoting
cultural diversity, artistic renewal and quality, thus counteracting the negative
effects of commercialism; enabling culture to act as a dynamic, challenging and
independent force in society; preserving and making use of our cultural heritage;
promoting the thirst for learning, and promoting international cultural exchange
and meetings between different cultures in the country.” ‘Sweden’s
objectives of national cultural policy’
www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/3009/a/72002 |