The lack of Canadian action on the ecological front has been surprising. Behind the leadership of Stephen Harper, our government is charging headlong backwards into the coal age. Scattered initiatives are chipping away at our carbon footprint, with a project here and there but so far nothing has occurred to inspire Canadians with a hope that we will be leaders of a planet with a sustainable future. Meanwhile, the haunting shadow of the tar sands looms in the background, giving us all reason to worry just a little about the consequences of our lifestyles and our climate apathy.
Canada does have an admirable legacy of environmental action, notably nurturing such global forces as Greenpeace and Dr. David Suzuki. Most provinces are dabbling in alternative energy initiatives, but Canada is far from a leader in any of these areas. The one thing we do have is a certain level of awareness from coast to coast that is accentuated by the fact that one is always close to nature wherever you are in Canada. But the fact remains there are few, if any, landmark projects that would be capable of capturing the public's imagination.
Reflecting on this over the past few years, the one concept that keeps returning to mind is the idea of constructing a northern eco city. This is exactly the type of thing that could consolidate a Canadian vision of a sustainable future.
The project would consist of the construction of a complete city in the middle of an untracked wilderness, probably nearly untouched by humans at present. The idea from the outset would be to minimize any incremental effects of the human presence on the environment. The city would definitely include a university and technical schools. Power and heating would be by wind and geo-thermal. There would be accommodation for all sorts of experimental projects in agriculture, in urban development, design, communications, etc.
This project makes more sense the more one considers it. Firstly, at some point in time Canadians need to acknowledge that we are occupying 6.7% of the world's land mass, but only account for .5% of the population. As the population of the world expands, there will come a time when Canada's empty spaces will become coveted as living space for people living in impossibly crowded conditions elsewhere. Secondly, if we look at settlement patterns over previous centuries, it is obvious that most cities and populated areas have evolved near fertile agricultural zones. Already today, it can be assumed there is little or no particular need for a city to be located near fertile farmland. What has happened is that cities have just continued to spread out from their historical locations. So, with these two facts in mind, it makes a lot of sense to begin to explore the capacity of Canada's north to house population in a sustainable and successful way.
It so happens that the entire planet is just at the beginning of a transformation to green energy sources, so this whole idea can dovetail neatly with a northern eco city project. Overall, Canada could hope to realize a wealth of knowledge and expertise from this type of a project. On top of that, it could be expected to be a big tourist attraction and something that could inspire Canadians' passions and dreams from coast to coast.
As there is no such thing on the drawing boards at present, the assumption can be made that this is a project that needs to be kindled from the ground up. We are going to try to get it started with some art initiatives.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Could artists leverage Montreal conference centre's ambitions?
The new head hombre of Montreal's Palais des Congres wants to double the number of events held there over the next five years and increase the economic impact of its conferences and conventions for the Montreal area to $300 million per year.
According to an article in French in today's La Presse, the new President and CEO, Marc Tremblay, intends to attract major international events to Montreal by getting to know everything there is to know about the 6,500 congresses that exist on the face of the earth and by "making them offers they can't refuse." It looks to me like M. Tremblay is well on his way to a great start. It also looks to me like he and Canadian artists could be of much assistance to one another.
The Palais des Congres de Montreal with sculpture by Jean-Paul Riopelle, "La Joute" (The Joust") in the foreground.
Presently, the Palais des Congres already ranks first in Canada and third in North America in terms of number of international events held.
Tremblay expects to grow this, for one thing, by exploiting a specialization for Montreal in the the environmental and sustainable energy fields. Beginning with the world summit on climate change in 2005 Montreal has been establishing itself as a presence in this area. The 21st World Energy Congress will be held here in 2010, and the Eco City conference is slated for 2011.
Tremblay pitches the Palais as a super eco-friendly facility, in walking distance to thousands of hotel rooms, with direct access to Montreal's groundbreaking "Bixi" bike-borrowing service, and with a Metro station in the complex.
