Hot research 4 - Society for the Arts in Healthcare

Round the world work...

The Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH) is a non-profit... in Washington, DC. Founded in 1991, the Society for the Arts in Healthcare is dedicated to promoting the incorporation of the arts as an integral component of healthcare by:

• Demonstrating the valuable roles the arts can play in enhancing the healing process;
• Advocating for the integration of the arts into the environment and delivery of care within healthcare facilities;
• Assisting in the professional development and management of arts programming for health care populations;
• Providing resources and education to healthcare and arts professionals; and
• Encouraging and supporting research and investigation into the beneficial effects of the arts in healthcare.
  

Hot research 3 - CCAHTE Journal

Here's a source I've happily stumbled upon. I'm subscribing.

The CCAHTE Journal is your creative arts, health, training and education connection. You'll find information about creative arts approaches in staff health and wellness, arts raising awareness about social issues and health, information and resources that will benefit those involved in gerontology and education, nursing education, social work, medical education & health training.

Here you can also subscribe free toThe Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education CCAHTE Journal which features topical news and stories from professionals across the country involved in cutting edged research and progressive programmes making a difference in health, training and education in Canada and internationally.

www.cmclean.com

Hot research 2 - Arts in health: a review of the medical literature

Arts in health: a review of the medical literature by Dr Rosalia Lelchuk Staricoff

This review of medical literature published between 1990 and 2004 explores the relationship of arts and humanities with healthcare, and the influence and effects of the arts on health. See the full document (90 pages) by clicking here Arts in health: a review of the medical literature. For a bite-sized version click here - it's the executive summary.

Another option is to read Can the arts have a positive effect on health? A review of the medical literature by the same author. It's the promo version.

Hot research 1 - Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health

Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health, by Nancy Cooley, January, 2003.

This is a survey paper on research available in English on the ways that arts and culture promote the health of individuals and communities, contribute to effective medical treatment, and assist doctors, nurses, and other health care workers to cope with the grief, frustration, and other stressful demands of their work.

The paper briefly looks at the current relationships between arts and medicine and then summarizes research from the United Kingdom, United States, Sweden, Australia, Japan and Canada that indicates various aspects of arts and culture make positive contributions to at least seven of Health Canada’s twelve Key Determinants of Health.

This paper is now available in PDF format at Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health: A Survey Research Paper.

Community-Engaged art research

Three to refer to:

IMAGINE: An External Review of the Canada Council for the Arts’
Artists and Community Collaboration Fund by Laurie McGauley (February, 2006) click here

The City of Rich Gate: Research and Creation within Community-Engaged Arts Practices by Rita L. Irwin, Principal Investigator, Ruth Beer (Emily Carr Institute for Art and Design), Kit Grauer (CUST), Stephanie Springgay (Penn State), and Gu Xiong (UBC Fine Arts), Co-Investigators (2004-2007) click here

Whose voice is this, anyway? Exploring Artistic Control and Issues of Ownership in Community Arts Practice by Douglas David Durand click here

R

The Nature of the Beast: Cultural Diversity and the Visual Arts Sector.

There's a new book out called The Nature of the Beast: Cultural Diversity and the Visual Arts Sector by Richard Hylton, a UK curator and art critic. It's a a study of diversity policies in UK arts between 1976 and 2006. The Spiked Review of Books reports it to be a "thoughtful, thorough and searing critique of the introduction of divisiveness into the visual arts in England" click here to read the full review.

Looks like a good book to read alongside its US counterpart The Trouble with Diversity: How we learned to love identity and ignore inequlity by Walter Benn Michaels.

-R

Speaking up, speaking about

The recent reading I've been doing about artists and artists' voices was mostly published in the 70s - views of critics, views of artists, views of scholars. Yesterday on New York Sun's website, Kate Taylor published Artist's Own Words Can Drown Out Scholars', raising the question of roles in speaking:

The deluge of available information on American artists from the 1960s on
is both a blessing and a curse to art historians. Since the 1960s, most artists
have been audiotaped or videotaped talking about their work; because of changes
in how they are trained, artists have become increasingly sophisticated in
talking about their work and cooperating with critics to shape the
interpretation of it. But where does this leave the historian?

