tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/arts-142/articlesArts – The Conversation2024-03-04T13:41:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2239332024-03-04T13:41:28Z2024-03-04T13:41:28ZStanley Kubrick redefined: recent research challenges myths to reveal the man behind the legend<p>Even 25 years after his death, Stanley Kubrick remains one of the most widely known directors of the 20th century. Many of the 13 films he made – including <a href="https://theconversation.com/2001-a-space-odyssey-still-leaves-an-indelible-mark-on-our-culture-55-years-on-209152">2001: A Space Odyssey</a> (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and <a href="https://theconversation.com/kafka-is-the-real-ghost-of-kubricks-the-shining-41853">The Shining</a> (1980) – are still revered today and remembered as some of the best movies ever produced. </p>
<p>To coincide with the anniversary of his death on March 7 1999, I have co-authored the first full-length <a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571370368-kubrick/">biography of Kubrick</a> in more than two decades. Based on the latest <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/898140">research</a> into Kubrick, access to his <a href="https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/library-services/special-collections-and-archives/archives-and-special-collections-centre/the-stanley-kubrick-archive">archive</a> at the University of Arts London, other repositories around the world, family members, cast and creatives, we have delved into his life in detail that few others have achieved.</p>
<h2>Shy but not reclusive</h2>
<p>During his life Kubrick was famously shy with the media, and frequently <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2010/04/kubrick-199908">interpreted</a> as reclusive. He granted very few interviews, and only when he had a film to publicise. He learned early on that he was not good at promoting his films personally. In the few interviews with Kubrick that survive, he comes across as nervous and ill at ease. </p>
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<p>Kubrick was so shy and protective of his private life that few people recognised him publicly. Though born and brought up in New York, he settled in England in the 1960s and remained there. He could wander into Rymans in St Albans and buy stationery (he loved paper, pens and the like) or get a new pair of spectacles and no one would recognise him. It helped that he often used his brother-in-law’s name when doing so. </p>
<p>In fact, Kubrick was such an unfamiliar figure that an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/mar/14/andrewanthony">imposter</a> went around London’s clubs and bars in the early 1990s pretending to be him. The imposter was only found out when Kubrick started receiving strange phone calls from spurned lovers and bars with huge unpaid drinks tabs. </p>
<h2>Kubrick archive</h2>
<p>His archive only opened in 2007, but it provides an insight into this extremely private director’s world as never before. Kubrick was a hoarder and held on to the miscellany and detritus of his personal and professional worlds. This included high school yearbooks, photographs he took for Look magazine, receipts, bills, invoices, as well as the voluminous amount of material a film production (especially a Kubrick production) generated.</p>
<p>Through studying this archival material, combined with our new interviews, we learned about the human being behind the mythology. Kubrick was a film director but he was also a son, brother, husband, father and friend. </p>
<p>He liked to entertain, chat, make jokes and cook. He loved making American-style fast food and huge sandwiches, often using a microwave as he was a lover of gadgets, adopting new technology as soon as it became available. This was as true of his private life (where he used car phones, pagers and computers) as his working life where he was an early adopter of Steadicam cameras and the Avid editing system. </p>
<p>He had a fear of flying, but it was based on his own knowledge as a trained pilot and frequent monitoring of radio traffic control. It’s not true that he never went over 30mph in a car, as has been <a href="http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/faq/index3.html">claimed</a>. Rather, he loved cars – fast German ones in particular – but frequently crashed them.</p>
<h2>Kubrick at work</h2>
<p>We uncovered much about Kubrick’s working practices too. Kubrick was a master of the insurance claim. He never hesitated to file one following an accident or fire on set. Not only did this help him to recoup his budget but it also gave him precious time to regroup and think about his options. </p>
<p>We also discovered how Kubrick had to beg, borrow and virtually steal to get most of his projects greenlit. It wasn’t until he signed with Warner Brothers in the 1970s – from A Clockwork Orange onwards – that he had a permanent financial backer. But even then he wasn’t guaranteed funding if the project wasn’t right. </p>
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<span class="caption">Kubrick was famously shy in public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanley_Kubrick_in_Dr._Strangelove_Trailer_(1).jpg">Mayimbú/Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>And those projects included the famously never made <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190808-was-napoleon-the-greatest-film-never-made">biopic of Napoleon</a> as the time wasn’t right, or his never-to-be-made Holocaust film, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/archive-fever-stanley-kubrick-and-the-aryan-papers">Aryan Papers</a>, which lacked a big star and came too close on the heels of Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/2001-a-space-odyssey-still-leaves-an-indelible-mark-on-our-culture-55-years-on-209152">2001: A Space Odyssey still leaves an indelible mark on our culture 55 years on</a>
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<p>It is also tempting to wonder what would have happened had he made the film <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/15/stanley-kubrick-lost-screenplay-burning-secret-found">Burning Secret</a> in 1956, with MGM studios, with whom he had signed a contract. Would he have become another studio stooge or been fired for being too much of a maverick? What would have been the implications for his career?</p>
<p>While we can only imagine how those projects would have turned out, what remains is an extraordinary body of work that includes thousands of photographs, three documentaries and 13 feature films. Stanley Kubrick may have shunned the limelight, but his films have had a profound influence on the movie and television industries, as well as a lasting impact on popular and political culture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Abrams receives and has previously received external funding, including charity and research council grants.</span></em></p>25 years after the death of the legendary director, a new book offers fresh insights into Stanley Kubrick’s personal and professional life.Nathan Abrams, Professor of Film Studies, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216682024-01-24T13:14:20Z2024-01-24T13:14:20ZClimate disaster movies resonate in ways that news never will<p>Like many eco-conscious film buffs, I’ve seen <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/17/why-dont-look-up-should-win-the-best-picture-oscar">Don’t Look Up</a> many times, and shown it to my friends and family whenever anyone suggests a movie night. Now I’m looking forward to discussing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/20/the-end-we-start-from-review-jodie-comer-mahalia-belo-megan-hunter#:%7E:text=When%20her%20waters%20break,The%20End%20We%20Start%20From.">The End We Start From</a>, the new 2024 release starring Killing Eve star <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jodie-Comer">Jodie Comer</a>. The Liverpudlian actress plays a new mother trying to find refuge with her baby as London is submerged by flood waters. </p>
<p>As someone concerned about climate catastrophe, I rarely pass up the opportunity to educate my loved ones in an entertaining or thought-provoking way. It’s a refreshing break from the usual doom-mongering that conversations can often descend into. </p>
<p>The power of cinema in communicating the climate crisis is undeniable. This is becoming increasingly apparent in <a href="https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/geography/oral-history-of-the-environmental-movement-project/">my own research</a> on the history of the environmental movement in the UK. Certainly during the last two decades, I’ve noticed a more concerted effort within cinema and television to directly address the issues of climate catastrophe. </p>
<p>Given the complexities behind the science of climate change, good communication plays a critical role in affecting public attitudes and behaviours in relation to environmental justice. Yet it’s only relatively recently that the role of cinema, and narrative visual fiction more broadly, has been taken seriously as having a role in that communication. </p>
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<h2>Creating emotional connection</h2>
<p>There are many benefits to using fictional narrative as a tool to connect an audience with environmental issues.</p>
<p>First, this appeals to our emotions in a way that a scientific presentation, academic paper or broadcast interview rarely can. Ultimately, films have a unique way of engaging our emotions, which is a vital step in <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003119234-26/cinema-ecology-environment-pat-brereton">driving changes in people’s behaviour</a>. </p>
<p>Films can leverage this by presenting climate messages within fantastical narratives that seasoned movie watchers will be familiar with. In the case of Don’t Look Up, it’s meteor strikes. For <a href="https://www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/breakthrough-brits/mahalia-belo-director">Mahalia Belo’s</a> The End We Start From, it’s extreme flooding. </p>
<p>But even without such strong visual representation, films that centre around personal journeys towards realisation can be equally as powerful. In Paul Schrader’s brilliant <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/12/first-reformed-review-ethan-hawke-paul-schrader-amanda-seyfried">First Reformed</a>, climate activism is the predominant focus. </p>
<p>Second, films and television dramas can bring the immensity of climate catastrophe down to earth by incorporating everyday events. The interpersonal dynamics in the BBC television series <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/07/years-and-years-is-riveting-dystopian-tv-and-the-worst-show-to-watch-right-now">Years and Years</a>, a six-part drama that follows three generations of a Manchester family between 2019 and 2034, helps viewers relate to the characters’ experiences. This is a <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Climate_Change_and_Post_Political_Commun/kpxADwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1">proven tactic</a> that embeds climate issues into public debate, as it conjures a personal connection and makes the climate message more accessible and effective.</p>
<p>The End We Start From follows the everyday experience of having a newborn child, but set in the midst of an extreme flood in London. This creates a visceral emotional connection between the themes of the film and the viewers’ own experiences. The emotional journeys of the characters mirror the audience’s <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1075547008329201?casa_token=UJTpxEAvArQAAAAA:I7Rg6As8Nfh-WaCXMsHMnP4VYkDoCtnQWvFq5wYABGxZojhL74XBArEUcERdanNsIgSBc5EA9dI">fears and hopes</a>. This creates a strong empathetic link that can help people change the way they behave far more than facts and data can.</p>
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<p>Third, the stark imagery of environmental devastation, aided by increasingly spectacular special effects and CGI leaves a lasting visual imprint. This enhances public awareness and concern. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,1225934,00.html#:%7E:text=There%20are%20some%20great%20special,get%20to%20those%20spectacular%20scenes.%E2%80%8B">The Day After Tomorrow</a>, released in 2004, can be considered the first climate blockbuster.</p>
<p>While it had a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexa-Weik-Von-Mossner-2/publication/270161666_Facing_The_Day_After_Tomorrow_Filmed_Disaster_Emotional_Engagement_and_Climate_Risk_Perception/links/54a1c2db0cf256bf8baf78d5/Facing-The-Day-After-Tomorrow-Filmed-Disaster-Emotional-Engagement-and-Climate-Risk-Perception.pdf">relatively small</a> immediate impact on changing people’s opinions on climate change, it laid the ground for more cinematic explorations of climate change-related visuals, and the real world impact of extreme weather events, rising sea levels and rapid temperature changes.</p>
<h2>Welcome to the age of ‘cli-fi’</h2>
<p>More than just the effects though, it has <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Research_Handbook_on_Communicating_Clima/AC0NEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Cultural+storytelling+through+cinema+climate&pg=PA330&printsec=frontcover">been argued</a> that the skill of storytelling can impress climate science on viewers’ minds far more effectively.</p>
<p>Often labelled “cli-fi”, the melding of science fiction stories with dystopian climate futures uses a post-climate breakdown as the scene for the film’s imagined narrative. In so doing, films such as Bong Joon Ho’s masterpiece <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/25/snowpiercer-review-steampunk-law-order-is-a-trashy-treat">Snowpiercer</a> or George Miller’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/17/mad-max-fury-road-review-mark-kermode">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> convey the gravity of the very real issues of the social, cultural and political effects of climate catastrophe.</p>
<p>Of course, the growing genre of climate change cinema is not always <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718517301549?casa_token=GBqWs_47IysAAAAA:IZp0baGmmUrvjHsrMdjtg2fM7lcWhFBZDhBWUiaqWkdMGoSbolSBHEyindhH3Fr91fMehhgc">scientifically accurate</a>. But if cinema is to be used more forcefully as a tool to raise the public awareness of climate catastrophe, then accuracy is not entirely necessary: it is the emotional connection and compelling storytelling that are most crucial. </p>