This all sounds great and good. And it looks like Tremblay is off to a high energy start, just a few weeks into his mandate.
I think that the Palais team has always had an adequate appreciation of the importance of art for a city in its efforts to maintain a really powerful international profile among conference planners and decision makers. Regardless, when we see that a Times U.K. online survey with 1.4 million responses fails to name Jean-Paul Riopelle among the top 200 artists of the 20th/21st Centuries, or any more than a mere one Canadian (Jeff Wall), then we can be sure that we are up against a little problem. Whereas, if we would find 5-10 Canadian artists in this list of 200 noted artists of our times, which would be normal to expect, then I think it would only stand to reason that the cultural influence of Canada and Montreal on attracting worldwide congresses would be that much stronger.
It could also be expected that all Canadian artists could benefit from corresponding raised profiles and international status in general, leading in turn to greater recognition for Canada as a cultural center to be reckoned with.
So, how can the Palais des Congres help Canadian artists? I acknowledge it will not be a simple job to increase the standing of Canadian artists in the international milieu and anything that a conference centre could possibly do would be of relatively small impact. Competition in the world of art, and amongst the cultural forces of countries, is fierce, just as it is in the business of conferences. So every little bit of help is needed and I see this as an issue of 'you scratch my back I scratch yours'.
And, it would certainly seem to be in the interest of the Palais des Congres and Marc Tremblay to include promotion of Canadian art as an important consideration together with each and every activity the Palais undertakes. So maybe there is some way to facilitate and develop this idea further.
According to an article in French in today's La Presse, the new President and CEO, Marc Tremblay, intends to attract major international events to Montreal by getting to know everything there is to know about the 6,500 congresses that exist on the face of the earth and by "making them offers they can't refuse." It looks to me like M. Tremblay is well on his way to a great start. It also looks to me like he and Canadian artists could be of much assistance to one another.
The Palais des Congres de Montreal with sculpture by Jean-Paul Riopelle, "La Joute" (The Joust") in the foreground.
Presently, the Palais des Congres already ranks first in Canada and third in North America in terms of number of international events held.
Tremblay expects to grow this, for one thing, by exploiting a specialization for Montreal in the the environmental and sustainable energy fields. Beginning with the world summit on climate change in 2005 Montreal has been establishing itself as a presence in this area. The 21st World Energy Congress will be held here in 2010, and the Eco City conference is slated for 2011.
Tremblay pitches the Palais as a super eco-friendly facility, in walking distance to thousands of hotel rooms, with direct access to Montreal's groundbreaking "Bixi" bike-borrowing service, and with a Metro station in the complex.
This all sounds great and good. And it looks like Tremblay is off to a high energy start, just a few weeks into his mandate.
I think that the Palais team has always had an adequate appreciation of the importance of art for a city in its efforts to maintain a really powerful international profile among conference planners and decision makers. Regardless, when we see that a Times U.K. online survey with 1.4 million responses fails to name Jean-Paul Riopelle among the top 200 artists of the 20th/21st Centuries, or any more than a mere one Canadian (Jeff Wall), then we can be sure that we are up against a little problem. Whereas, if we would find 5-10 Canadian artists in this list of 200 noted artists of our times, which would be normal to expect, then I think it would only stand to reason that the cultural influence of Canada and Montreal on attracting worldwide congresses would be that much stronger.
It could also be expected that all Canadian artists could benefit from corresponding raised profiles and international status in general, leading in turn to greater recognition for Canada as a cultural center to be reckoned with.
So, how can the Palais des Congres help Canadian artists? I acknowledge it will not be a simple job to increase the standing of Canadian artists in the international milieu and anything that a conference centre could possibly do would be of relatively small impact. Competition in the world of art, and amongst the cultural forces of countries, is fierce, just as it is in the business of conferences. So every little bit of help is needed and I see this as an issue of 'you scratch my back I scratch yours'.
