AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

Reviving a creative nation
Cate Blanchett and Julianne Schultz
April 16, 2008

To flourish, society depends on a strong cultural heritage as well as
innovation. The challenge is to breathe new life into the arts.

CREATIVITY is at the heart of every successful nation. It finds
expression in great visual art, wonderful music, fabulous
performances, stunning writing, gritty new productions and countless
other media. Giving form to our innate human creativity is what
defines us to ourselves and the world.

This is what the arts have always done. Think back to any significant
time in the past and the chances are that it is the creative output
of the time that comes to mind — from rock art in remote caves to the
pyramids of Egypt, Michelangelo's sculptures, Shakespeare's plays,
Beethoven's symphonies, the beat of Elvis and the list goes on.

The lasting value and evidence of a civilisation are its artistic
output and the ingenuity that comes from applying creativity to the
whole range of human endeavour. Yet all too often the arts are pushed
into a box that says entertainment, icing on the cake, when they are
a key ingredient.

The 2020 Summit is an opportunity to put creativity and the arts back
into the centre of Australian life here and abroad. This is how a
middle power can exercise its soft power in a positive and
stimulating way — that shows the world that we are much more than the
cliched images that come readily to mind.

An Australia Council survey in 2000 found that this is something that
most people want. Australians love music, drama, dance, books,
television dramas, edgy digital installations and exhibitions, just
as they love sport. They want the arts to be a part of their lives
and are proud when Australian creativity is recognised
internationally.

At the same time we know that grassroots arts and culture can create
neighbourhoods, build social connections and can provide people with
an interest and passion that can last a lifetime.

Every topic being discussed at the summit touches on and is touched
by cultural vitality. What is education if it doesn't teach our
children to think creatively and innovatively? What use is a robust
economy unless it is within an innovative country that can attract
and stimulate the world? How can good governance exist without a
population that is engaged, educated and able to form its own
opinions?

It is the centrality of creativity to living full and rich lives that
will define the deliberations of the Creative stream this weekend.

The group of people we have chosen for this conversation reaches
across the sector and well beyond what are considered "traditional"
arts areas. This is deliberate. The fact that we have economists,
business leaders, educators, researchers as well as actors,
directors, musicians, writers and many others in the group will put
flesh on the bones of this truth.

By drawing this diverse group of people together, and the submissions
from many others who were unable to be included, we hope we will be
able to tap into the considerable knowledge and expertise that has
been built up over time. The great opportunity of the summit will be
to mix these views with the perspectives that come from unexpected
directions, or from people whose voices have not previously had a
national audience.

Artists are not just entertainers, but highly skilled people able to
give expression to many of the pressing issues that trouble us.

The arts connect with every other sector of the economy and with each
of us individually. We already know that creativity is the spark that
drives the best research scientists and the cleverest thinkers in
fields well removed from those we may think of as creative —
teaching, policy, economics and community development.

It is scarcely surprising that some of the most successful business
people in the world are active supporters of the arts. They
understand the enrichment and nourishment that the arts can provide —
the spark of genius that catches fire when watching a brilliant
performance, listening to a marvellous orchestra or viewing a work of
art that transports you beyond the immediate pressures of daily life.

The 2020 Summit demands we imagine and then create the future. It's a
rare chance to take time out from politics, business, teaching and
the things that drive our days and to talk about what we want our
future to be like, the future that we will hand on to our children.

There will be those who will argue passionately that our cultural and
creative industries must fulfil their promise as key drivers of
national innovation. Others will envisage a future where culture and
creativity are synonymous with jobs and economic growth.

We will look at art and culture from the very grassroots of
expression through to the elite. We will look at support for the arts
and culture from government funding and the box office through to the
role of private philanthropists and the business community in
offering support that makes the arts thrive and grow.

And in all of this is the need to listen as well as talk to find a
balance between the artist and the audience, between hearing our
voices and those of the world, between the grassroots and the
professional, and between the rights of the artist to a livelihood
and the rights of the public to enjoy the rich cultural products
Australia has to offer.

Our role will be to help the group draw a picture of the future and
to map out how we can get there. We're not kidding ourselves that it
will be easy, but positive that what we come up with will be a vision
and a strategy worth working towards.

Creativity and the arts are as elemental to that future as they are
to the past. They are a link between us all and an expression of our
differences.

The most daunting challenge will be after the summit has ended. That
is when the vision of the future as seen through the prisms of the
different groups will need to be drawn for all to see, and the way
forward articulated and planned.

Finding ways to breathe new life into the creative heart of the
nation is the exciting challenge that will engage the talented and
passionate people who will take part in the discussions next weekend.

Cate Blanchett and Julianne Schultz will co-chair the Creative
Australia Stream at the 2020 Summit.

This story was found at:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/15/1208025185681.html

Also posted on Art4Development Yahoo! Groups listserv.