<p>Films like The End We Start From and Don’t Look Up are not just entertainment, they are essential tools in educating and mobilising public opinion. As we face the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-how-bad-is-climate-change-already-and-what-do-we-need-to-do-next-to-tackle-it-218309">escalating challenges</a> of climate catastrophe, embracing diverse and emotionally engaging storytelling in mainstream media becomes imperative. It’s through these narratives that we can foster a more informed, concerned and proactive global community.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oli Mould does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This powerful new eco drama suggests “cli-fi” could play a crucial role in climate communication.Oli Mould, Professor in Human Geography, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180012024-01-12T13:28:40Z2024-01-12T13:28:40ZI wrote a play for children about integrating the arts into STEM fields − here’s what I learned about encouraging creative, interdisciplinary thinking<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562522/original/file-20231129-27-a3te04.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C18%2C4007%2C2999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scenes from 'The STEAM Plays,' performed in Michigan schools. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thalia Lara</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Often, science and art are described as starkly different things. That narrative can start early on, with kids encouraged to pursue a STEM – short for science, technology, engineering and math – education that may or may not include an arts education. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://people.cal.msu.edu/roznows5/">professor of acting</a>, I’d never thought much about the STEM fields until I received a <a href="https://grad.msu.edu/news/steampower-facultystaff-fellows">fellowship to integrate the arts</a> into STEM educational models. I used the opportunity to write and direct a play for elementary schoolers that showed how the arts can improve upon and extend work in STEM fields when properly integrated – but it wasn’t an easy process. </p>
<h2>STEM or STEAM?</h2>
<p>Whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-difference-between-stem-and-steam-95713">STEM should be augmented to STEAM</a> – science, technology, engineering, arts and math – with the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11070331">addition of the arts</a> remains <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2018/06/12/why-liberal-arts-and-the-humanities-are-as-important-as-engineering/">something of a debate</a>. </p>
<p>The origins of STEM education can be traced to as early as the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/morrill-act">Morrill Act</a> of 1862, which promoted agricultural science and later engineering at land grant universities. In 2001, the National Science Foundation pushed a focus on STEM education in order to <a href="https://www.stemschool.com/articles/rich-history-of-stem-education-in-the-united-states">make the U.S. more competitive globally</a>. </p>
<p>A Biden-Harris initiative launched in December 2022 called <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-launches-new-initiative-enhance-stem-education-all-students">You Belong in STEM</a> offers support of more than US$120 billion for K-12 STEM education until the year 2025. But, starting in 2012, the United States Research Council has explored the idea of a <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.709560/">STEAM education</a>. </p>
<p>Researchers have found that when integrated into a STEM education, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2013.09.317">the arts make space for curiosity and innovation</a>. So why the lack of agreement and consistency around whether it should be STEM or STEAM? </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Lots of careers bridge both science and arts, from game design to photography and engineering.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The bias toward emphasizing a STEM education could be driven by the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/20/more-students-pursue-stem-degrees-because-of-high-paying-careers.html">higher future salaries</a> of STEM majors or the significant funding that is connected more to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00891-x">STEM-based research</a> and grants than to the arts. A STEAM education takes more time and <a href="https://theconversation.com/improving-science-literacy-means-changing-science-education-178291">is more complex</a> than a traditional STEM educational model. </p>
<p>Or it could simply be that many academics in STEM fields lack the incentive for interdisciplinary work that brings in the arts, and vice versa. In fact, that was exactly the position I was in as an arts-based researcher asked to create something about STEM disciplines that I knew very little about.</p>
<h2>Putting on the play</h2>
<p>It took me several tries and lots of research to get the script of my STEAM-centered play to its current form. </p>
<p>At first, I made basic discoveries. I learned that <a href="https://www.invent.org/blog/trends-stem/stem-steam-defined">there is a debate</a> about whether the arts should be included in a STEM education. I learned that “<a href="https://stemeducationguide.com/is-psychology-stem/">soft sciences” like psychology</a> are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-020-09545-0">not included</a> in many STEM educational models. I lacked a background in most of the disciplines included in STEM. And I struggled to find a project that inspired me.</p>
<p>But eventually I began work on five one-act plays, called “The STEAM Plays: Using the Arts to Talk about STEM.” Each focused on a category of STEAM education. I wrote the first draft of the show with a chip on my shoulder, trying to prove that the arts did indeed belong in STEM education.</p>
<p>The tone was defensive and provocative – and not entirely appropriate for the elementary age range I was focused on. </p>
<p>The new, revised version that toured Michigan elementary schools in the Fall of 2023 contains 20 bite-sized comedic scenes and songs that dramatize how the arts are integral to many STEM fields. These include how engineering skills go into designing a celebrity’s evening gown, how bakers need to know some basic chemistry, and how the mathematical algorithms of TikTok find new videos for each user.</p>
<p>In each of the scenes, students can see how artistic imagination and creative thinking expand STEM education.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people performing on a stage, wearing brightly colored costumes. The background is a screen projecting blue, green and yellow geometric shapes. The two performers on the left have their arms crossed and stand back to back, same on the right." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563453/original/file-20231204-23-wjyepx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The STEAM Plays’ in action. Performers, from left: Alex Spevetz, Marcus Pennington, Zoe Dorst, Cassidy Williams and Olivia Hagar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Roznowski</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond the stage</h2>
<p>These themes emerge from a wider scholarly understanding that STEM isn’t done in a creativity vacuum, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2013.09.317">stimulating students’ artistic thinking</a> will help them both in the science classroom and the art studio.</p>
<p>One plot point of the show is about an evil genius who views the arts as less important trying to keep the arts out of STEM. He swaps the bodies of a scientist and an actor, as well as an engineer and a creative writer. In each body swap, the STEM professional and the artist recognize how similar their work is. In the final scene, the evil genius tries to switch the bodies of Pythagoras and Taylor Swift, only to realize that music is all about math.</p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A square box with the words 'Art & Science Collide' and a drawing of a lightbulb with its wire filament in the shape of a brain, surrounded by a circle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567788/original/file-20240103-23-yg479z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Art & Science Collide series.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/art-in-science-series-2024-149583">This article is part of Art & Science Collide</a></strong>, a series examining the intersections between art and science.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/literature-inspired-my-medical-career-why-the-humanities-are-needed-in-health-care-217357">Literature inspired my medical career: Why the humanities are needed in health care</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/art-and-science-entwined-this-course-explores-the-long-interrelated-history-of-two-ways-of-seeing-the-world-210250">Art and science entwined: This course explores the long, interrelated history of two ways of seeing the world </a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/art-illuminates-the-beauty-of-science-and-could-inspire-the-next-generation-of-scientists-young-and-old-168925">Art illuminates the beauty of science – and could inspire the next generation of scientists young and old</a> </p>
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<p>Many teachers have provided rave reviews. “The plays did an excellent job of highlighting the importance and value of arts in our educational system,” one noted. “Students walked away enjoying and having a deeper understanding of how all of the different aspects of STEAM were able to work together collaboratively.</p>
<p>A STEAM education in which <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/online/engineering/news/comparing-stem-vs-steam-why-the-arts-make-a-difference/">students learn soft skills</a> like empathy, collaboration, emotional intelligence and creativity through the arts helps prepare students for the job market. And these discussions aren’t confined only to K-12 education – many research grants <a href="https://new.nsf.gov/funding/learn/research-types/learn-about-interdisciplinary-research">encourage interdisciplinary work</a>.</p>
<p>My understanding of the STEM and STEAM debate and my experience writing, producing and watching how people respond to my show have helped me understand how the arts are necessary to every student’s education. I learned that without artistic imagination, STEM students’ big-picture thinking skills can get stifled. </p>
<p>It only took writing a play for children for me to get it myself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Roznowski received funding from Michigan State University from two places. As part of the STEAMpower Fellowship <a href="https://grad.msu.edu/news/steampower-facultystaff-fellows">https://grad.msu.edu/news/steampower-facultystaff-fellows</a> $10,000
and the Humanities And Arts Grant Proposal System. <a href="https://research.msu.edu/humanities-and-arts-research-program">https://research.msu.edu/humanities-and-arts-research-program</a>
The first fellowship covered the writing and research. The HARPwas awarded to tour and design the play. $7000</span></em></p>Is it a STEM education or a STEAM education? Integrating arts into science programming and vice versa can pique kids’ curiosity − a play touring Michigan aims to do just that.Rob Roznowski, Professor of Acting, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2110112023-09-18T12:20:58Z2023-09-18T12:20:58ZWhat are the liberal arts? A literature scholar explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548349/original/file-20230914-29-irzrgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1540%2C1001&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cicero defined 'liberal arts' in a book he wrote about rhetoric in a republic. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cicero-royalty-free-image/157165581?adppopup=true">ra-photos/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The term “liberal arts” is one of the most misunderstood terms in the public discourse on higher education today. A higher education expert <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/25/liberal-education-advocates-discuss-ways-reclaim-conversations-about-academe">once said</a> that putting the words “liberal” and “arts” together was a “<a href="https://www.gallup.com/education/231746/higher-education-drop-term-liberal-arts.aspx">branding disaster</a>” – one so toxic that it was undermining public support for higher education. To break down the meaning and origin of the term, The Conversation reached out to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PAm7pfgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Blaine Greteman</a>, a professor of English, who looks at how the term emerged in ancient times.</em></p>
<h2>What does the term mean?</h2>
<p>Contrary to how it might sound, “liberal” in the phrase “liberal arts” has nothing to do with political liberalism. And the “arts” part is not really about the arts as most people understand them, such as painting, dancing and the like.</p>
<p>The “liberal” in “liberal arts” derives from the Latin “<a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dliberalis1">liberalis,</a>” meaning “free.” “Arts” comes from Latin “ars”, for “knowledge” or “skill.” The word “artifact” has the same root: something made by human skill or knowledge. “Liberal arts,” in this sense, is education that equips a person for life as a free citizen. </p>
<p>That was how the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero meant it 2,000 years ago when he became the first on record to refer to a “liberal arts” education. Cicero did this in “<a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0683%3Abook%3D1%3Asection%3D35">De Inventione</a>,” an influential handbook on rhetoric written around 90 B.C. Cicero composed the book as a young man considering the role that public speaking served in the life of a republic.</p>
<p>In his later and more comprehensive work, “<a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0120%3Abook%3D1%3Asection%3D17">De Oratore</a>,” Cicero explained that the full liberal arts education will equip students with a deep understanding of human emotion, skills in literary expression and a “comprehensive knowledge of things,” or “scientia comprehendenda rerum plurimarum.” This is the “education befitting a free person,” or “eruditio libero digna.”</p>