And, it would certainly seem to be in the interest of the Palais des Congres and Marc Tremblay to include promotion of Canadian art as an important consideration together with each and every activity the Palais undertakes. So maybe there is some way to facilitate and develop this idea further.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Surprise, surprise - Canada's artists completely ignored in Times ratings
Not exactly the most up-to-date report in the world of art news, as this came out back in June. Worth mentioning though due to its pertinence for the subject of this blog. Again, a very depressing (if predictable) result for Canadian art. At the same time, maybe it will be useful in some small way for inciting our art establishment to some kind of more effective action than the status quo has been.
The results of the Times Top 200 Artists of the 20th Century to Now survey were announced June 8, 2009. The Times Online poll was taken in conjunction with Saatchi Online and all artists received over 1.4 million votes.
In this entire list of 200 artists, there is only one Canadian to my knowledge - that is Jeff Wall, in 116th place. No Riopelle, no Carr, no Jackson, and none of the ~below~. Admittedly, I'm not sure what the methodology of this survey was. There must have been a list that you could pick from - so how many Canadians were on that, I do not know. Anyway, the end result is yet another slap in the face for Canadian art.
The very existence of this list now goes on to further perpetuate the fallacy that Canadian art has no place on the world stage. The work of all Canadian artists is devalued and the way ahead for future artists wishing to climb the rungs of recognition is made that much more difficult.
The results of the Times Top 200 Artists of the 20th Century to Now survey were announced June 8, 2009. The Times Online poll was taken in conjunction with Saatchi Online and all artists received over 1.4 million votes.
Riopelle doesn't even make the list
In this entire list of 200 artists, there is only one Canadian to my knowledge - that is Jeff Wall, in 116th place. No Riopelle, no Carr, no Jackson, and none of the ~below~. Admittedly, I'm not sure what the methodology of this survey was. There must have been a list that you could pick from - so how many Canadians were on that, I do not know. Anyway, the end result is yet another slap in the face for Canadian art.
The very existence of this list now goes on to further perpetuate the fallacy that Canadian art has no place on the world stage. The work of all Canadian artists is devalued and the way ahead for future artists wishing to climb the rungs of recognition is made that much more difficult.
Monday, November 16, 2009
St. Lambert Masonic Temple to finally become a cultural centre
Interesting news from St. Lambert in October that the old Masonic Temple is finally going to be renovated.
Carte postale International Fine Art., Collection Michel Pratt, from the south shore history site, marigot.ca.
According to an article by Arpon Basu in a local paper not available online, the announcement, at the final meeting of the previous St. Lambert Town Council, came as a surprise to council observers. This after years of indecision on the project, which could serve as a 'Dummies' guide on how to take a situation with great potential and achieve nothing.
My interest in this project is due to the fact that the former (and now future) Masonic Temple, which was originally built as the St. Barnabas Anglican Church, has been envisioned as a cultural centre for a number of years now. We actually toured the building ourselves with a real estate agent retained by the Masons many years ago.
This kind of a project, located in such an historic and attractive building in a key strategic location in the middle of the St. Lambert village, could have been (and still could be) a godsend for artists and cultural groups from St. Lambert and all over the Montreal region, Quebec and Canada. Under the new agreement, the building will be re-acquired from the city by the Freemasons, renovated by them to the tune of at least $500,000 and leased to the City of St. Lambert for $50,000 a year. The building will be used again as a Freemason lodge, however the city will have full access to the premises on a reported 24/7 basis.
Why did this not happen 15 years ago or longer, when the Freemasons first started looking into trying to sell the building? Who knows, exactly? Anyway, the city finally did acquire the building around 10 years ago and there were plans worked up to convert the whole thing to a cultural centre at great expense. Certain funding opportunities were apparently at hand, according to a conversation I had a few years ago with former St. Lambert city councilor Marc-Andre Croteau. However, among other things, the Parti Quebecois' city merger program got in the way.
Parti Quebecois forced merger with Longueuil killed this project
St. Lambert was forcibly merged with the City of Longueuil and everything fell apart completely. Finally, the de-merger went through, and another few years later, we finally get a deal done.