Not only is this an issue about who is or feels entitled speak about art and artists, or who can hold the attention of listening ears, but also, what is the current-day role of an artist and a system of people that surround artists (critics, presenters, historians, scholars, managers, funders, etc)? In an environment in which people speak for themselves (reality-tv led/followed), what is the place of disciplinary expertise in a network system of art? And what of the emerging problem of 'qualification overinflation' - what results is a confusion in conferrance and entitilement.

Ongoing determinations about what makes a dance artist 'professional' (and what professionalism is) fuels a whole other set of related questions.

Rolling it all around my mind...

Flexible Management Models report

Jane Marsland created a report on Flexible Management Models for the Canada Council in 2005. It offers some material to think about when feeding back to the Council's stragetic plan, and their questions about it.

Find the whole report: click here.

Here's the briefest excerpt.
Three critical aspects emerged from the review:

1. Nonformal or alternative producing entities require new supporting administrative and management structures.
2. The increasing deficit of trained administrators, managers, producers, agents must have training/development/mentoring programs in place to alleviate the impending crisis.
3. Changing the ‘institutional lens’ as the primary way of seeing arts organizations – for both the funders and artists, will take time and the building of trust.

- R

Department of Canadian Heritage's 2007/08 priorities

The federal Department of Canadian Heritage put out a report on their cultural priorities.

Click to see: 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) Provides Further Clues to Federal Government’s Cultural Policy

Here are some key excerpts from the report:

Priority - Canada's Cultural Interests Abroad

The arts and cultural industries play a vital role in our economy, engage Canadians, and
represent the face of Canada abroad. The Department has identified three key initiatives that
collectively serve to promote Canada’s cultural interests abroad.
These include:

• taking an active role in Canadian trade policy, delivering the cultural trade development program, sharing Canada’s expertise in cultural trade with developing countries and expanding on an international level to strengthen industry at home;
• promoting the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, an instrument that reaffirms the right of countries to take measures in support of culture, while recognizing the economic nature of cultural goods and services; and
• managing Canada’s participation in international expositions - events that promote Canadian interests and strengthen bilateral business relations with host countries.

Priority - An Inclusive and Participatory Society

Canada’s ability to leverage the benefits of diversity depends on its success at ensuring that all citizens have the opportunity to participate economically, socially, politically and culturally in Canada. The Department aims to identify and work towards addressing the barriers to full participation in Canadian society through targeted interventions.

Canada Council is all ears

The Canada Council for the Arts has a discussion paper out called "Creating our Future" and it's looking for feedback.

Don't be slow about it - they want to hear back by July.

It's a strategic plan, with questions imbeded. A historical overview is provided, for a bit of depth.
Read it with a thoughtful mind... it's policy in the making.

http://www.50.canadacouncil.ca/Downloads/Discussion_paper.pdf

Artists as entrepreneurs

There was a conference on social theory, politics and the arts (the 32nd Annual STP&A Meeting) held in Vienna in July 2006 with some heafty topics. Going through some of the transcripts (I wasn't there for the conference) I found this one quite interesting, it's by Elmar D. Konrad. Artists as Entrepreneurs acknowledges the skills, talents, and contributions of artists to society, as entrepreneurs. It's a pdf done in the format of powerpoint. Read the document at www.culture.info/images/stories/konrad.pdf.

The main conference listing website is stpa.culture.info/listings... it's worth a look.

Building Bridges - Strengthening Provincial Government and Community Voluntary Sector Relationships in British Columbia

Building Bridges - Strengthening Provincial Government and Community Voluntary Sector Relationships in British Columbia
This is a paper that addresses the volunteering sector - related to but different from the non-profit sector. Sometimes they get confused, and also confusing.
Anyways, as this paper says, despite the significant role of the community voluntary sector in society and economy, and the vast numbers of community organizations delivering public programs, there are far fewer examples of relationships between government as a whole and the sector overall. Where those links have been made they rely on:
• structures supporting alliances,
• policies guiding and sustaining relationships, and
• knowledge and capacity building initiatives increasing understanding about the sector
and the capacity of community voluntary sector organizations.