<p>It’s easy to get bogged down in what exactly that comprehensive or universal education entailed for Cicero or his followers in the Renaissance. But “liberal arts” for Cicero didn’t mean some subject, like “art” or “English,” so much as it meant a broad, general education.</p>
<p>Classically, meaning from the ancient Roman educational system up through the 1800s, when the Victorians began to reform education as practical training for the masses, students would pursue the “trivium” – grammar, logic and rhetoric – before continuing to the “quadrivium” – arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. But to get hung up on where painting, ballet or history fits into this scheme kind of misses the point.</p>
<p>“Liberal arts” really means education that is broad, and not strictly vocational, in that it gives you the ability to exercise free choice as a citizen and thinker. A course in philosophy or history will improve a student’s communication skills in ways that will ultimately help them find a job, but the core purpose of the class is to study deeper lessons of the self or the past. That’s very different from the way a course in electrical engineering might cultivate skills students will use in a career designing circuits.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Author, sociologist, historian and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois poses for a portrait in a study room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542666/original/file-20230814-25671-qtkqsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542666/original/file-20230814-25671-qtkqsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542666/original/file-20230814-25671-qtkqsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542666/original/file-20230814-25671-qtkqsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542666/original/file-20230814-25671-qtkqsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542666/original/file-20230814-25671-qtkqsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542666/original/file-20230814-25671-qtkqsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Historian W.E.B. Du Bois advocated for the liberal arts in his 1903 book ‘The Souls of Black Folk.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/author-sociologist-historian-and-civil-rights-activist-w-e-news-photo/538843974?adppopup=true">David Attie/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Why does studying the liberal arts matter?</h2>
<p>True freedom, as I see it, is the ability to choose wisely between arguments and theories about how the world works and understand how language can manipulate or elevate us. This is why 17th-century English poet and revolutionary John Milton focused his <a href="https://milton.host.dartmouth.edu/reading_room/areopagitica/text.html">foundational anti-censorship text, “Areopagitica,”</a> on the civic value of the liberal arts. “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties,” Milton wrote. </p>
<p>One of the greatest defenses of the liberal arts in America was written just 37 years after the Civil War by W.E.B. Du Bois. “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm">The Souls of Black Folk</a>” is probably best known today as a groundbreaking work of sociology.</p>
<p>Du Bois also insisted that without access to a complete and comprehensive liberal arts education, Black Americans can never truly be free. To the question, “Shall we teach them trades or train them in liberal arts?” Du Bois answered, “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm">Both</a>.” But he maintained that liberal arts must always be the foundation, because “to make men, we must have ideals, broad, pure, and inspiring ends of living, not sordid money-getting, not apples of gold.”</p>
<p>He was concerned that Booker T. Washington’s “unnecessarily narrow” emphasis on vocational education might come at the expense of this broader education in the arts of freedom. For his part, Washington <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1903/10/the-fruits-of-industrial-training/531030/">felt</a> that inspiration, ideals and “dead languages” were less important than learning “how to apply the knowledge of chemistry to the enrichment of the soil, or to cooking, or to dairying.”</p>
<h2>Are the liberal arts a luxury?</h2>
<p>A similar debate is playing out today in places like West Virginia University. The state’s government and university leadership <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/west-virginia-university-crisis-looms-gop-leaders-focus-102910130">announced in August 2023</a> plans to cut 32 programs, including its entire Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics.</p>
<p>Many faculty and students protest that this move sacrifices a broad civic education and equates a college education with job training.</p>
<p>The governor, university president and legislature have argued that the university’s offerings <a href="https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2023/09/11/gee-addresses-misrepresentations-of-wvu-transformation-work-during-faculty-senate-meeting">“must align majors with future careers.</a>”</p>
<p>Republican Eric Tarr, state Senate finance chair in West Virginia, <a href="https://wvrecord.com/stories/649159606-tarr-west-virginia-doesn-t-need-any-guidance-from-the-aft">explained in an opinion piece</a> written for the West Virginia Record that the goal of the budget decisions is to “provide degrees that lead to jobs.” In other words, to train workers to work, rather than educating citizens in what Du Bois and Cicero would have called “the knowledge of being free.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blaine Greteman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When people hear the term ‘liberal arts,’ it may sound like a phrase with political overtones. A scholar of literature explains why that’s wrong and takes a closer look at its origin and meaning.Blaine Greteman, Professor and Chair of English, University of IowaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2104452023-09-07T20:52:28Z2023-09-07T20:52:28ZHow students are developing solutions to the problem of campus sexual and gender-based violence<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-students-are-developing-solutions-to-the-problem-of-campus-sexual-and-gender-based-violence" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Some universities have <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/some-ontario-universities-pulling-course-info-from-public-sites-for-safety-faculty-want-more-say-1.6540576">removed course information from public websites as part of efforts to</a> prevent and respond to gender-based violence, following the stabbing attack this past summer on June 28 at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-stabbing-attack-at-the-university-of-waterloo-underscores-the-dangers-of-polarizing-rhetoric-about-gender-208904">University of Waterloo</a>.</p>
<p>Police recently added an <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/stabbing-incident-university-waterloo-attempt-murder-1.6947981">additional charge of attempted murder</a> to previous charges faced by a man accused of entering a classroom and stabbing three people in a gender studies class. Police believe the attack <a href="https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/police-say-university-of-waterloo-stabbing-that-sent-three-to-hospital-targeted-gender-issues-class-1.6461829#">was motivated by hate related to gender expression and gender identity</a>.</p>
<p>While institutional responses pertaining to increasing security or surveillance <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/university-of-waterloo-vivek-goel-gender-course-continues-1.6897673">technology</a> are important, we can’t build a wall big enough, or an alarm system sharp enough, to protect students from hate, patriarchy or <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/12/15/7371737/rape-culture-definition">rape culture</a>. </p>
<p>And in some cases, responses like added policing can lead to <a href="https://incite-national.org/2020/06/11/abolitionist-feminist-resources-to-dismantle-policing/">increased violence</a>, especially for <a href="https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/why-policing-and-prisons-cant-end-gender-violence">Black, queer, trans, Indigenous, poor or non-binary people</a>. </p>
<p>As one response to the problem of gender-based violence on campus, a project at Queen’s University is piloting gender-based/sexual violence training that meets students where they’re at — the classroom — and engages them through their field of study.</p>
<h2>Gender-based violence on campus</h2>
<p>The attack at Waterloo is symptomatic of larger issues of sexual and gender-based violence present in society, especially on university <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/tcu-summary-report-student-voices-on-sexual-violence-survey-en-2019-03.pdf">campuses</a>. </p>
<p>Gender-based and sexual violence lies at the intersection of <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/color-of-violence">racism</a>, sexism and homophobia. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/addressing-campus-sexual-violence-new-risk-assessment-tool-can-help-administrators-make-difficult-decisions-199714">Addressing campus sexual violence: New risk assessment tool can help administrators make difficult decisions</a>
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<p>A recent initiative to <a href="https://www.couragetoact.ca">address and prevent gender-based violence</a> on Canadian campuses reports research conducted about <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/85-002-x/2020001/article/00005-eng.pdf?st=IS1xkl8M">post-secondary students in 2019</a> showed 71 per cent of students have either witnessed or experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours in a post-secondary setting. Racialized, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ students are disproportionately <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2017001/article/14842-eng.htm">at risk</a> of sexual assault. </p>
<h2>Prevention strategies matter</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199943494.013.005">Prevention strategies for ending gender-based violence</a> <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d482d9fd8b74f0001c02192/t/62ac86307f9bb400023b8598/1655473740770/Courage+to+Act+Report+2022.pdf">must be rooted in challenging inequities</a> through community mobilization, comprehensive education and structural change. </p>
<p>For many universities, the vision is there, but the road is long. And in the context of limited resources, stretched staff and stressed students, how can anti-violence practitioners reach students, especially those not already engaged in these conversations? </p>
<p>One hurdle is the divide between faculty who have been historically tasked with students’ education and knowledge, and administration, who have been tasked with the welfare of students, including responding to and preventing sexual violence on campus. The project we are involved in brings these approaches together.</p>
<h2>Reaching more students</h2>
<p>Co-authors of this story, Rebecca Rappeport, a sexual violence specialist in <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/sexualviolencesupport/">the Queen’s University Human Rights and Equity Office</a>, and Rebecca Hall, a professor in the department of <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/devs/">global development studies</a>, worked together. We piloted embedding gender-based/sexual violence prevention material into the curricular goals of a global development studies classroom.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-long-fight-against-sexual-assault-and-harassment-at-universities-170258">The long fight against sexual assault and harassment at universities</a>
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<p>Rappeport was invited to lead a one-and-a-half hour workshop during a first-year global development studies class. The workshop focussed on educating students about gender and sexual violence as a <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/722312">social problem</a>, and raising awareness about services available at the university and in the community.</p>
<p>Afterwards, students were asked to engage the analytical tools they were building in the classroom to create proposals addressing this problem. </p>
<p>In keeping with <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/health-risks-safety/trauma-violence-informed-approaches-policy-practice.html">trauma-informed approaches</a> to teaching, students were given advance notice of the collaboration and a “no questions asked” opt-out option with an alternative assignment.</p>
<h2>Engineering students involved</h2>
<p>The workshop framed campus sexual and gender-based violence as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2012/jun/08/wicked-problems">wicked problem</a> — that is, a problem that requires multiple approaches and intersectional and transdisciplinary collaboration. </p>
<p>Framing gender-based and sexual violence as a wicked problem means that the embedded approach lends itself well to most academic departments — not only to departments focused on feminist theory or equity.</p>
<p>Last winter, Rappeport also brought an embedded workshop, similarly with an “opt out” option, to the second-year mechatronics and robotics classroom of engineering professor Joshua Marshall. </p>
<p>Following Rappeport’s workshop in an engineering class, students were asked to apply their emerging disciplinary knowledge to the problem of gender and sexual violence on campus. In groups, students focused on how their engineering knowledge could contribute creative strategies for addressing campus violence.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadian-engineers-call-for-change-to-their-private-iron-ring-ceremony-steeped-in-colonialism-194897">Canadian engineers call for change to their private 'iron ring' ceremony steeped in colonialism</a>
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<h2>Students as agents of change</h2>
<p>The training met students where they’re at (the classroom) and engaged them through their field of study, with incentives: grades. </p>
<p>This form of engagement reached beyond students who tend to be engaged in gender issues, including significantly more male students.</p>
<p>But beyond this practical aim, in embedding the training in classroom learning, we sought to position the <a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-and-colleges-want-to-enrol-more-students-but-where-are-they-supposed-to-live-195624">students as agents of change</a>, rather than solely potential perpetrators, victims or witnesses. </p>