Meanwhile, all the artists and performers are 15 years older and the building still hasn't changed a bit, excepting a couple of measures against the weather, and a portion that was condemned and demolished.
Children have grown up without access to this potentially wonderful facility. Somewhere there is a junior accountant or salesperson who might have been inspired to become the next Guy Laliberte. Somewhere there is a failed artist, making ends meet by housekeeping or raking lawns, who just needed that one opportunity for exposure that the Masonic Temple project might have offered them over the past 15 years. Somewhere there is a world-class artist who might have moved right into St. Lambert and inspired one and all with their virtuosity, if only there had been such a wonderful facility here.
Somewhere, there is a phantom catalog, of all the exhibitions and concerts, plays and presentations, that might have been.
T.O.S.H., Qualicum Beach, B.C. - community owned multipurpose arts centre.
Here is a somewhat similar project, of which many variations exist in Canada, to give you idea of what might have been and what could still be. It is The Old School House, in Qualicum Beach, B.C.
Carte postale International Fine Art., Collection Michel Pratt, from the south shore history site, marigot.ca.
According to an article by Arpon Basu in a local paper not available online, the announcement, at the final meeting of the previous St. Lambert Town Council, came as a surprise to council observers. This after years of indecision on the project, which could serve as a 'Dummies' guide on how to take a situation with great potential and achieve nothing.
My interest in this project is due to the fact that the former (and now future) Masonic Temple, which was originally built as the St. Barnabas Anglican Church, has been envisioned as a cultural centre for a number of years now. We actually toured the building ourselves with a real estate agent retained by the Masons many years ago.
This kind of a project, located in such an historic and attractive building in a key strategic location in the middle of the St. Lambert village, could have been (and still could be) a godsend for artists and cultural groups from St. Lambert and all over the Montreal region, Quebec and Canada. Under the new agreement, the building will be re-acquired from the city by the Freemasons, renovated by them to the tune of at least $500,000 and leased to the City of St. Lambert for $50,000 a year. The building will be used again as a Freemason lodge, however the city will have full access to the premises on a reported 24/7 basis.
Why did this not happen 15 years ago or longer, when the Freemasons first started looking into trying to sell the building? Who knows, exactly? Anyway, the city finally did acquire the building around 10 years ago and there were plans worked up to convert the whole thing to a cultural centre at great expense. Certain funding opportunities were apparently at hand, according to a conversation I had a few years ago with former St. Lambert city councilor Marc-Andre Croteau. However, among other things, the Parti Quebecois' city merger program got in the way.
Parti Quebecois forced merger with Longueuil killed this project
St. Lambert was forcibly merged with the City of Longueuil and everything fell apart completely. Finally, the de-merger went through, and another few years later, we finally get a deal done.
Meanwhile, all the artists and performers are 15 years older and the building still hasn't changed a bit, excepting a couple of measures against the weather, and a portion that was condemned and demolished.
Children have grown up without access to this potentially wonderful facility. Somewhere there is a junior accountant or salesperson who might have been inspired to become the next Guy Laliberte. Somewhere there is a failed artist, making ends meet by housekeeping or raking lawns, who just needed that one opportunity for exposure that the Masonic Temple project might have offered them over the past 15 years. Somewhere there is a world-class artist who might have moved right into St. Lambert and inspired one and all with their virtuosity, if only there had been such a wonderful facility here.
Somewhere, there is a phantom catalog, of all the exhibitions and concerts, plays and presentations, that might have been.
T.O.S.H., Qualicum Beach, B.C. - community owned multipurpose arts centre.
Here is a somewhat similar project, of which many variations exist in Canada, to give you idea of what might have been and what could still be. It is The Old School House, in Qualicum Beach, B.C.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Ruins in Process: Vancouver Art in the '60s
I was thrilled to come across this review of Vancouver art in the 60s, entitled Ruins in Process.