I believe we need to develop these relationships for the goodwill, in the interests of, and to benefit the arts sector. Here's a line from the executive summary:

"Over the past five years, there has been much work done to promote positive relationships
between government and the community voluntary sector. This paper, commissioned
by the Centre for Non-Profit Management, outlines what has been learned from this work and describes examples of relationship-building initiatives linking the voluntary sector and both federal and provincial governments in Canada. It also discusses the relationship between the Government of British Columbia and the province’s community voluntary sector since 1998 and proposes actions that could be taken to strengthen that relationship."

The report's conclusions?

1. A sound relationship between government and community is critical for developing effective public policy and the management of programs.
2. Mutual understanding between government and the community voluntary sector is vital.
3. It is important to continue building a body of research and capacity.
4. Structures in both government and the community voluntary sector are critical for the development of relationships.
5. An accord sustains the relationship between government and the voluntary sector.

Read the full report - click here.

- R

Economic Contribution of the Culture Sector

Economic Contribution of the Culture Sector to Canada’s Provinces by Culture Statistics Program

A Statistics Canada report that provides a descriptive analysis of the economic contribution of the culture sector to the Canadian economy. Culture sector output and employment levels are measured for each province, for the years 1996 to 2003.

The results of the study demonstrate that, on average, the culture sector accounted for 3.8% of national output and 4% of national employment, over the period under investigation. Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia were among the largest contributors to the culture sector in Canada, accounting for more than three quarters of total output and employment.

Read the report online by clicking here.

Canadian report on Mental Health and the Arts

No joke, this is hot stuff. Everyone's after the not-so-elusive connection between mental health and dance, and it's top of the charts for today's research.

In September 2006, the National Arts Centre held the second in its series of three roundtables on healing and the arts. The roundtable addressed the interconnections between the arts and mental health. A report, The Roundtable on Mental Health and the Arts, provides an overview of the day’s dialogue, including information on some of the current research being undertaken in Canada in this field.

Check out the report - click here to download your copy.

New online network for emerging arts professionals

Mentor of the Month?! Great idea!

The Emerging Arts Professional Network is a new online community network, podcast, blog magazine, discussion forum (coming soon) and career resource for Canadian arts professionals.

The blog-magazine will be dedicated to articles written by arts professionals across the country. Each month will feature a new Mentor of the Month and the discussion forum is on it's way to provide another outlet to share ideas and communicate. Visit the EAP at http://www.eapnetwork.ca/blog/archives/welcome/

EAP is looking for writers with all levels of experience and insight, is seeking more article submissions for a monthly blog magazine and also seeking emerging arts professionals from across Canada to interview seasoned arts leaders. See www.eapnetwork.ca/pages/submit/ or contact Blair Francey editor@eapnetwork.ca for more details.

- R

City of Vancouver reviews funding approach for grants

Is Vancouver is poised to be a world leader for arts and culture, or, just like everyone else will it keep plodding along at the usual speed? Which will it be? Don't get me wrong, I am for funding reviews. Who doesn't like time to reflect, review and respond to current opportunities? Thought the last - about responding - is the clincher. The Creative City Conversation that happened in Vancouver on April 23rd wasn't the response I was looking for when all the promo material focused on contributing my point of view as an arts worker living here. I spent the whole day listening to other people: people on stage, people who were facilitating, people who felt more entitled to interject... I barely got a word in edgewise. To my mind, a review should host many views, it should consult by listening with an ear open to multiple perspectives, it should take into account (and in order to take into account, it needs to encourage) others' innovative ideas in transforming the way things are now into *the way things could be*.

That's not even taking into consideration the fact that the Creative City Conversation was predominantly foolscap white... in this day and age, this makes me ask how the event was marketed and, because of this, who was excluded. We all missed out big time.

