A post for Earth Day
How local art and culture can be integral to sustainability
When I first started the festival, a few friends asked me, “That’s fantastic but what are you doing for the environment?” (It’s worth pointing out that I founded a clean air NGO in 2009 that has since become the leading organisation of its kind in the Pearl River Delta, based in Hong Kong. In short, I’m not a newcomer to environmental discourse.)
To my mind, this was largely missing the forest for the trees, no pun intended. I say that because art and culture have a pivotal role to play in making our lives more sustainable, that is, so long as we are not prepared to live in giant megalopolises where all the wealth, power, and culture of a nation are concentrated.
It sounds crazy to think that a small festival like this one can reduce the demand for Art Basel or the Tate but let me lay out how a pipe dream slowly becomes reality -- at least in theory.
An event such as EA benefits the regional cultural ecosystem on two fronts: it increases supply AND demand for cultural products -- not overnight but over time. By “cultural products”, I mean everything from concerts to art and craft objects.
Moral encouragement combined with commercial opportunity encourages and assists new and existing artists to market and sell their work. The more opportunities to make a living from making art, the more artists will be emboldened to pursue their careers seriously, even full-time. More entrants into the industry matched by commensurate commercial opportunity gives rise to intensified competition which increases the overall quality of what’s on offer. Provided there’s government support for high-quality vocational and educational training in the arts, there’s no reason to believe that an entire generation of world-class artists cannot emerge in far-flung locales outside of London. (Granted, this may not be tomorrow’s generation but it could very well be 2 or 3 generations from now.)
How do we spark this kind of evolution and create a flourishing market for art and culture in the country? Among the conditions precedent are:
More events like EA Festival that can whet the public’s appetite for more;
More cooperation between institutions and stakeholders in the art sector to amplify and leverage each others’ efforts and initiatives.
More training and support for individual artists so they can learn how to market themselves more effectively in today’s Instagram-centric world - and well beyond their back yards.
More local and regional businesses involving art and culture in their everyday commercial activities. This could be a local pub or restaurant holding pop-up exhibitions, retail stores exhibiting and selling consigned artworks, commissioning local artists to create the labels or packaging for their beer or marmalade, inviting local musicians to gig or give readings at restaurants, hosting an artist-in-residency in a spare cottage or room, etc. These alliances and partnerships, so common in metropolitan cities, are remarkably absent once you travel 50 miles outside of London. But they are crucial to transforming our attitude towards art and artists. Believe it or not, artists do not enjoy leading impecunious lives devoid of recognition. Rather, they toil away in spite of the attitude, all too common outside big cities, that art is merely a hobby that can be given away for free.
Better technology infrastructure, starting with ubiquitous high-speed internet connectivity, is indispensable as both performing and visual arts migrate to online distribution and, ultimately, art-making. Gone is the idea of the artist working in some barren, windswept location, utterly cut off from human contact. Indeed, it is those artists who can afford it the most who tend to romanticise this sort of set-up. The truth is, inadequate infrastructure equals oblivion. Moreover, reliable technology allows artists to sell beyond their geographical catchment, greatly increasing their chances of making a living in a rural area.
Curation engenders trust in culture. Road signs bearing announcements of art exhibitions and upcoming events are a common sight all over the region but without directly knowing the organiser or artist, driving 10-15 miles to check out an event of unknown provenance or credibility feels like a shot in the dark. More often than not, such forays are mediocre and unrewarding. Culture requires trusted and authoritative brands and brand-building in order for the public to try new and different artistic experiences.
Right now, we can name the world-famous artists living in East Anglia on two hands. But, given the right support and more examples of commercial success, it is not crazy or unthinkable to believe that, one day, more than 50% of the art on public display at FirstSite or the Sainsbury Centre could be from East Anglia.
Creating a robust and flourishing local art scene substantially diminishes the appetite for (and corresponding travel to) concerts and art exhibitions in London. If that’s not sustainability, I’m not sure what is.
Joanne Ooi, Founder, EA Festival