This is a great example of the type of work that needs to be done to further the prospects of Canadian art internationally.
By exploring the work of these Canadian artists more deeply, and getting more a an understanding of how these peoples' work affected the work of subsequent generations, we are able to enrich the Canadian art milieu as a whole.
It is not so much a matter of nationalism - it is more that the art world is broken down by country to a large extent and that the artists of each country do stand on the shoulders of their compatriot artists of the past.
This is a great example of the type of work that needs to be done to further the prospects of Canadian art internationally.
By exploring the work of these Canadian artists more deeply, and getting more a an understanding of how these peoples' work affected the work of subsequent generations, we are able to enrich the Canadian art milieu as a whole.
It is not so much a matter of nationalism - it is more that the art world is broken down by country to a large extent and that the artists of each country do stand on the shoulders of their compatriot artists of the past.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
OECD Says Traffic Congestion Costing Toronto - But What Are They Measuring?
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development thinks Toronto can speed up its productivity by putting tolls on its roads.
The 213-page OECD report on the region's economy was released Monday during a global cities forum at the Toronto convention centre.
The report shows that Toronto ranks well down the list in terms of city productivity growth between 1995 and 2005 and that Vancouver and Montreal are similarly low placed.
The OECD outlines four main policy issues and, arising from these, makes five main recommendations in the report:
Could it be that this survey is giving higher ratings to cities that had bigger 2005 bubbles and whose economies have actually now collapsed to a far greater degree than Toronto, Motnreal and Vancouver? Qutie possibly. Indeed, I don't even know how important "productivity growth" from '95-05 really is, considering the magnitude of the recession of '08.
How much of the so-called productivity growth shown is based on overblown bubbles and trickle down from Iraq war spending? Very hard to tell.
It is also noted that the key recommendations make no mention of culture.
At this point I think the OECD needs to get back to the drawing board.
Not that I don't believe traffic congestion is a major problem in Toronto. =) And toll roads, as they suggest, could be a darn good idea.
The 213-page OECD report on the region's economy was released Monday during a global cities forum at the Toronto convention centre.
The report shows that Toronto ranks well down the list in terms of city productivity growth between 1995 and 2005 and that Vancouver and Montreal are similarly low placed.
The OECD outlines four main policy issues and, arising from these, makes five main recommendations in the report:
- Boost innovation, by focusing on niches, university-firms linkages and cluster development and by phasing out subsidies
- Addressing obstacles to the acknowledgment of foreign skills, for example by bridging education programs and internships
- Tackle transportation challenges by creating incentives for reducing car use, access to additional revenue sources, longer term funding commitments by federal government for investment
- Apply a green overlay to the Toronto region’s competitiveness agenda
- Intensify strategic planning at the level of the Toronto region
Could it be that this survey is giving higher ratings to cities that had bigger 2005 bubbles and whose economies have actually now collapsed to a far greater degree than Toronto, Motnreal and Vancouver? Qutie possibly. Indeed, I don't even know how important "productivity growth" from '95-05 really is, considering the magnitude of the recession of '08.
How much of the so-called productivity growth shown is based on overblown bubbles and trickle down from Iraq war spending? Very hard to tell.
It is also noted that the key recommendations make no mention of culture.
At this point I think the OECD needs to get back to the drawing board.
Not that I don't believe traffic congestion is a major problem in Toronto. =) And toll roads, as they suggest, could be a darn good idea.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Toronto Hamilton Pan Am Games & Edmonton Expo 2017 update
OK so this is how our "Major International Events" are shaking out. Hamilton/Toronto wins the Pan-Am Games. To be honest, I don't remember even seeing a report on the Pan-Am Games since I was a kid.
One thing's for sure though, these Pan-Am Games (in 2015) are about to become the biggest thing that ever hit us now that they're in Toronto!
BTW Toronto invested millions into *considering* a bid for the world expo 2015, before finally missing the deadline to confirm intention to bid.