Okay, so the Creative City Conversation has nothing really to do with the funding review. The only thing is, it occurs around the same time, things are interlaced in time, and a pattern is being woven.

Here's the blurb from the Alliance for Arts and Culture - for the original click here.

"On April 3, Vancouver City Council unamiously supported a motion brought forward by Councillor Elizabeth Ball that will have city staff report back to council in three months with plans to develop a collaborative, comprehensive, streamlined and multi-year funding approach for grants that will include:

• Consultation with Corporate Services (Budgets/Finance) and Law to review the city’s legislative framework and budgetary process;
• Review of funding models and cycles utilized by other funding organizations, both public and private, in the non-profit sector;
• Consultation with community groups and other funders;
• Cost/benefit analysis;
• Development of funding guidelines;
• Potential alignment or augmentation of existing evaluation and monitoring mechanisms;
• Identifying any additional resource requirements to conduct the above noted work."
...
"At the April 17 Vancouver City Council meeting, Ference Weicker & Company were awarded the contract to provide consulting services for a comprehensive review of the city’s current arts and cultural grants and support programs administered through the Office of Cultural Affairs, at an estimated cost of $75,000 plus GST, with funding to be provided by the 2007 cultural budget."

Planning process underway for Cultural Tourism Strategy

"On April 3, Vancouver City Council approved the planning process, outlined in the report Cultural Tourism Strategy – Planning Process (click here to read), for the development of a Cultural Tourism Strategy to be presented to city council in the fall of 2007 at a cost of $65,000. The approved process includes the creation of a temporary Cultural Planner I position at an estimated cost of $45,000 with the source of funds to be Cultural Tourism Strategy planning funds, budgeted in the 2007 contingency reserve. Council also approved an additional allocation of $300,000 per year for four years starting in 2008 in order to leverage support from other funders, agencies and organizations towards the implementation of the Cultural Tourism Strategy. The source of funds will be a $300,000 increase to the 2008 through 2011 operating budgets.

City staff were also directed to review and report back in the fall with potential funding implementation partners and in particular, potential funding support for the City’s 125th anniversary celebrations through the federal government’s Cultural Capitals of Canada program."

This was listed in Synergy, from the Alliance for Arts and Culture.

England cuts arts to pay for Olympics

Controvercy over Olympic wangling here in Vancouver is at the forefront of many dance artists' minds, as the 'cultural olympiad' dribbles by without much ado.

England has taken the bull by the horns:

"To pay for the 2012 Olympics, the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, is taking another £675m out of the national lottery fund. This comes on top of the £410m she already plans to withdraw. The losses will hit a raft of good causes: not just arts and heritage, which will give up at least £273m, but also community projects. Even local sports groups are losing out to the 2012 celebration of athletics." Read more on The Guardian website.

Artists in England are rallying around, creating petitions, fighting for their survival. Check out Dance UK for details.

These cuts also affect Humanities Research in England (often underpinning and reinforcing art processes and products) - for more on this, check out Shirley Dent on theblogbooks.

As my favourite fortune cookie aptly says: the future is uncertain.

- R

Relational aesthetics

I've recently picked up a copy of Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics, which is a great read for thirsty minds. Proposing art is relational at its core (taking impetus from Althusser and Marx), Bourriaud spins a fresh scent around modernity, urbanization, and the role of art in current societal developments. He's writing as one of those revered thinkers in France, and as so often, his book was translated into English several years after it was originally published.

I'm interested in Bourriard's take on the legitimacy of art in a mechanicalized world. This is not new, and Walter Benjamin tumbles to mind as an early songbird in this regard (anyway, Bourriard says the 'new' does not factor as a criterion for art anymore - a cool relief.) Here's what he notices: If the world continues along the line of increased machinery, human interaction will be increasingly restricted. He sees contemporary art as aloe on the burn of mechanization and asserts contemporary art provides intersticial opportunities. Contemporary art is a buffer zone of time and space in which interaction (relational engagement) can take place, and interaction between humans and art (humans and humans; art and humans) becomes a form of special 'limited time only' chance, therefore still commodified but in a radically different way.