<p>Students are encouraged to consider developing new approaches, technologies and policies to work towards ending gender-based violence: to see themselves as inventors, social scientists and leaders.</p>
<p>Preliminary survey results from the two piloted classes showed a significant increase in students’ self-assessment of their knowledge, and their ability to help solve issues related to sexual violence, linking their discipline to these issues. There was almost 100 per cent participation from both classes with over 300 students.</p>
<h2>Expanding pilot program</h2>
<p>This fall, Rappeport will extend this pilot program with Queen’s engineering, kinesiology and health sciences faculty, with plans for further expansion. </p>
<p>Sexual and gender-based violence can seem like an insurmountable problem, but interdisciplinary thinking encourages creative approaches to social change. Using their own university as a case study allows students to combine their lived experience on campus with classroom knowledge to think through a major social problem. </p>
<p>With this teaching approach, we aim to layer immediate approaches to campus violence with a vision for longer-term structural change. We do so by encouraging students who are often missed in traditional prevention programming to integrate this awareness into their future careers, whether that’s community organizing, writing policy or building robots.</p>
<p><em>Rebecca Rappeport, Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Community Outreach and Student Support Worker at Queen’s University, co-authored this story.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210445/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Hall receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p>Faculty and university staff are embedding training to prevent gender-based and sexual violence into curricular goals of both arts and STEM classes.Rebecca Hall, Assistant Professor, Global Development Studies, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2112912023-08-30T13:38:58Z2023-08-30T13:38:58ZKofi Ansah left Ghana to become a world famous fashion designer - how his return home boosted the industry<p>In the 1950s and 1960s, young Africans were assisted financially by their governments to study in western countries in the hope they would return to contribute to nation <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315623399">building</a>. Individuals who qualified abroad and returned home formed the educated elites of immediate post-independent <a href="https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1374329">Africa</a>. </p>
<p>Over the years, the demography of such migrants has changed to include professionals who after graduation at home move abroad in search of employment and remain there <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.331.7519.780-b">permanently</a>. This loss of human talent and skills – the “brain drain” – is arguably one of Africa’s key developmental <a href="https://suraadiq.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Skills-for-science-systems-in-Africa.pdf">challenges</a>. </p>
<p>The migration of highly skilled professionals such as doctors, nurses, engineers and academics from Africa has serious economic, political and social implications for <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/cef9a0e6f56bf9de0d6683c52c60c2c7/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&c%20bl=2026366&diss=y.">development</a>.</p>
<p>But there is another side to the migration of skilled people. That is “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12198">brain gain</a>” – the return migration of professionals – and “<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/brain-circulation-how-high-skill-immigration-makes-everyone-better-off/">brain circulation</a>” – temporary migration of professionals between countries. This is not well documented, especially in the case of African countries. </p>
<p>This is the gap we sought to fill, using a case study of the late Ghanaian fashion designer, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2236563">Kofi Ansah</a>. </p>
<p>Ansah’s impact on Ghanaian fashion was immense because of the timing and context of his return in 1992. He had built a successful career for 20 years in the UK and the future looked <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2236563">promising</a>. On the other hand, the country he returned to was undergoing profound political and economic transformation. Ghana was transitioning from military rule to a civilian <a href="https://doi.org/10.2979/aft.2010.57.1.24">government</a>. Political tension was high, linked to an economic downturn following <a href="https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1310&context=hcoltheses">structural adjustment programmes</a> adopted in the 1980s. But Ansah chose to relocate his budding career to Ghana. </p>
<p>His case demonstrates how the knowledge and expertise migrants gather through international career mobility can be converted into assets at an individual, national and international level. Returning migrants can transform traditional industries into modern, globalised ones.</p>
<h2>Transforming Ghana’s fashion industry</h2>
<p>We are researchers in sociology, African studies and geography who have been studying how internal and external migration and spatial context influence cultural and creative practice in Ghana. For the Kofi Ansah case study we interviewed 31 Ghanaian fashion designers whose career journeys had been directly and indirectly influenced by him. These interviews are supplemented by information from social media dedicated to Ansah and his works. </p>
<p>Kofi Ansah, who <a href="https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/showbiz/fashion/201405/198235.php">died in 2014</a>, was from a creative family. His elder sister, <a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/felicia-abban-ghanas-first-female-photographer-in-whose-lens-was-nkrumahs-mirror">Felicia Abban</a>, was the official photographer of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president. His elder brother, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030503/">Kwaw Ansah</a>, is an acclaimed film writer, director and producer. </p>
<p>After completing his secondary education, Kofi enrolled in the Chelsea School of Art in the United Kingdom to study fashion design. He made his first fashion headline after he designed a beaded dress for Princess Anne. Subsequently, he worked for several successful British fashion brands, including Gerald Austin and Guy Laroche, before establishing his own studio in central London in 1980. </p>
<p>Despite his early success on the UK fashion scene, Ansah returned to Ghana in 1992 to get fresh inspiration and “try to show people that we can use our fabrics for other things … We just have to work on it and make it commercial,” he explained during an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B_FXwpwJMgV/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">interview</a>. </p>
<p>The way cloth was produced locally, using <a href="https://www.adireafricantextiles.com/textiles-resources-sub-saharan-africa/an-introduction-to-sub-saharan-african-textiles/loom-types-in-sub-saharan-africa/">strip loom</a> technology, limited the volume of production. And the conventional styling of clothes limited their patronage. These were some of the features Ansah sought to change.</p>
<p>Ansah transformed Ghana’s fashion industry in four areas: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Fabrics and design</strong>: His modern designs used African traditional cloth, such as kente and <a href="https://craftatlas.co/crafts/bogolan">bogolanfini</a>. Linked to these style changes was his collaboration with Woodin and the Ghana Textiles Production, two textile producing companies, to introduce the sale of fabric in single yards instead of the standard six yards. This made the cloth more accessible and functional. It led to the production of casual clothes, such as skirts, blouses, shirts, shorts and trousers, for men and women. He then introduced ready-to-wear clothing at Woodin.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Accessories</strong>: Ansah was also passionate about promoting fashion accessories made with local materials. These included wood, raffia and his personal favourite, calabash. His runway designs always included stunning accessories. The use of prominent accessories has now become an integral element of African fashion shows.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Production</strong>: Ansah was instrumental in the introduction of the <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/National-Friday-Wear-Programme-launched-69720">Friday African wear policy</a> in Ghana. This was aimed at promoting the wearing of local bespoke garments in workplaces on Fridays. Ansah used his friendship with then minister for trade and industry, Alan Kyeremanten, to push his idea to democratise and regularise the use of wax print. Ansah also influenced fashion production by employing international marketing strategies like fashion shows and exhibitions. He thus opened Ghanaian fashion to international audiences by using globally accepted techniques.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Human capital</strong>: More importantly, Ansah’s vision to grow a lasting and successful industry propelled him to mentor many of Ghana’s finest contemporary designers. He partnered with international agencies to launch mentorship programmes for young designers. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>One such programme was the <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Roberto-Cavalli-and-Vogue-Italia-Editor-In-Chief-visit-Ghana-and-Nigeria-227092">Web Young Designers Hub</a>, financed by the French Embassy and coordinated by Ansah and <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/franca-sozzani">Franca Sozzani</a>, former editor of Vogue Italia. Another project spearheaded by Ansah was the <a href="https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/">Ethical Fashion Initiative</a>, a partnership between the United Nations and the Presidential Special Initiative programme. These programmes and the exposure that came with them positioned contemporary designers to engage in “brain circulation.”</p>
<p>By participating in projects, young designers had the opportunity to travel to other countries and learn about aspects of fashion such as fabric production and event organisation. Such travel was geared towards acquiring knowledge that would have an impact on Ghana’s fashion industry. </p>
<p>These engagements helped young fashion designers build networks with designers across the globe. </p>
<h2>Ansah’s impact</h2>
<p>The Ghanaian fashion industry is making its mark <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/51163/1/9781003148340_oachapter1.pdf">globally</a>. <a href="https://instagram.com/steviefrenchie?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">Steve French</a> and other young designers are recognised for their creative works and talents. Garments made by Ghanaian designers like <a href="https://www.duabaserwastudios.com/">Duaba Serwaa</a> and <a href="https://christiebrownonline.com/en-gh">Christie Brown</a> are worn by stars such as Lupita Nyongo and Beyonce respectively. Young Ghanaians, too, proudly wear African clothes for all occasions. The current status of Ghana’s fashion industry is largely due to the efforts of Kofi Ansah.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie received funding from the Danish Foreign Ministry (DANIDA) for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Akosua Keseboa Darkwah received funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark grant number 18-05-CBS, Advancing Creative Industries for Development in Ghana for this study. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine V. Gough received funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark grant number 18-05-CBS, Advancing Creative Industries for Development in Ghana, for this study.</span></em></p>International career mobility can give people valuable knowledge and expertise to be used in their home country.Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie, Research Fellow, Center for Cultural and African Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of GhanaKatherine V. Gough, Professor of Human Geography, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2044372023-05-31T14:06:19Z2023-05-31T14:06:19ZAI can replicate human creativity in two key ways – but falls apart when asked to produce something truly new<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529045/original/file-20230530-29-pk0w64.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C4%2C1010%2C1018&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 'Portrait of Edmond de Bellamy' was produced by a generative adversarial network that was fed a data set of 15,000 portraits spanning six centuries. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://picryl.com/media/edmond-de-belamy-5c44d6">Christies/Picril</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Is computational creativity possible? The recent hype around generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, Dall-E and many others, raises new questions about whether creativity is a uniquely human skill. Some recent and remarkable milestones of generative AI foster this question:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>An AI artwork, <em><a href="https://www.christies.com/features/A-collaboration-between-two-artists-one-human-one-a-machine-9332-1.aspx">The Portrait of Edmond de Belamy</a></em>, sold for $432,500, nearly 45 times its high estimate, by the auction house Christie’s in 2018. The artwork was created by a generative adversarial network that was fed a data set of 15,000 portraits covering six centuries.</p></li>
<li><p>Music producers such as Grammy-nominee <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/01/30/grammy-nominee-alex-da-kid-creates-hit-record-using-machine-learning/?sh=e573c462cf9a">Alex Da Kid</a>, have collaborated with AI (in this case IBM’s Watson) to churn out hits and inform their creative process.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In the cases above, a human is still at the helm, curating the AI’s output according to their own vision and thereby retaining the authorship of the piece. Yet, AI image generator Dall-E, for example, can produce novel output on any theme you wish within seconds. Through diffusion, whereby huge datasets are scraped together to train the AI, generative AI tools can now transpose written phrases into novel pictures or improvise music in the style of any composer, devising new content that resembles the training data but isn’t identical. Authorship in this case is perhaps more complex. Is it the algorithm? The thousands of artists whose work has been scraped to produce the image? The prompter who successfully describes the style, reference, subject matter, lighting, point of view and even emotion evoked? To answer these questions, we must return to an age-old question.</p>