There is still a hopeful section on a Toronto website entitled Major International Events that continues to give the impression Toronto has a bid alive for it.
Then Toronto/Hamilton looked into hosting the 2017 (smaller) Expo in conjunction with Canada's 150th birthday. Also interested were Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, and perhaps others.
When it came time to confirm intentions with Heritage Canada only Edmonton and Calgary announced, Calgary's announcement coming as a surprise. Calgary pulled the plug on its bid a couple of days ago.
Edmonton is now the only city in the running to become Canada's official applicant for Expo 2017 and needs to put a proposal in to Canadian Heritage by the end of November.
If done right - it could be a great thing. Expo 67 added $2.5 B to our tourism balance sheet over 1966. Expo 86 added $1.5 Bil over the previous year. There could even be more to it than that, with the 150th birthday tie-in - but Edmonton has a weak underbelly.
Normally, you would understand that Edmonton would have a somewhat tougher time to promote itself than, say, Montreal or Vancouver. But you would start off thinking about stuff like gateway to the north, land of the Klondike, land of the midnight sun and soon your imagination would be rolling and Edmonton could be made to look pretty attractive... and it is, truth be told.
That was then - this is now: The real challenge for Edmonton going forward is going to be the public relations disaster that is the Alberta Tar Sands. Canada was royally skewered in Barcelona this past week over its greenhouse gas emissions policy - and if people in Edmonton think anyone watches Fox News in Europe to get the "pro-tar" "pro-smog" "pro-carbon" propaganda side of things, then maybe I could get you a good deal on some beautiful oil rights in the Ottawa Valley.
If anyone at Canadian Heritage is awake, they may even just pass on ratifying Edmonton's bid. Save them the expense and embarrassment. Although this is unlikely under a Harper government, of course. So, depending on which cities are bidding against Edmonton, we will see what happens. I have a feeling there will be a lot of international resentment towards Alberta - it will be interesting to see how Edmonton plans to overcome this.
One thing's for sure though, these Pan-Am Games (in 2015) are about to become the biggest thing that ever hit us now that they're in Toronto!
BTW Toronto invested millions into *considering* a bid for the world expo 2015, before finally missing the deadline to confirm intention to bid.
There is still a hopeful section on a Toronto website entitled Major International Events that continues to give the impression Toronto has a bid alive for it.
Then Toronto/Hamilton looked into hosting the 2017 (smaller) Expo in conjunction with Canada's 150th birthday. Also interested were Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, and perhaps others.
When it came time to confirm intentions with Heritage Canada only Edmonton and Calgary announced, Calgary's announcement coming as a surprise. Calgary pulled the plug on its bid a couple of days ago.
Edmonton is now the only city in the running to become Canada's official applicant for Expo 2017 and needs to put a proposal in to Canadian Heritage by the end of November.
If done right - it could be a great thing. Expo 67 added $2.5 B to our tourism balance sheet over 1966. Expo 86 added $1.5 Bil over the previous year. There could even be more to it than that, with the 150th birthday tie-in - but Edmonton has a weak underbelly.
Normally, you would understand that Edmonton would have a somewhat tougher time to promote itself than, say, Montreal or Vancouver. But you would start off thinking about stuff like gateway to the north, land of the Klondike, land of the midnight sun and soon your imagination would be rolling and Edmonton could be made to look pretty attractive... and it is, truth be told.
That was then - this is now: The real challenge for Edmonton going forward is going to be the public relations disaster that is the Alberta Tar Sands. Canada was royally skewered in Barcelona this past week over its greenhouse gas emissions policy - and if people in Edmonton think anyone watches Fox News in Europe to get the "pro-tar" "pro-smog" "pro-carbon" propaganda side of things, then maybe I could get you a good deal on some beautiful oil rights in the Ottawa Valley.