This goes to reinforce Bourriard's understanding of the relational in art - that contemporary art serves to look at things not only in a different way, but through a whole set of new categories, new forms of paradigm shifts that collide with earlier modernist understandings of art. He believes we are not out of modernity, but we are in a different form of modernity, a form developed through a pile-up of encounters that beg borrow and steal a renewed take on the world, one that takes into consideration the extreme urban and demographic changes we have undergone in the past century.
- R

The latest occupation

It's been an occupied springtime, and I have been run off my feet with work: organizing pitch sessions, receptions, attending performing arts tradeshows, writing articles, fundraising.

My latest occupation is represented at madeinbc.org. No I have not changed jobs... I continue to develop the three-year pilot project Made in BC - Dance on Tour.

I've taken on the challenge of reinvigorating regional touring in the most westerly province of Canada. British Columbia is absolutely beautiful, and its geography is considerably challenging. The many mountain ranges cut off the north and south at the midriff of the province. The west of centre strip at the midline is nearly impenetrable and almost inhabitable wilderness. The 'regions' of the province are basically everything outside of greater Vancouver, which is our relatively mammoth city in the furthest southwest corner of the province.

In the 2006 census report, British Columbia is the most urban province in Canada - we have more people living in Vancouver than we do in the rest of the province... that's loosely 4.3 million in the province and 2.2 million in greater Vancouver. It makes sense that Vancouver is growing - the less the provincial economy is based on resources and industry, the more people are migrating to the city for alternative work. Too, as Vancouver's reputation for 'the best place on earth' spreads, the more populated it becomes.

Regional BC is filling up with moneyed retirees, and housing prices in 'beautiful British Columbia' are outpacing earners, especially young ones and growing families, so it becomes unaffordable in several ways. Here is a forecast for the next few years: schools will close, hospitals will be oversubscribed, second and third home ownership (which lacks resident taxation) will increase, golf courses will flourish, tourism will fluctuate, and young workers will be absent from the regions.

Remember, there are few roads crossecting the province, and the landscape and weather mean that road travel can be challenging (no, not impossible - don't be misled). Flights are costly, and nearly all are routed through Vancouver. Travel distances are long - arrive in Vancouver from Prince Rupert (close to the Alaskan border) in 2.5 hours by plane (plus you must take a bus and ferry to get the airport in PR) or drive it in 18hours. When I lived in Germany, the popular comparison was that Germany fits into B.C. two and a half times, yet the population of Germany is 82.4million now. We are a piddly population in comparison, but want and expect the same level of infrastructure and provision. No less, everyone deserves it. And yet, the demographic shift towards the one city is remarkable and has repercussions.

The regional and urban divide are strong here - we actually have a town called 'Hope' which marks the barrier for this divide. Both parties say that once you've crossed it, you're in the territory 'beyond hope.'

In the midst of this comes contemporary dance. Yes, contemporary dance. In the isolation of regional British Columbia (towns settled according to resource bases, not proximity), the presenters I work with are upping the level of dance in their communities. They are interested and committed to bring more BC contemporary dance to their audiences, and exposing their communities to new ideas through performing arts. Reciprocally, BC contemporary dance artists are reaching out to the regions with refreshed enthusiasm and developed understanding.

If you want to see how I'm working with presenters and dance artists to exchange ideas, bridge the urban/regional divide and stimulate awareness of contemporary dance in local communities, check out the work at www.madeinbc.org. There is plenty going on.

