create balance

a good route out

bringing culture out of quarantine

 

The world has become a difficult place in unprecedented ways for a while now and whilst we’re not out of the woods yet, our sense of optimism can be directly connected to what is going on around us culturally.

In addition to its intrinsic value, culture enables us to come together in ways that reflect different experiences, perspectives and realities. It’s a social, economic and personal force for good.

So, if culture is one of the best routes out of all this? What does it mean for those within the sector?

Perhaps a good place to start is to simply foster those post-lockdown moments of connection. There is an abundance of new art and new artists coming to the fore alongside the best of the traditional forms. As each helps us to remember what it’s like to experience something physically and emotionally in a live way again, it also allows those involved to get a real sense of who their returning audiences are, who they could be and what they might want and need.

There is an opportunity to see what our culture looks and feels like and to really observe and understand the different perspectives and realities that now reflect who we are, what we do and why we do it.

After more than a year of being closed or on standby, it would benefit organisations to focus only on the things that help to keep moving forward. To practically apply learnings, to be brave in changing what they know needs changing and to invest in those who can make it happen.

The experiences of the last 18months have changed us all. We need a culture sector that reflects this and that continues to transform the way art is made, who makes it and how it’s experienced.

As we find more challenges coming out of COVID than we possibly experienced going in, the arts can help us to evolve beyond the confines of what we’re used to – to defy expectations, to change how we see ourselves and each other and to be open to doing things differently.

There is a sense of positivity in the air.
As cultural colour creeps back into the greyness that has dominated our lives, it can give us a lot of what we need, to survive, succeed and keep moving forward.
Not only is it a good route out of all this, it’s also fundamental to our future.

more balanced thinking