<h2>What is creativity?</h2>
<p>According to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0004-3702(98)00055-1">Margaret Boden</a>, there are three types of creativity: combinational, exploratory, and transformational creativity. Combinational creativity combines familiar ideas together. Exploratory creativity generates new ideas by exploring ‘structured conceptual spaces,’ that is, tweaking an accepted style of thinking by exploring its contents, boundaries and potential. Both of these types of creativity are not a million miles from generative AI’s algorithmic production of art; creating novel works in the same style as millions of others in the training data, a ‘synthetic creativity.’ Transformational creativity, however, means generating ideas beyond existing structures and styles to create something entirely original; this is at the heart of current debates around AI in terms of fair use and copyright – very much unchartered legal waters, so we will have to wait and see what the courts decide.</p>
<p>The key characteristic of AI’s creative processes is that the current computational creativity is systematic, not impulsive, as its human counterpart can often be. It is programmed to process information in a certain way to achieve particular results predictably, albeit in often unexpected ways. In fact, this is perhaps the most significant difference between artists and AI: while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2014.997272">artists are self- and product-driven</a>, AI is very much consumer-centric and market-driven – we only get the art we ask for, which is not perhaps, what we need.</p>
<p>So far, generative AI seems to work best with human partners and, perhaps then, the synthetic creativity of the AI is a catalyst to push our human creativity, augmenting human creativity rather than producing it. As is often the case, the hype around these tools as disruptive forces outstrips the reality. In fact, art history shows us that technology has rarely directly displaced humans from work they wanted to do. Think of the camera, for example, which was feared due to its power to put portrait painters out of business. What are the business implications for the use of synthetic creativity by AI, then?</p>
<h2>Synthetic art for business</h2>
<p>Synthetic creativity on demand, as currently generated by AI, is certainly a boon to business and marketing. Recent examples include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>AI-enhanced advertising: <a href="https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/it-s-so-pleasurable-to-take-the-time">Ogilvy Paris used Dall-E to create an AI version of Vermeer’s <em>The Milkmaid</em> for Nestle yoghurts</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>AI-designed furniture: <a href="https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-rejects-conservative-human-views-on-furniture-designs-wacky-chair">Kartell, Philippe Starck and Autodesk collaborated with AI to create the first chair designed using AI</a> for sustainable manufacturing.</p></li>
<li><p>AI-augmented fashion styling: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/09/businesses-including-stitch-fix-are-already-experimenting-with-dall-e-2/">Stitch Fix utilised AI</a> to capture personalised visualisations of clothing based on requested customer preferences such as colour, fabric and style.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The potential use scenarios are endless and what they require is another form of creativity: curation. AI has been known to <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/google-exec-warns-of-ai-chatbot-hallucinations/444842">‘hallucinate’</a> – an industry term for spewing nonsense – and the decidedly human skill required is in sense-making, that is expressing concepts, ideas and truths, rather than just something that is pleasing to the senses. <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003021766-7/marketing-arts-age-curatorial-production-matthew-waters">Curation</a>] is therefore needed to select and frame, or reframe, a unified and compelling vision.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204437/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>AI is starting to make us doubt whether humans have a monopoly on creativity. Two scholars argue AI’s use scenarios may be endless but that they require another form of creativity: curation.Chloe Preece, Associate Professor in Marketing, ESCP Business SchoolHafize Çelik, PhD candidate in management, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2029112023-05-10T09:35:27Z2023-05-10T09:35:27Z‘Leeds 2023’: can investment in culture improve a city’s health? Yes, but more ambition is needed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521627/original/file-20230418-18-5gxjql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5431%2C3596&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The city of Leeds under a rainbow. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/RprQpxsVFNI">Lison Zhao/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With an ageing population, NHS England waiting lists are shockingly high. Amid a national mental health crisis, it makes sense to look for creative solutions. </p>
<p>There is a growing interest in the value of arts and culture in supporting health and wellbeing. For example, the government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/29-million-know-your-neighbourhood-fund-confirmed">Know Your Neighbourhood Fund</a>, aimed at tackling loneliness, has earmarked £5 million to expand arts, culture and heritage activities across 27 target areas.</p>
<p>At the <a href="https://www.culturalvalue.org.uk/">Centre for Cultural Value</a>, we have spent the past two years <a href="https://www.culturehive.co.uk/CVIresources/culture-health-and-wellbeing/">exploring research</a> to learn about the impact of culture on health and wellbeing. The evidence in this area has grown significantly over the past ten years. For example, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17533015.2017.1370718#:%7E:text=A%20thematic%20synthesis%20revealed%20four,Immersion%20%E2%80%9Cin%20the%20moment%E2%80%9D.">studies show</a> the positive benefits of music for people living with dementia. </p>
<p>Research also highlights the role of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17533015.2017.1334002">social prescribing through the arts</a> in supporting those with mental health challenges and the value of being creative in our everyday lives (<a href="https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ctra-2022-0012">including during COVID lockdowns</a>).</p>
<p>Yet our deep dive has also highlighted the many things we still don’t know about culture’s role and potential in creating a happier, healthier society.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Leeds's popular market pictured in the sunshine." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521629/original/file-20230418-24-2xc040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leeds indoor market is a popular visitor attraction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ey468RPxefA">Korng Sok/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researcher understanding to date has been partly limited by the short-term nature of many studies. This is particularly evident in social prescribing, where the small number of follow-up studies make it difficult to identify long-term impacts for increasing wellbeing or, for example, reducing GP visits.</p>
<p>The struggle of evaluation is exacerbated by the fact that health and wellbeing programmes are often funded on a project-to-project basis.</p>
<p>Another challenge is that there are several invested parties – the cultural sector, the health sector, people with mental health challenges and local authorities, to name a few. </p>
<p>Each has different perspectives on what constitutes “good” methods and evidence. This has resulted in an apparent postcode lottery for what does and doesn’t get commissioned by the NHS.</p>
<h2>Scaling understanding</h2>
<p>While working with the innovative orchestra, <a href="https://manchestercamerata.co.uk/">Manchester Camerata</a>, I had experienced how music can provide poignant moments of play and creativity for people living with the challenges associated with dementia. </p>
<p>I had also seen how young children and their families can experience wonder and joy when engaging with museums while working with <a href="https://twitter.com/CliftonParkMus/status/1578340293002559494">Rotherham Museums and Archives</a>.</p>
<p>But I still had questions about how we understand these “in the moment” experiences – which can be fleeting yet profound – and how to draw out broader lessons from complex, personal events so that governments can roll out and scale up successful interventions.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8DyX4hf2_qg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Advertisment for LEEDS 2023.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One answer lies in developing a better understanding over a longer term. Another is for researchers to use innovative methods, giving space for statistical data and trend analysis alongside the experiences of a diverse range of participants. </p>
<p>This type of research is emerging through groups such as the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology-health-care/research/behavioural-science-and-health/research/social-biobehavioural-research-group">Social Biobehavioural Research group</a> at University College London and the <a href="https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/who-we-are/lens">Lived Experience Network</a>.</p>
<p>These considerations will inform our research work for <a href="https://leeds2023.co.uk/">LEEDS 2023</a> – a year-long cultural programme undertaken by the city when Brexit derailed its bid to become the European Capital of Culture. The programme launched amid a cost of living crisis, leading to questions about whether this was the right time to dedicate resources to a large cultural event.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Shops inside the round Leeds Corn Exchange building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521631/original/file-20230418-28-5n1164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inside the Leeds Corn Exchange.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/IHyfqdRpxd8">Korng Sok/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More answers will emerge through our economic analysis of the programme. <a href="https://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/OECD-G20-Culture-July-2021.pdf">Previous studies show</a> that the creative and cultural sectors can be powerful drivers of innovation, job creation and economic growth. Although the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-64797580">Coventry City of Culture Trust going into administration</a> shows this is not always a straightforward process.</p>
<p>However, alongside our partners at <a href="https://www.theaudienceagency.org/">The Audience Agency</a>, we will focus on drawing out arguably the more difficult-to-quantify social impacts. </p>
<p>Building on the evaluation of other cities of culture programmes, including <a href="https://coventry2021.co.uk/about/monitoring-and-evaluation/">Coventry 2021</a> and <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/research/institutes/culture-place-and-policy-institute/cultural-transformations/preliminary-outcomes-evaluation">Hull 2017</a>, we plan to gather robust, people-centred data on health and wellbeing, which can be used to inform future large-scale cultural programmes, such as <a href="https://bradford2025.co.uk/">Bradford 2025</a>.</p>
<h2>Capturing complexity: the next steps</h2>
<p>Capturing and conveying the nuanced value of culture in health and wellbeing is complex, but not impossible. Our work shows that it needs a more ambitious, joined-up and long-term approach.</p>
<p>This partly means shifting away from short-term funding models, where small pots of money are available for time-limited projects. Instead, there needs to be more investment in both long-term programmes and rigorous mixed methods research. This will mean researchers can learn from successes and failures and continue to build a robust evidence base.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A yellow water taxi boat on the Leeds canal." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521630/original/file-20230418-20-dsvzqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521630/original/file-20230418-20-dsvzqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521630/original/file-20230418-20-dsvzqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521630/original/file-20230418-20-dsvzqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521630/original/file-20230418-20-dsvzqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521630/original/file-20230418-20-dsvzqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521630/original/file-20230418-20-dsvzqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A water taxi on Leeds’s River Aire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/MgpnLIOcXQM">Tim Lumley/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To ensure future policies and funding are grounded in reality, funders, policymakers and researchers must also be mindful of the context (for example, the cost of living crisis) and recognise the knowledge and expertise held on the ground. The voices of cultural organisations, creative practitioners and people with health and wellbeing challenges must all be heard.</p>
<p>Faced with a strained healthcare service and limited resources, making the case for investing in culture and research can be difficult. Yet we must now be more ambitious and rigorous precisely because we need to find out more about which types of programmes – in which contexts – have the most to offer.</p>