- R

The business and social case for sustainable communities in British Columbia through investment in arts and culture

A brief to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

"The creative economy is becoming increasingly important to the stability of communities. Success is not supported by one-off programs but rather by long-term commitment and investment in access, artistic vision, a unique expression of our multi-cultural society, revitalization of resource-based economies, good management, and integration with economic, educational and community goals. It is vital that at this juncture the government of British Columbia invest in core funding to sustain emerging artists, established arts organizations, vibrant Aboriginal communities, culturally diverse communities, museum and heritage sites, and its regional arts councils and presenters. By supporting the BC Arts Council the government will ensure that the arts and cultural sector can contribute to achieving the five goals stated in its strategic plan for the province.
The time to act is now. Arts and cultural organizations and individual artists are critical to the success of the 2010 Olympics and they must be stabilized immediately in order to take advantage of this opportunity. "

Arts Future BC is a coalition of citizens and organizations from across BC. We represent thousands of British Columbians from every walk of life and every corner of the province. We share the goal of creating sustainable communities across the province through significant long-term investment in the arts and culture of the province. We represent 903 organizations from across the province: 423 museums; 96 Community and Regional Arts Councils and community arts organizations; 123 community presenters; 183 professional arts organisations; 27 educational institutions; and 51 arts service organizations. We also represent thousands of individual artists and their students and audiences across British Columbia.

More...

The Cultural Tribes of Public Relations

This is what I'm reading right now:

The Cultural Tribes of Public Relations by Greg Leichty, Department of Communication, University of Louisville

click here to download the pdf

I believe there are links to be made between cultural contexts of public relations and the reception of cultural products and processes by the public. I'm reading it with 'relational aesthetics' in mind, and I am interested in the connections between the posited foundational beliefs (for example, beliefs about 'nature') and the contextual positions listed (fatalism, egalitarianism, hierarchy, autonomous individualism and competitive individualism). What if we take art, or dance, as a foundational belief, and relate the contextual positions listed... what if we are able to articulate and validate a spectrum of perspectives for dance? What will this say about how we relate to our performers, to our audiences?

These are my questions.

- R

All around the city, street artists are stopping people in their tracks ... and thoughts.

There is work going on in London town.

Guerilla artists are on the warpath of delivering art to audiences, and causing twitters with their work.

Brendan O'Neill, correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor, writes in his article on January 9, 2007:

If all the world's a stage, then all of London is an art gallery. It feels like the world capital of guerrilla art. Spray paintings with a message, hastily made paintings, and elaborate pieces of graffiti are popping up on the sides of buildings, bus-stops, and sidewalks across the city... guerrilla art seems to be going increasingly mainstream - crossing from street to gallery, and is making big bucks. So some ask: How democratic is this "democratic art"?

To read the full article "Backstory: A London scene set by guerilla art" click here.

-R

Margaret Atwood and Bill Moyers on myth, faith and reason

Check out this video (UTube) in which Bill Moyers is interviewing Margaret Atwood on myths, mythmaking, faith and reason.

An excellent approach to not knowing, and the ongoing questioning of what we believe we know.
http://www.artsjournal.com/video.shtml

- R

Trends in dance criticism - four NY women writers

"Four American women, Marcia Siegel, Deborah Jowitt, Arlene Croce and Nancy Goldner, are writers who became dance critics partly by accident and partly by design and who came of age as dance critics during the ‘heyday of formalism’ in New York.(1) The ‘heyday’, from 1965 to 1985, gathered momentum as a ‘golden age’ of choreography (as Croce coined it). In responding to the age, these critics were informed by a mission to publish ‘serious’ writing about dance and to consciously generate and promote a distinct development in the discipline of dance criticism through the profile of their work and teachings. Although they have rarely shared dialogue, exchanged views in public forums, or aligned themselves in any formal way (2), I nevertheless proceed cautiously but confidently with the notion that this pas de quatre of women writers form the core of a New York School of dance criticism..."

Article by Diana Theodores, first published in: Dance Theatre Journal, December 1995

Read more...

'Remarkable return' shows in social, artistic and economic impact

edmontonjournal.com

Published: Thursday, December 07, 2006

The economic impact of the arts and culture sector has grown considerably in the last six years, according to a study commissioned by the Edmonton Arts Council and Edmonton Economic Development Corp.

Between 1999 and 2005, the economic impact grew from $82.5 million to $123.7 million.

“This remarkable return on the City of Edmonton’s investment shows in social, artistic and economic indicators,” says Allan Scott, president and CEO of Edmonton Economic Development Corp. “This investment is helping to build on the outstanding quality of life this region offers.”

