National Culture Summit dissects arts industry
OTTAWA — The national culture summit that took place at the National Arts Centre last week was a hotbed of activity, as hundreds of delegates from across the country gathered for face-to-face conversations on the state of the arts in Canada, how it was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and how to make it sustainable. Here are five things we learned:
ART MATTERS
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed up to open the summit, NAC CEO Christopher Deacon noted that it was the first time in his 30plus years at the institution that a sitting prime minister had visited the NAC, not for a gala or a show, but to face the arts community.
Perhaps drawing on his background in drama, the PM gave a heartfelt speech (without a teleprompter!) that not only emphasized the power of the arts to bring people together and drive the economy, but also included news of the rollout of the $50-million Arts Workers Resilience Fund. He even had time for a round of selfies with folks in the room.
Not to be outdone was Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez — if the mullet-haired dynamo wasn't at every session, panel and party himself, he had a staffer there to report back to him.
Another VIP in attendance was Senator Patricia Bolvey, who was intent on drumming up support for a bill that declares the arts to be essential in Canada.
“The arts really reflect every aspect of society,” she said in an interview, “and it's very clear to me that no government goals can be reached without the inclusion of the arts. The arts are nothing more and nothing less than the soul of humanity.”
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL
Independent artists and arts workers are facing tough times after two years of lockdowns and restrictions prevented many from making a living in their chosen field. If they haven't found work in other fields, they're barely scraping by. It's an issue that concerned many, including Kevin Loring, the NAC'S producer of Indigenous theatre.
“Artists are struggling and starving and hurting,” he said. “It's really been unmasked in the last couple of years that the industry is based on artists who have to dream to feed themselves. You write a grant so you can eat. You don't write a grant to dream. The culture economy is based on the exploitation of artists who are literally starving.”
One solution that came up repeatedly is the idea of a living wage for artists. In an era of inflation and food insecurity, a universal basic income could save lives.
DECOLONIZE THE GATEKEEPERS
In a session on how the arts can be a harbinger of societal change, moderator Jesse Wente, an Ojibwe journalist and chair of the Canada Council, made the eye-opening observation that all social change, from feminism to Black Lives Matter, is a response to the structures put in place by colonialism. Well, now it's time to defy the colonial gatekeepers and make efforts to include everyone, whether they're older, younger, racialized, nonbinary, new to the country, have a disability or anything else that might relegate them to the sidelines of artistic practice.
Shoshona Kish, the Indigenous musician who served as one of the summit's hosts, described the need for “radical” change.
“We need radical solutions and radical kindness,” she said. “As we look forward to the path ahead, I think it's crucial for us to find solutions together to build the community that we deserve and are capable of. And that will take radical courage.”
BABY STEPS
While the feds strive to update the Broadcasting Act (Bill C-11) and find a way to stop social media outlets from poaching news (Bill C-18), many delegates were calling for small adjustments to the playing field that would make life better for artists in their corner of the sector. For example, Lisa Freeman of the Canadian Private Copying Collective has been lobbying for years for a “simple correction” to the Copyright Act that would revive a revenue stream for rights holders when music is copied onto mobile phones for offline, private use.
“We've been waiting for the government to make a very small fix to the Copyright Act so that it's technologically neutral,” she said, explaining that the wording needs to be changed from copying on media, such as blank cassettes and CDS, to include devices. Another campaign came from visual artists advocating for resale rights, which would allow artists to receive five per cent when their work is resold, as is the practice in at least 94 other countries. Updates like these have been neglected for far too long, Freeman added.