<p>After all, arts and culture have enormous potential to complement traditional medical treatments and could even, in some cases, provide a safer and more cost-effective <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-plan-gps-help-millions-stop-using-antidepressants-painkillers-728xzsqwc">alternative to prescription drugs</a>. They can also provide powerful moments of joy, connection and wonder – at a time when people need them most.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Dowlen receives funding from the National Institute for Health Research (School for Social Care Research) and the Economic and Social Research Council. Robyn is part of the team at the Centre for Cultural Value who are evaluating the Leeds 2023 year of culture. </span></em></p>At the Centre for Cultural Value, we have spent the past two years exploring research to learn about the impact of culture on health and wellbeing.Robyn Dowlen, Research Associate, Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049342023-05-05T14:51:21Z2023-05-05T14:51:21ZEurovision: even before the singing starts, the contest is a fascinating reflection of international rules and politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524394/original/file-20230504-29-itqkkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=177%2C53%2C3763%2C2593&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Eurovision bandwagon has firmly arrived in Liverpool. During a week of two semi-finals, 37 competing countries will be whittled down to 26. Around 160 million people are then expected to tune in to the grand final on Saturday May 13. From humble beginnings in 1956, with only <a href="https://eurovision.tv/event/lugano-1956">seven countries competing in a theatre in Switzerland</a>, the contest is now one of the most watched entertainment events in the world.</p>
<p>And yet there remains some confusion about what counts as “Europe” in the context of Eurovision. Clarity on this point can, however, be found by understanding a little bit about the rules and practices of international politics. And along the way, the process of deciding who is in and who is out – and what the rules are for those who do compete – is an interesting reflection of international law. </p>
<h2>A different kind of union</h2>
<p>Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest reflects a basic principle of the international legal order: sovereignty matters. Being a state in this context counts for more than being physically located in Europe.</p>
<p>The actual participants in Eurovision are the TV broadcasters who are members of the <a href="https://www.ebu.ch/home">European Broadcasting Union (EBU)</a>, an international organisation which is open to membership from across the European Broadcasting Area. This area includes North Africa and the Middle East. Israel, which has won four times, has <a href="https://eurovision.tv/country/israel">participated since 1973</a> on this basis. Morocco <a href="https://eurovision.tv/country/morocco">participated once</a>, in 1980, but has not returned. </p>
<p>Other states come and go, often depending on budgetary constraints (hence the absence of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63276833">Montenegro and North Macedonia</a> this year), lack of national interest or success in previous contests (Andorra, Monaco, Slovakia), <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/eurovision-2019-why-turkey-doesnt-participate">objections to the voting principles</a> (Turkey) or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/nov/27/hungary-pulls-out-of-eurovision-amid-rise-in-anti-lgbt-rhetoric#:%7E:text=Hungary%20pulls%20out%20of%20Eurovision%20amid%20rise%20in%20anti%2DLGBTQ%2B%20rhetoric,-This%20article%20is&text=Hungary%20will%20not%20participate%20in,government%20and%20public%20media%20bosses.">rumoured discontent with the growth of LGBT+ visibility in the contest</a> (Hungary). Broadcasters from <a href="https://www.ebu.ch/news/2021/05/ebu-executive-board-agrees-to-suspension-of-belarus-member-btrc">Belarus</a> and <a href="https://www.ebu.ch/news/2022/03/statement-on-russian-members">Russia</a> were expelled from the EBU in 2021 and 2022 and are ineligible to complete. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43087349">Kosovo</a> is also keen to participate. While Kosovo’s statehood is recognised by a majority of European countries, it is not a full member of the EBU. EBU membership requires a country to be a member of the <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/Pages/default.aspx">International Telecommunications Union (ITU)</a>, which in turn requires UN membership (which Kosovo does not yet have).</p>
<p>As in international law, where the permanent members of the UN Security Council have a veto power, some states are more equal than others. Eurovision rules apply differently to the largest financial contributors to the contest – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – who, along with the previous winner, qualify directly for the final and do not risk elimination in the semi-finals. This sounds like an unfair advantage, but did not help France’s Alvan and Ahez or Germany’s Malik Harris (2022), the UK’s James Newman (2021), Germany’s Jenrik or Spain’s Blas Canto (2021) from finishing bottom of the pile.</p>
<p>You might also ask why Australia is competing. Due to long-term viewing figures of the contest down under, and the occasional Australian participant (often for the UK, including <a href="https://eurovision.tv/participant/olivia-newton-john">Olivia Newton-John</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooh_Aah..._Just_a_Little_Bit">Gina G</a>), Australia – or technically the Australian broadcaster SBS – was invited as a special guest to the 2015 contest in Vienna. It was then invited to compete on a five-year contract running from 2018 to 2023. As in international law, sometimes the rules can be stretched.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WAGP2yOtyxY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The full line up of countries taking part in 2023.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Eurovision is often wrongly assumed to be a product of the EU. Not only did the first Eurovision in 1956 pre-date the creation European Economic Community by a year, but membership of the EBU is neither required nor expected of EU members.</p>
<p>The concept of European integration has provided some inspiration for the songs – most notably Italy’s 1990 winner <a href="https://eurovision.tv/participant/toto-cutugno">Insieme: 1992</a> (Together: 1992). That was a contest held in Zagreb, in what was then Yugoslavia – the only socialist country to take part during the cold war years.</p>
<p>The Irish hosts in Dublin in 1988 worked with the European Commission to show an interval video tour around Europe to promote intra-European tourism. (This show was also notable for showing a clip of eventual winner Céline Dion <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6b7BHGkKQA">inspecting a potato field</a>). Brexit, despite the <a href="https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/58535/eurovision-song-contest">efforts of a lone MP in the House of Commons</a>, does not mean the UK must stop competing. Nor does it mean the UK is doomed to failure – as Sam Ryder’s overall second place (and <a href="https://eurovision.tv/event/turin-2022/grand-final/results/united-kingdom">winner of the jury vote</a> for the UK in 2022 shows. Customary practice – also very important in international law – means that the winner is given the opportunity to host the subsequent contest, but not always. The BBC was invited to host instead of Ukraine this year.</p>
<h2>An international rules-based system</h2>
<p>Eurovision is also a pretty good example of how rules operate in international partnerships. Some are fixed and permanent, while others need or are allowed to evolve. Sanctions are sometimes needed and often difficult to decide upon. </p>
<p>Rules about the staging of Eurovision entries – original song not previously released, maximum six people on stage – are strictly enforced and do change over time. But since 1999, entries no longer have to be in an official language of the country, and some limited pre-recorded backing vocals are allowed.</p>
<p>A rule that does occasionally cause headaches for the EBU is the ineligibility of “political” songs. Georgia’s 2009 entry <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-georgia-eurovision/georgia-pulls-out-of-eurovision-over-put-in-song-idUKTRE52A4S920090311">We Don’t Want to Put In</a> was not allowed because it was ruled as alluding to then Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin – though Israel had successfully entered a thinly-veiled rap <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6405457.stm">about the (then) leader of Iran</a> two years previously. </p>
<p>Ukraine’s Jamala won in 2016 with a song called <a href="https://time.com/4329061/eurovision-jamala-russian-ukraine-crimea/">1944</a> about the deportation of the Crimean Tartars during World War II and a highly successful previous Ukrainian act, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/8-times-ukraines-eurovision-entry-got-political/">Verka Serduchka</a>, was accused by the Russian delegation of actually singing <a href="https://youtu.be/hfjHJneVonE?t=76">“Russia, goodbye”</a> in the lyrics to the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai in 2007.</p>
<p>Policing the boundaries between what is said, and what is implied, is a difficult task. This year, <a href="https://eurovision.tv/participant/let-3-2023">Croatia’s entry is sung in Croatian</a>, but the meaning of lyrics such as repeated use of the word “armagedonona” is not difficult to guess.</p>
<p><a href="https://eurovision.tv/participant/teya-and-salena-2023">Austria</a> is tackling the topic of the lack of representation of women in the music industry and low amounts of money provided by streaming services to artists and songwriters with its lyrics “0.003, give me two years and your dinner will be free”. </p>
<p>Whole <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720260/wild-dances-by-william-lee-adams/">books</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1354066116633278">academic articles</a> can be written on how Eurovision has led to primetime LGBT+ visibility – itself a hotly contested political topic across many states in Europe – most notably via <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/dana-internationals-lasting-eurovision-legacy">the victories of Dana International (Israel, 1998) and Conchita Wurst (Austria, 2004)</a>.</p>
<p>Love it or hate it, Eurovision has cemented itself as part of the cultural landscape of the continent and beyond. But more than that, it helps us understand both the complexity of the international and European legal orders, the interpretation and application of rules, and the ever presence of politics. As France memorably sang in 1991, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESL6deuhJM"><em>C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison</em></a> (It’s the last to have spoken who is right).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204934/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Let’s get one thing straight from the get-go: this contest is way older than the European Union.Paul James Cardwell, Professor of Law, King's College LondonJed Odermatt, Senior Lecturer, City Law School, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2001452023-03-20T17:26:21Z2023-03-20T17:26:21ZInteractive cinema: how films could alter plotlines in real time by responding to viewers’ emotions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514508/original/file-20230309-24-nzv160.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C144%2C5969%2C3760&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A sentinel droid features in the film Before We Disappear.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AlbinoMosquito Productions Ltd</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most films offer exactly the same viewing experience. You sit down, the film starts, the plot unfolds and you follow what’s happening on screen until the story concludes. It’s a linear experience. My new film, <a href="http://www.albinomosquito.com/before-we-disappear/">Before We Disappear</a> – about a pair of climate activists who seek revenge on corporate perpetrators of global warming – seeks to alter that viewing experience.</p>
<p>What makes my film different is that it adapts the story to fit the viewer’s emotional response. Through the use of a computer camera and software, the film effectively watches the audience as they view footage of climate disasters. Viewers are implicitly asked to choose a side. </p>
<p>I chose to use this technology to make a film about the climate crisis to get people to really think about what they are willing to sacrifice for a survivable future. </p>
<p>Storytelling has always been interactive: traditional oral storytellers would interact and respond to their listeners. For almost a century, film directors have been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_cinema">experimenting with interactivity</a> – the past decade has seen an explosion of interactive content.</p>
<p>Streaming services give viewers the opportunity to choose their own adventure. However, letting the viewer control the action has long posed a challenge: it’s at odds with narrative immersion, where the viewer is drawn into the world created by the story.</p>
<p>One of the most prominent recent experiments in interactive film, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror:_Bandersnatch">Netflix’s Bandersnatch</a>, clearly illustrates this. Here the action stops to ask the user what to do next – breaking the flow of the story and actively involving the viewer. Solving this issue of breaking the immersive experience remains a key question for artists exploring interactive film.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Still from Before We Disappear" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514458/original/file-20230309-1353-ri9b9d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C3409%2C1426&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514458/original/file-20230309-1353-ri9b9d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514458/original/file-20230309-1353-ri9b9d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514458/original/file-20230309-1353-ri9b9d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514458/original/file-20230309-1353-ri9b9d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514458/original/file-20230309-1353-ri9b9d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514458/original/file-20230309-1353-ri9b9d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Before We Disappear uses emotional cues from the viewer to edit the film in real time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AlbinoMosquito Productions Ltd</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The films I create and direct take a different route, leveraging non-conscious control to influence a film as the audience watches. My previous <a href="http://braincontrolledmovie.co.uk/">brain-controlled</a> films, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7853742/">The Moment (2018)</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8072006/">The Disadvantages of Time Travel (2014)</a>, used brain computer interfaces (BCIs). These systems use computers to <a href="https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/980302/scanners-exploring-the-control-of-adaptive-films-using-brain-computer-interaction">analyse electrical signals from the brain</a>, allowing people to effectively control a device with their minds.</p>
