It’s grim up north

Despite early attempts by politicians to minimise the economic cold front that has been sweeping the globe, the chill has undoubtedly taken grip. Like our neighbours in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic, the North of Ireland has seen its share of job losses and general economic angst. Despite continual government claims assuring us that ‘green shoots’ are visible, most people remain deeply concerned and unconvinced – and rightly so.

The reluctance to jump on the ‘everything’s-gonna-be-alright’ bandwagon is not mere cynicism. In September 2009, finance minister Sammy Wilson announced that £370 million would need to be cut from Stormont’s budgets in the coming year. Bigger cuts still may be on the horizon, as the real squeeze on public spending from UK treasury is likely to be delayed until after the 2010 Westminster general election.

As such, part of the feeling of apprehension might come from the fact that many in the so-called ‘third sector’ are still bracing themselves for the full force of the storm. The results of a survey on the impact of the recession on community and voluntary organisations was recently published by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) which showed that many fear the worst is yet to come. While over half of the respondents (50.8 per cent) said that the recession had yet to have an impact on their funding streams, almost three quarters (74.9%) said they were unsure of the impact it will have on funding in the future.

The report ends by saying: “It is too early to conclusively assess the full impact of the recession…the majority of [survey participants] believe it will be the next financial year that they will feel the ‘recession pinch’.”

It remains to be seen how exactly this will affect the arts, but any public spending cuts will undoubtedly affect cultural organisations working in communities and otherwise. The arts are an easy target, especially when unhelpfully racked up against other areas like education or health.

The expected drastic reductions in public spend aren’t limited to the United Kingdom polity. In the Republic of Ireland a body specifically set up to review budgets, sardonically nicknamed ‘An Bord Snip Nua’, and headed by an economist recently published its report on spending recommendations. Proposals for the arts include that the allocation for the Arts Council be reduced by €6.1m, saying. “Given the size of the country, it is not financially feasible to provide for a full range of arts activities in every local area.”

This economist-led approach to government spend has already had serious casualties. Dublin-based Blue Drum, a specialist support agency working with the community development sector in Ireland since 2001 - particularly Family Resource Centres (FRCs) - shut up shop in November 2009. The organisation received notification in June that all funding to the project was to be cut in anticipation of the cuts.

One representative of the organisation said: “They’ve used the McCarthy report and vacated their role as government. This isn’t just a recession, this is a turning point, and if we in the arts world don’t get ourselves on the agenda now, we’re in serious trouble.”

The anger and dismay is justified. If the example of allowing economists (most of whom, it must be remembered, were unable to predict or prevent the current economic mire) to significantly influence decisions outside their sphere of understanding becomes a trend, then we’re headed for turbulent times.

As former president Mary Robinson said recently in a speech addressing the economic crisis: “Just as it is a truism to say that the law is too important to be left to the lawyers, so the problems facing Ireland are too important to be left to the economists.”

“We need to listen to everyone who has something to contribute; yes the business sector and the financial experts, but also the social entrepreneurs and innovators, the teachers who educate our children, social workers and activists [...] and those who have been marginalised in the past. We should also listen to our creative artists.”

The danger of giving too much weight to the opinion of number crunchers is two-fold. On one hand the adage ‘economists know the cost of everything and the value of nothing’ rings true. Alongside this, though, is the danger of allowing those who should be taking responsibility for decisions that affect us all (and are being paid to do so) an excuse to not do so by claiming economic necessity as demonstrated by a spreadsheet.

Politicians are not merely managers, they have a responsibility to the people have elected them to see the big picture and take a stance without abdicating responsibility by claiming they have targets to meet.

This is as true in the North of Ireland, where budgets and priorities announcements are due shortly, as elsewhere. While we all understand that the road to Stormont isn’t paved with gold and that departments are subject to significant pressures on public spending, ministers have a duty to represent the areas of responsibility they have been charged with - and to do so on more than purely fiscal terms.

The long awaited report from the Committee for Culture Arts and Leisure on the Inquiry into funding for the arts has just been announced. The terms of reference for the inquiry very clearly favoured arts that ‘targeted social need’ and the report itself gave unambiguous backing to arts in community settings.

This is undoubtedly to be welcomed by those who have long been arguing for increased support for arts in community contexts. But it could also be seen through more sceptical eyes as pre-emptive move more about making the arts answerable to political agendas than supporting the work that already exists.

Another concern is that the arts will find themselves in a position whereby everything must demonstrate a clear ‘outcome’. This is as potentially problematic for community arts as any other form of arts practice. Demonstrating outcomes in measurable terms has always been a thorny issue and is a socio-political question rather than an artistic or aesthetic one.

What is unquestionably clear is that lobbying has never been more important. In the Republic, the arts are beginning to galvanise and a campaign for the arts has been established to attempt to turn the tide. On this side of the border, community arts and the general arts sector find themselves in the position once more of having to defend their small pot of money from predicted attack.

A report has even been prepared at European level for just this purpose. The paper sets out ten arguments Ministers of Culture can use during annual budgetary discussions with their ministerial colleagues to highlight the vital role of culture. Published by the Council of Europe’s Culture Watch Europe, it lists ten ways cultural investment can be a means to combat the effects of recession and lead the way back to prosperity. From boosting confidence to attracting mobility the arguments are as relevant at the intergovernmental, regional and local levels as they are at the national level.

It could seem like the arts are always out with a begging bowl but it’s worth noting that during the so-called boom years the chronic underinvestment continued unabated, despite claims that a thriving cultural environment and the creative industries were worthy of support.

As grim as the economic realities may be, we mustn’t forget that community arts and indeed the wider sector have survived on minimal investment for a long time. Those who work in the arts rarely do so for the money (‘What money?’ I hear you cry) but for the sheer love of it and will continue to do so.

A recent study looking at the living and working conditions of artists living by Visual Artists Ireland proved just this: “Visual artists in Ireland today are thriving in terms of creative output. However, these visual artists also represent some of the lowest paid members of society. They undertake their career as a visual artist against all odds – and at times feel alienated from a society that gains its cultural identity from their life’s work; yet they continue to succeed to make work.”

This passion for their work is nowhere more evident than in community arts, where workers are indisputably committed to the people, communities and projects they believe in so much. Community arts has never been cash-led, but instead is about developing communities at grassroots level. In other words, moving forward and using arts means for doing so.

The point isn’t that community arts and the arts generally shouldn’t need to fulfil any politically-motivated agenda (though it shouldn’t), justify its existence in monetary terms or be able to ‘prove’ worth on a flipchart. It’s not even that the arts should be financed from the public purse and thus be fiscally viable in some way. Instead, it should be recognised and respected for what it is – one of our most valuable assets and outputs.

As worrying as the constant atmosphere of uncertainty is, to an extent the waxing and waning of the economy is beside the point. What is, is that as a society we are undergoing a crucial period of change. Change requires leadership and vision - both of which seem to be sadly lacking as politicians, financiers and economists fight to point the finger of blame at one another.

What the arts and community arts in particular excels at is allowing people to re-imagine or re-vision how they see themselves and the world they live in. The threat of financial destitution is a very real one for a sector that has been struggling to keep going for many years, but this shouldn’t cow us into submissively accepting whatever judgement of worth is passed down from on high. The arts can and should lead, rather be led.

Caragh O’Donnell is a practising visual artist and works for CAF