If anyone at Canadian Heritage is awake, they may even just pass on ratifying Edmonton's bid. Save them the expense and embarrassment. Although this is unlikely under a Harper government, of course. So, depending on which cities are bidding against Edmonton, we will see what happens. I have a feeling there will be a lot of international resentment towards Alberta - it will be interesting to see how Edmonton plans to overcome this.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
X&-cuse me& Can Someone Please Fill in the Wikipedia Page for Iain Baxter& Thank-you&
N. E. Thing eye Candu 4U?
yeah
Fill in the wikipidi Ah entry 4 Iain Baxter& OK.
"This courage business is important because I think we as a people, even more than the Americans, lack it. We are clever, imitative(?), but we seem to wait for someone else to show us the way, then we follow him, instead of carving out a path for ourselves. Just at the moment I can't think of a single creative work that can be credited to a Canadian... in art, architecture, literature, engineering or anything else..."
- David Milne, Palgrave Ont. Jan. 7, 1932
Iain Baxter& has always been an artist who showed the courage to search for his own way ahead and Canadians can learn a lot by following his career.
No need to even mention that, in these days of twentysomething youtubers racking up millions of hits, it might be worth saving a couple of minutes for the achievements of one of early pioneers and practicioners of conceptual art.
yeah
Fill in the wikipidi Ah entry 4 Iain Baxter& OK.
"This courage business is important because I think we as a people, even more than the Americans, lack it. We are clever, imitative(?), but we seem to wait for someone else to show us the way, then we follow him, instead of carving out a path for ourselves. Just at the moment I can't think of a single creative work that can be credited to a Canadian... in art, architecture, literature, engineering or anything else..."
- David Milne, Palgrave Ont. Jan. 7, 1932
Iain Baxter& has always been an artist who showed the courage to search for his own way ahead and Canadians can learn a lot by following his career.
No need to even mention that, in these days of twentysomething youtubers racking up millions of hits, it might be worth saving a couple of minutes for the achievements of one of early pioneers and practicioners of conceptual art.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Cultural Resplendence: Re-Affirming Art as an Economic Force in Canada
Does art have the power to drive a country's economy? It is becoming more clear that the answer is yes.
For this post I refer back to my post of April 9, 2009, where I discussed the dismal showing of Canadian visual artists in the context of worldwide auction sales.
Checking the top 500 best-selling artists for the past year, I counted only five Canadians and none in the top 100. I also did a rough calculation showing that the Canadians' sales accounted for probably only .1 % of the total auction sales of the top 500.
I also noted that:
France, for example, is the world's #1 tourist destination. It also has +/-7 of the top 20 worldwide artists, in terms of '08 auction sales...
...you cannot deny the obvious - that France's cultural profile is hugely important for its prosperity and vitality as a nation and that its visual artists are a huge part of that profile.
When I wrote that part I was perhaps overly conscious that some people might consider it quite the stretch to attribute France's world leading tourism position with its world leading cultural position.
The correlation seems too strong to simply ignore, yet... the assumption is completely unscientific and could be a total coincidence, in theory.
Now, I find, my position is shared by none other than one of Canada's leading authors, Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi and winner of the Booker Prize for the same book.
Martel is also the writer of the website, What is Stephen Harper Reading?, and the book of the same name, in which Martel sends a book to Stephen Harper every two weeks, along with a letter giving a brief description of the book and random comments. In the section of the site entitled "The story behind this website", Martel describes how he got the idea for the project.
In a nutshell, Martel and 49 other eminent Canadian artists were invited to Ottawa for the 50th anniversary of the Canada Council. Martel and the other artists noticed how few government representatives made time for the event and how disinterested Harper seemed to be.
"We should have been prepared. How many Members of Parliament do you think showed up at a reception the previous day on Parliament Hill meant to be a grand occasion on which the representatives of Canada’s people would meet the representatives of Canada’s artists? By my count, twenty, twenty-five—out of 306—with only one cabinet minister, the one who absolutely had to be there, Bev Oda. There we fifty stood around, for two hours, waiting. Each one of us was a symbol for one year of the Canada Council’s fifty. I, for example, represented 1991, the year I received a Canada Council B grant that allowed me to write my first novel. I was 27 years old and the money was manna from heaven. I made those $18,000 last a year and a half (and compared to the income tax I have paid since then, an exponential return on Canadian taxpayers’ investment, I assure you)," Martel reflects.