<p>Using this data from the brain, audiences <a href="https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/index.php/output/1468705/from-directors-cut-to-users-cut-to-watch-a-brain-controlled-film-is-to-edit-it">create a non-conscious edit</a> of the film in real time – reinforcing the films’ respective stories of science-fiction dystopia and a wandering, daydreaming mind. </p>
<p>However, the BCI interface requires specialised equipment. For Before We Disappear, I wanted to use a technology more readily available to audiences, that could allow films to be shared over the internet.</p>
<h2>Controlling the narrative</h2>
<p>Before We Disappear uses an ordinary computer camera to read emotional cues and instruct the real-time edit of the film. To make this work, we needed a good understanding of how people react to films. </p>
<p>We ran several <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3290607.3312814">studies</a> <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3290605.3300378">exploring the emotions</a> filmmakers intend to evoke and how viewers visually present emotion when watching. By using computer vision and machine learning techniques from our partner <a href="https://www.blueskeye.com/">BlueSkeye AI</a>, we analysed viewers’ facial emotions and reactions to film clips and developed several algorithms to leverage that data to control a narrative.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Behind the scenes of filming Before We Disappear" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514714/original/file-20230310-16-8iwpo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514714/original/file-20230310-16-8iwpo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514714/original/file-20230310-16-8iwpo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514714/original/file-20230310-16-8iwpo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514714/original/file-20230310-16-8iwpo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514714/original/file-20230310-16-8iwpo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514714/original/file-20230310-16-8iwpo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Behind the scenes of filming Before We Disappear.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AlbinoMosquito Productions Ltd</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While we observed that audiences tend not to extensively emote when watching a film, BlueSkeye’s face and emotion analysis tools are sensitive enough to pick up enough small variations and emotional cues to adapt the film to viewer reactions. </p>
<p>The analysis software measures facial muscle movement along with the strength of emotional arousal – essentially how emotional a viewer feels in a particular moment. The software also evaluates the positivity or negativity of the emotion – something we call “<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00261/full">valence</a>”. </p>
<p>We are experimenting with various algorithms where this arousal and valence data contributes to real-time edit decisions, which causes the story to reconfigure itself. The first scene acts as a baseline, which the next scene is measured against. Depending on the response, the narrative will become one of around 500 possible edits. In Before We Disappear, I use a non-linear narrative which offers the audience different endings and emotional journeys. </p>
<h2>Emotional journey</h2>
<p>I see interactive technology as a way of expanding the filmmaker’s toolkit, to further tell a story and allow the film to adapt to an individual viewer, challenging and distributing the power of the director. </p>
<p>However, emotional responses could be misused or have unforeseen consequences. It is not hard to imagine an online system showing only content eliciting positive emotions from the user. This could be used to create an echo chamber – where people only see content that matches the preferences they already have. </p>
<p>Or it could be used for propaganda. We saw in the Cambridge Analytica scandal how <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal">large amounts of personal information</a> were collected from Facebook and used for political advertising. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514727/original/file-20230310-22-fdoxib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514727/original/file-20230310-22-fdoxib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514727/original/file-20230310-22-fdoxib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514727/original/file-20230310-22-fdoxib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514727/original/file-20230310-22-fdoxib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514727/original/file-20230310-22-fdoxib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514727/original/file-20230310-22-fdoxib.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The new film explores solutions to the climate crisis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AlbinoMosquito Productions Ltd</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348325526_Brain-controlled_cinematic_interactions">research</a> aims to generate conversation about how users’ emotion data can be used responsibly with informed consent, while allowing users to control their own personal information. In our system, the data is analysed on the users’ device, rather than, say, the cloud.</p>
<h2>Big business, big responsibility</h2>
<p>Non-conscious interaction is big business. Platforms such as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/algorithms-take-over-youtube-s-recommendations-highlight-human-problem-n867596">TikTok</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/algorithms-take-over-youtube-s-recommendations-highlight-human-problem-n867596">YouTube</a> use analysis of users’ past interactions on the platforms to influence the new content they see there. Users are not always aware of what personal information is being created or stored, nor can they influence what algorithms will present to them next. </p>
<p>It’s important to create a system where audiences’ data is not stored. Video of the viewer or facial expression data should not be uploaded or analysed anywhere but on the player device. We plan to release the film as an interactive app, incorporating an awareness of potential abuse of the user’s data, and safeguarding any personal data on the device used to watch it.</p>
<p>Adaptive films offer an alternative to traditional “choose-your-own-adventure” storytelling. When the story can change based on the audiences’ unconscious responses rather than intentional interaction, their focus can be kept in the story.</p>
<p>This means they can enjoy a more personalised experience of the film. Turns out the old traditions of storytelling may still have much to teach us in the 21st century.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Ramchurn is a director of AlbinoMosquito Productions Ltd, and also receives funding from the Arts Council England and EPSRC. </span></em></p>A new film changes its story based on the emotions expressed by the viewer.Richard Ramchurn, Assistant researcher, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008702023-03-20T16:17:56Z2023-03-20T16:17:56ZBallet dancers in sensor suits: new research explores how dance is used as a form of communication<p>Audio guides, maps, traditional and interactive texts help people attending art exhibitions to understand the works in front of them. With dance, however, the audience’s understanding is usually taken for granted.</p>
<p>It’s assumed they will make sense of a performance thanks to the synopsis included in programmes, or reviews published in newspapers and magazines. These supporting materials are optional and do not work during performance. However, the English National Ballet (ENB), for example, has produced <a href="https://www.ballet.org.uk/production/my-first-ballet-sleeping-beauty/">versions of classical ballets for young audiences</a> where dancers perform a shortened version of a well-known classical ballet while a narrator recites the story.</p>
<p>But words cannot translate everything dance expresses. Verbal and movement-based communication can convey similar meanings, but they do so in very different ways. Whereas verbal language is immediately understood, the language of dance can be lost to a general audience.</p>
<p>So how can dance performances become a more accessible source of cultural and social information for people who are not specialists?</p>
<h2>Detecting communication</h2>
<p>Our research group focuses on <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Kinesemiotics-Modelling-How-Choreographed-Movement-Means-in-Space/Maiorani/p/book/9780367641009">Kinesemiotics</a>, the study of meaning made by movement, an area we are developing. Our project, called <a href="https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/fb-10/forschung/institute/bitt/forschung-und-lehre/multimodalitaetsforschung-in-bremen/projekte/kinesemiotic-body">The Knesemiotic Body</a>, is carried out at Loughborough University in collaboration with researchers at the University of Bremen and the ENB.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315621180-9/making-meaning-movement-functional-grammar-dance-movement-arianna-maiorani">The Functional Grammar of Dance</a> (FGD) explains how body parts create meaning by interacting with the space and the people surrounding dancers in a performance. We used it to annotate and interpret data collected from live dance rehearsals.</p>
<p>The FGD draws on linguistics and semiotic theories (how people communicate through signs) and is based on “projections”. Projections are the trajectories designed by dancers when extending their body parts towards meaningful portions of the performance space.</p>
<p>Projections connect extended body parts to surrounding people or objects, creating a meaningful visual interaction. Imagine a dancer moving towards a lake, painted on the backdrop of a stage. They extend an arm forward towards the lake and a leg backwards towards a stage prop representing a shed. That extended arm will mean “going to lake” while the leg will mean “coming from shed”.</p>
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<img alt="Junor Souza and Rebecca Blenkinsop wear the black strappy sensors while dancing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">English National Ballet’s Junor Souza and Rebecca Blenkinsop wearing special movement sensors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M Zecca / Kinesemiotic Body website</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Projections can also be directed to the audience creating an “involving” effect. This is achieved, for example, when a dancer extends their arms towards the audience while facing them with their face and torso. This looks as if they are addressing them directly, acknowledging their presence and breaking the invisible wall between them.</p>
<p>Projections are like speech bubbles made by movement. Our research captured them through sensor suits that dancers wear during our data collection and we decoded them using the FGD. When we annotate the data produced by the suits, we basically fill those speech bubbles with meaning that people can understand without having background knowledge of dance. Our recordings and annotations capture not only movements, but also the intended meaning behind them.</p>
<p>During our sessions, we worked with two pairs of fantastic dancers: Junor Souza and Rebecca Blenkinsop from the ENB, and school graduates Elizabeth Riley and Jamie Constance.</p>
<p>We have achieved interesting results. By annotating choreography with our system, it is possible to discover patterns of movement-based communication. These patterns may not be immediately visible to the naked eye, but clearly inform the message the audience perceives.</p>
<p>We also found out that it is possible to study how movement patterns work in relation to costumes, which is especially interesting when choreographers experiment with innovative clothing and props. </p>
<p>For example, we worked on the effects of movement combined with elastic cloth that covered a dancer’s body almost entirely. This highlighted how a particular type of costume choice would impact on the expressive potential of movement.</p>
<p>Our data also highlighted how dancers playing the same role can create different versions of the same character according to variations they make in performing projections. For example, one dancer might decide to engage more with the audience than another by performing more projections that directly address the viewers.</p>
<p>We can also check how a dancer manages physical balance during a performance in relation to these projections, which is particularly clear in their legwork and footwork. This type of information can be particularly helpful for physical rehabilitation. </p>
<p>An injury can deeply affect a dancer’s or an athlete’s ability to manage body balance and our annotation highlighted the specific choices a dancer makes when managing it. The information provided by our data annotation can therefore provide valuable information on how a dancer works towards recovery. </p>
