Category: issues

Three years of Scottish home rule have not been the benefit to the arts many had hoped. It had been thought that Scottish governments would be able to better promote Scottish culture. But “before you knew it consultants were being commissioned and committees being formed, passing the baton back and forward. Serious money had been announced, but when a funding crisis hit local theatres last year the till was raided and the enterprise delayed a full year.”

In a country of international festivals, the Sydney Festival is Australia’s largest. Last year’s emphasis on younger-playing attractions boosted ticket sales from 48,000 to 91,000. Keeping a big festival fresh, says director Brett Sheehy, even a successful festival, is a constant game of innovation and trial-and-error…

With economic times being what they are, arts groups across the US have been bracing for government grab-backs of promised funding, and indeed, many cities and states do intend to slash arts funding in an effort to balance budgets. But in San Jose, the city council rejected a commission’s proposal to cut all arts grants by 10%, and approved the full amounts previously guaranteed to 53 cultural organizations.

Canadian arts funding is collapsing. So should arts organizations adopt more of an American system to survive? “In Canadian arts circles, the United States is often belittled for its laissez-faire, private-sector-driven approach to cultural funding that tends to emphasize artists’ commercial viability over their innovation and ideas. Arts managers across the U.S. profess embarrassment at the woeful state of public support. But the U.S. is also a shining example of how an active, educated and very well-endowed private sector can serve as the primary benefactor for individuals and institutions.”

Cellphone interruptions of performances in theatres and concert hall have become a way of life. “Performers have little choice but to respond creatively to electronic intrusions. ‘I think peer pressure and embarrassment are going to be far more effective than fines. Legislation banning cellphones would be difficult to enforce. Theaters don’t have the manpower to `police’ audiences. Although it would bring a whole new meaning to live theater.”

Ticket scalping is illegal in many cities. This is wrong Scalpers more often than not provide a useful service. “At show time, they set up an instant bazaar where the actual value of tickets is haggled into shape; they’re basically stock traders in a secondary market without a dress code. Most of them spend their nights scooping up seats from fans who, for a variety of reasons — friends have bailed, spouse took ill — need to unload them. The scalper then turns around and sells it at the largest markup the market can bear, which is often below face value.”

With temperatures near 100 degrees and bush fires raging all around Sydney, Australia, arts organizations around the region are finding themselves having to cancel or delay performances due to interference from the elements. Special effects went “berserk” at a performance of Swan Lake due to flickering power, and no one seems to be able to guarantee that any performance will go off as scheduled.

“Popular opinion would have you believe that the classic arts patron — the wealthy individual who forges private relationships to nurture a favourite artist as much as their own ego — was long ago eclipsed by the equalizing power of the state. But there will always be a certain type of patron who quietly stands in the shadows, providing the financial means and emotional support that allows their hand-picked protégés to survive — and sometimes thrive.”

Rarely does the head of a national arts funding organization receive as much praise at the end of her tenure as at the beginning, but Shirley Thomson, who steps down from the head of the Canada Council on the Arts this month, may be the exception. “Ask almost anybody in the arts about Thomson — and, believe me, I’ve done a survey — and the superlatives come thick and fast.”

In a move which could start a worldwide trend, a Danish anti-piracy group has begun sending bills to users of file-sharing services such as Kazaa, demanding that the pirates pay for all the titles displayed in their shared download folders. The payments are then sent to the appropriate copyright holders. The action is already having an effect – fewer users are trading Danish material online, and U.S. companies are monitoring the action closely.