In the same six-year period, the number of active arts and festival organizations grew to 126 from 101. Patrons attending arts events grew from 2.7 million to 3.9 million.

“The study shows not only the very positive return on investment realized in this sector but also an impressive growth in that return,” says John Mahon, executive director of the Edmonton Arts Council.

To see the original, click here.

Talking about "home"

Dr Alessandra Lopez y Royo of Roehampton University presents a discussion at IKJ (23 February) and Yogyakarta (7 March) on Dance and Cultural Diversity in the UK.

... The discussion of ethnicity and cultural identity has grown in terms of the number of interventions over the past two decades, embracing several political shifts and positionalities. It is worth reiterating here that definitions of “ethnicity,” “race” and “culture” do not reflect absolutes, are not universal and unchanging conceptual realities, “on the contrary, they represent specific, historically contingent ways of looking at the world, which intersect with broader social and political relations” ( Jones, 40). Typically, historical, sociological and anthropological discourses have defined and redefined “culture” accordingly and continue to do so. Dance and the performative are inscribed in this political discourse, playing a role in articulating perceptions, including self-perceptions, of cultural identity. Changing definitions of “home” affect the content and even the form of dance and influence the organisation of dance and its points of reference, with changes determined by new challenges in a new and constantly self redefining social context and new audience’s expectations. Those changes are engendered through a process of negotiation.

The debate on classicism and contemporaneity is central to British dance discourses but significations of these terms are contextually derived so that the terms resonate in different ways when used by policy makers and funders and by the artists engaging reflexively with their practice. As a result, in the British context, the issue of contemporaneity in non-European dance praxes becomes indistinguishable from that of attitudes to modernity and postmodernity in dance and the search for a dance language which can articulate the specificity of being a migrant in today’s Britain.

Being a migrant is a condition characterized by changing definitions of home and origin. There are several “places of origin,” many “homes” and “homes-in-between” resulting in multiple and fluid identities and ethnicities, intersecting with racial, gender and class realities. The concept of diaspora, which is increasingly being used to describe the migration of large groups and communities, such as the South Asian and the Chinese, is in itself problematic; it is important to be aware that diasporic is not simply another word for “being away from home” but, as Brah suggests, “the concept of diaspora signals processes of multi-locationality across geographical, cultural and psychic boundaries” (Brah 194) and can be better understood in terms of “diaspora space,” which goes beyond the idea of “borders,” presupposed by the idea of diaspora (Brah 208).

Read more...

New structure at the Arts Council of England

The Arts Council England national office now has two new departments. Arts Strategy provides national leadership in the arts, combining art form specialism with expertise in areas such as broadcasting, education, diversity and research. Arts Planning and Investment leads in terms of Arts Council’s relationship with central government as well as heading up their corporate planning and strategies for investment.

There have been a number of permanent appointments in these departments and where this is not the case an interim has been made. These are listed below.

Arts Council England national office also hopes to appoint Executive Directors – in Arts Strategy and Arts Planning and Investment – in early December 2006. Announcements will be made as new people are appointed over the next couple of months.

Arts Strategy

Interim Executive Director- Michael Eakin (Executive Director Arts Council England, North West)

Arts Planning and Investment

Interim Executive Director- Pauline Tambling

-R

Dance Touring consultancy results, Australia (2003)

The federal Department of Information Technology, Communications and the Arts (DCITA) wrote to the dance community in June 2003:

I am writing to bring you up to date on the results of the initial research conducted as part of the Dance Touring Facilitator Coordinator Consultancy.

In September 2001, following the cessation of Made to Move and on the advice of the Playing Australia committee, the then Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation, the Hon Peter McGauran MP, approved an allocation of $65,000 (from Playing Australia grant funds), for a consultancy to survey issues relating to contemporary dance touring.