"By comparison, the equivalent celebration of a major cultural institution in, say, France would have been a classy, flashy, year-long, exhibition-filled affair, with President Chirac trying to hog as much of the limelight as possible. No need to go into further details. We all know how the Europeans do culture. It’s sexy and important to them. The world visits Europe because it’s so culturally resplendent. Instead, we milled around, drank our drinks and then petered away in small groups."
This is what really caught my eye:
The world visits Europe because it’s so culturally resplendent.
Culturally resplendent.
That's one thing that Canada is not. It could be. But it's not.
Indeed, in Conservative circles, I imagine the words "culturally resplendent" would be considered profanities!
This is something we will have to get over. This is something for us to shoot for... cultural resplendence.
For this post I refer back to my post of April 9, 2009, where I discussed the dismal showing of Canadian visual artists in the context of worldwide auction sales.
Checking the top 500 best-selling artists for the past year, I counted only five Canadians and none in the top 100. I also did a rough calculation showing that the Canadians' sales accounted for probably only .1 % of the total auction sales of the top 500.
I also noted that:
France, for example, is the world's #1 tourist destination. It also has +/-7 of the top 20 worldwide artists, in terms of '08 auction sales...
...you cannot deny the obvious - that France's cultural profile is hugely important for its prosperity and vitality as a nation and that its visual artists are a huge part of that profile.
When I wrote that part I was perhaps overly conscious that some people might consider it quite the stretch to attribute France's world leading tourism position with its world leading cultural position.
The correlation seems too strong to simply ignore, yet... the assumption is completely unscientific and could be a total coincidence, in theory.
Now, I find, my position is shared by none other than one of Canada's leading authors, Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi and winner of the Booker Prize for the same book.
Martel is also the writer of the website, What is Stephen Harper Reading?, and the book of the same name, in which Martel sends a book to Stephen Harper every two weeks, along with a letter giving a brief description of the book and random comments. In the section of the site entitled "The story behind this website", Martel describes how he got the idea for the project.
In a nutshell, Martel and 49 other eminent Canadian artists were invited to Ottawa for the 50th anniversary of the Canada Council. Martel and the other artists noticed how few government representatives made time for the event and how disinterested Harper seemed to be.
"We should have been prepared. How many Members of Parliament do you think showed up at a reception the previous day on Parliament Hill meant to be a grand occasion on which the representatives of Canada’s people would meet the representatives of Canada’s artists? By my count, twenty, twenty-five—out of 306—with only one cabinet minister, the one who absolutely had to be there, Bev Oda. There we fifty stood around, for two hours, waiting. Each one of us was a symbol for one year of the Canada Council’s fifty. I, for example, represented 1991, the year I received a Canada Council B grant that allowed me to write my first novel. I was 27 years old and the money was manna from heaven. I made those $18,000 last a year and a half (and compared to the income tax I have paid since then, an exponential return on Canadian taxpayers’ investment, I assure you)," Martel reflects.
"By comparison, the equivalent celebration of a major cultural institution in, say, France would have been a classy, flashy, year-long, exhibition-filled affair, with President Chirac trying to hog as much of the limelight as possible. No need to go into further details. We all know how the Europeans do culture. It’s sexy and important to them. The world visits Europe because it’s so culturally resplendent. Instead, we milled around, drank our drinks and then petered away in small groups."
This is what really caught my eye:
The world visits Europe because it’s so culturally resplendent.
Culturally resplendent.
That's one thing that Canada is not. It could be. But it's not.
Indeed, in Conservative circles, I imagine the words "culturally resplendent" would be considered profanities!
This is something we will have to get over. This is something for us to shoot for... cultural resplendence.
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