The aim of this consultancy was to refocus support for contemporary dance by providing an advisory service to encourage and advocate for dance touring to performing arts presenters and producers. This included:

• examining audience demand;
• exploring ways to encourage more applications from the sector;
• gathering information from contemporary dance producers and presenters, and encouraging greater communication between the two;
• providing assistance in the development of applications submitted to
  Playing Australia; and
• exploring alternative funding sources.

The consultancy was awarded to the Canberra Theatre Centre (Cultural Facilities Corporation of the Australian Capital Territory). Ausdance National and the Australian Choreographic Centre were partners (nominated sub-contractors). Formally titled the ‘Dance Touring Facilitator and Coordinator’, this consultancy was given the working title of ‘Greater Exposure’ by the consultancy partners, and commenced in June 2002.

The consultants produced an excellent first progress report, which was delivered to the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts in late 2002. This report contained the results of extensive consultation and discussion with those involved in the contemporary dance sector, including producers, presenters and representative bodies. As an adjunct to the report, the consultants also developed two information kits. The Information Kit for Presenters contains information and contact details for all contemporary dance companies who participated in the consultations, as well as contacts in the State and Territory touring agencies and in other dance-related organisations. The Information Kit for Producers includes a comprehensive list of touring and funding organisations, and provides ‘step-by-step’ advice on developing a tour.

The Greater Exposure consultants found in their initial survey of venues and presenters around the country, that there was a very low level of demand for contemporary dance productions. In particular, regional venues were less able to take the box-office risk.
The consultants considered that in view of this finding and given the key objective of Playing Australia to respond to audience demand, it might not be possible to achieve the objectives of the project. It appeared unlikely that continuation of the consultancy would change the outcomes already found or affect the broader issues confronting the sector.

The report was discussed by Playing Australia committee members at their grant round meeting in April 2003. In considering the advice contained in the consultants’ report the Committee noted that marketing of productions and audience development are significant impediments in arranging viable tours. While Playing Australia support may indirectly assist in building audiences, the program’s capacity to do this is limited. Viewing this in a broader context, the Committee decided to await the outcome of the review of the dance sector before looking at options for further specific support for contemporary dance. The Dance Board of the Australia Council is currently considering this review.

The Committee remains strongly committed to supporting the contemporary dance sector. While the decision not to proceed further with this consultancy will cause some disappointment, the ‘Greater Exposure Report’ brings together a great deal of information from producers and presenters, and as such will provide a useful reference point for considering ways in which Playing Australia can best assist contemporary dance...

Rhonda Thorpe, Manager
Regional Policy and Programs

http://www.ausdance.org.au/outside/nat/news/dec2003.html

Greater exposure for dance touring in Australia (2002)

Greater exposure for dance touring
www.dcita.gov.au/Article/0,,0_4-2_4008-4_110346,00.html

The Federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, today announced the appointment of a consultant to facilitate the touring of dance across Australia.

The Cultural Facilities Corporation of the ACT, in partnership with Ausdance National and the Australian Choreographic Centre, has been awarded the consultancy.

This partnership, with extensive experience in performing arts touring and the dance sector, will facilitate greater opportunity for both presenters and producers of dance in the way they participate in the Playing Australia program.

As part of the consultancy, Ms Carla Hartog, Programming Manager at the Canberra Theatre Centre and former national touring coordinator for the Australian Presenters Group, will manage the Dance Touring Facilitator Consultancy. She will act as an advocate for dance touring to presenters and producers of the performing arts and provide assistance in preparing and developing proposals for Playing Australia grants, particularly exploring new and innovative touring models.

This position has the potential to create stronger links between presenters and producers, more efficient touring circuits and improved audience development initiatives.

It also signifies the Commonwealth Government's continuing commitment to the touring of dance through Playing Australia.

It is hoped that the dance touring industry will work closely with the consultancy partners to improve national opportunities for the touring of dance.

The partnership will be funded $65,000 for one year initially though Playing Australia-the Commonwealth Government's national performing arts touring program.

The Playing Australia program provides grants to companies, producers and tour organisers to tour performing arts across Australia.

Media contact: Richard Wise, 02 6277 7350 or 0438 204 554

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