<p>In future our work will look at whether specific projections can help audiences with different degrees of familiarity with dance to engage with a dance performance more easily.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arianna Maiorani receives funding from AHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chun Liu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The language of dance is often lost on a general audience. Now new research has used sensor suits to discover patterns of movement-based communication in ballet performance.Arianna Maiorani, Reader in Linguistics and Multimodality, Loughborough UniversityChun Liu, Research Associate, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1951682023-01-17T06:07:51Z2023-01-17T06:07:51ZHow British theatre censorship laws have inadvertently created a rich archive of Black history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504279/original/file-20230112-4958-yt3ml2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C17%2C1887%2C1080&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Readers reports, scripts and selected photographs. From top left Garland Anderson, Una Marson and Isabel Cooley who appeared in the ethnic Players Theatre Guild productions of Anna Lucasta.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/mar-03-1953-most-beautiful-coloured-girl-inthe-world-isabel-cooley-image69281621.html?imageid=B89ADC0C-A289-41BF-BF55-E2C989696B45&p=90011&pn=1&searchId=9da17d758e564386a7f90b532e54a30f&searchtype=0">Alamy/Fair Use/Creative Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In an age of so-called “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/08/sajid-javid-voices-cancel-culture-concerns-as-blasphemous-film-pulled-from-uk-cinemas">cancel culture</a>” it’s important to remember that for much of British history it was the state, not the masses, who censored the work of artists. </p>
<p>Between 1737 and 1968 British theatre censorship laws required theatre managers to submit new plays intended for the professional stage to the <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/lord-chamberlains-plays">Lord Chamberlain’s Office</a> for examination and licensing. This was necessary under the Stage Licensing Act of 1737 and the Theatres Act of 1843.</p>
<p>In essence, this meant that the government collected, monitored and frequently censored new dramas. In this way, the licensing of plays has inadvertently produced an extensive historical archive of surveillance and censorship. This includes records of early Black theatre-making, at a time when the British state did not routinely collect and preserve the work of Black playwrights. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/lord-chamberlains-plays">The Lord Chamberlain Play’s Collection</a>, held at the British Library, contains theatre manuscripts as well as play readers reports and correspondence between theatre managers and the Lord Chamberlain’s officers which document the decision-making of the censor. While some plays were approved without a license, dramas containing blasphemous or obscene language and scenes of a sexual nature had the offending passages removed. Others were denied a license altogether. </p>
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<p>The collection includes a number of plays by Black theatre makers that were well known in their time but have since fallen into obscurity. These include <a href="https://blogs.bl.uk/americas/writing/">At What a Price</a>, written in 1932 by <a href="https://www.bl.uk/people/una-marson">Una Marson</a>, the BBC broadcaster, poet, playwright and anti-racist activist who moved from Jamaica to London in the 1930s. The play explores women’s desires for love and for a career, as well as interracial relations, sexual harassment in the workplace and women’s friendships. </p>
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<p><em><a href="https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=lcp_corr_1947!8317_f001r">Lord Chamberlain’s correspondence file for the play Anna Lucasta</a></em></p>
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<p>The archive also holds a copy of <a href="https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_66703_M&index=2">Appearances</a>, a courtroom drama written in 1925 by African American entrepreneur Garland Anderson who set up a milkbar in London’s theatre district. The Broadway (1944) and West End (1947) hit, <a href="https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/anna-lucasta-1322#ProductionStaff">Anna Lucasta</a>, was in the archive, too. The censors objected to the use of US swear words which had to be removed before Anna Lucasta could be licensed. </p>
<p>The play explores the possibilities of redemption for the “fallen woman”, Anna, a sex worker whose family renounce her only to lure her home in the hope of marrying her off to an honest young man with a bit of money. </p>
<p>It was originally written by a white American author and was rewritten by the <a href="https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/75th-anniversary-american-negro-theatre">American Negro Theatre</a> with an all-Black cast. It ran for a year in the West End between 1947 and 1948. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The film version of Anna Lucasta.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The archive comes to life</h2>
<p>As part of a project looking at <a href="https://www.isrf.org/fellows-projects/kate-dossett/">archives of surveillance</a>, I worked with a group of theatre makers, researchers and archivists to examine the plays. We wanted to find out what issues were important to Black theatre-makers and how they navigated white gatekeepers, including the censors and theatre managers who controlled the British theatre industry in the early 20th-century.</p>
<p>Researchers and curators were able to identify and contextualise the plays, while theatre-makers considered what it would be like to stage these plays today. Would we reinstate lines censored by the Lord Chamberlain? Were there parts of the play directors might want to cut? And what to do with the censor’s reports – particularly those which contained racially offensive language? </p>
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<p>Inspired by what we discovered, we created a <a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/events/black-theatre-making-and-censorship-in-the-archive/">performance of staged readings</a> directed by <a href="https://dermotdaly.co.uk/">Dermot Daly</a> and <a href="https://www.eleanormanners.co.uk/">Eleanor Manners</a>. We used the manuscripts and censors’ reports on two plays by Black theatre-makers first staged in the West End nearly a century ago to bring them to life for a modern audience. We chose Una Marson’s At What a Price (1933) and In Dahomey (1903), one of the first musical comedies written almost entirely by Black theatre-makers and presented by Black performers in the US and Britain.</p>
<p>Separated by 30 years, and hailing from different parts of the African diaspora, these plays capture the diversity and excitement of Black performance culture in Britain in the early decades of the 20th-century. But while our project opened up access to these theatre manuscripts, it clearly does not make up for the years of invisibility.</p>
<h2>The power of encounter</h2>
<p>In her <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300264784/radical-vision/">recent biography</a> of the Black playwright Lorraine Hansberry, Soyica Colbert, a professor of African American studies and performing arts, explains the importance of “encounter” for Hansberry both as a playwright and as a political activist. </p>
<p>Hansberry understood encounter as not simply an interaction between two individuals but a process in need of an audience: “A knowing or understanding look from a spectator,” she says, “disrupts the totalising effect of another’s gaze,” and resists “racism’s power to isolate individuals”. </p>
<p>It is well understood that witnesses – or an audience – are central to theatrical work. But to witness and affirm is important to encounters with the archive too.
Indeed, watching, hearing, reading and performing these manuscripts together opened up new ways of using censorship archives. </p>
<p>These plays by Black theatre-makers as well as the censor’s reports are now free to view on the British Library’s <a href="https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Default.aspx">Digital Manuscripts</a> platform. It cannot right the state’s wrongdoing but reclaiming these neglected texts and creating opportunities for new encounters with them constitutes a form of redress.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195168/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Dossett receives funding from the Independent Research Social Foundation and the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library</span></em></p>Theatre censorship laws stifled Black playwrights for more than 200 years – here’s what we found in the archive.Kate Dossett, Professor of American History, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1908212022-09-28T19:50:00Z2022-09-28T19:50:00ZWe can turn to popular culture for lessons about how to live with COVID-19 as endemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486681/original/file-20220927-16-7mqf23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C32%2C5350%2C2971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An endemic means that COVID-19 is still around, but it no longer disrupts everyday life.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/we-can-turn-to-popular-culture-for-lessons-about-how-to-live-with-covid-19-as-endemic" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In 2021, conversations began on <a href="https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/phm/2021/12/covid-19-what-does-endemic-mean.pdf?sc_lang=en">whether the COVID-19 pandemic will, or even can, end</a>. As a literary and cultural theorist, I started looking for shifts in stories about pandemics and contagion. It turns out that several stories also question how and when a pandemic becomes endemic.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-will-likely-shift-from-pandemic-to-endemic-but-what-does-that-mean-167782">COVID will likely shift from pandemic to endemic — but what does that mean?</a>
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<p>The 2020 film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8850222/"><em>Peninsula</em></a>, a sequel to the Korean zombie film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5700672/"><em>Train to Busan</em></a>, ends with a group of survivors rescued and transported to a zombie-free Hong Kong. In it, Jooni (played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6903064/">Re Lee</a>) spent her formative years living through the zombie epidemic. When she is rescued, she responds to being informed that she’s “going to a better place” by admitting that “this place wasn’t bad either.” </p>
<p>Jooni’s response points toward the shift in contagion narratives that has emerged since the spread of COVID-19. This shift marks a rejection of the push-for-survival narratives in favour of something more indicative of an endemic. </p>
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<h2>Found within</h2>
<p>Contagion follows a general cycle: <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/epidemic-endemic-pandemic-what-are-differences">outbreak, epidemic, pandemic and endemic</a>. The determinants of each stage rely upon the rate of spread within a specified geographic region. </p>
<p>Etymologically, the word “endemic” has its origins with the Greek words <em>én</em> and <em>dēmos</em>, meaning “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/coexisting-with-the-coronavirus">in the people</a>.” Thus, it refers to something that is regularly found within a population. </p>
<p>Infectious disease physician Stephen Parodi asserts that an endemic just means that a disease, while still prevalent within a population, <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/how-we-will-know-when-covid-19-has-become-endemic">no longer disrupts our daily lives</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, genomics and viral evolution researcher Aris Katzourakis argues that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00155-x">endemics occur when infection rates are static — neither rising nor falling</a>. Because this stasis occurs differently with each situation, there is no set threshold at which a pandemic becomes endemic. </p>
<p>Not all diseases reach endemic status. And, if endemic status is reached, it does not mean the virus is gone, but rather that things have become “normal.”</p>
<h2>Survival narratives</h2>
<p>We’re most likely familiar with contagion narratives. After all, Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598778/">Contagion</a></em>, was <a href="https://blogs.dal.ca/openthink/we-need-zombies-now-more-than-ever/">the most watched film on Canadian Netflix</a> in March 2020. Conveniently, this was when most Canadian provinces went into lockdown during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A clip from the film <em>Contagion</em> showing the disease spreading throughout the world.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In survival-based contagion narratives, characters often discuss methods for survival and generally refer to themselves as survivors. <em>Contagion</em> chronicles the transmission of a deadly virus that is brought from Hong Kong to the United States. In response, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is tasked with tracing its origins and finding a cure. The film follows Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), who is immune, as he tries to keep his daughter safe in a crumbling Minneapolis. </p>
<p>Ultimately, a vaccine is successfully synthesized, but only after millions have succumbed to the virus.</p>
<p>Like many science fiction and horror films that envision some sort of apocalyptic end, <em>Contagion</em> focuses on the basic requirements for survival: shelter, food, water and medicine. </p>
<p>However, it also deals with <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201%2Feid2602.181022">the breakdown of government systems and the violence that accompanies it</a>.</p>
<h2>A “new” normal</h2>
<p>In contrast, contagion narratives that have turned endemic take place many years after the initial outbreak. In these stories, the infected population is regularly present, but the remaining uninfected population isn’t regularly infected. </p>
<p>A spin-off to the zombie series <em>The Walking Dead</em> takes place a decade after the initial outbreak. In the two seasons of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10148174/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7"><em>The Walking Dead: World Beyond</em></a> (2020-2021) four young protagonists — Hope (Alexa Mansour), Iris (Aliyah Royale), Silas (Hal Cumpston) and Elton (Nicolas Cantu) — represent the first generation to come of age within the zombie-infested world. </p>
<p>The four youth spent their formative years in an infected world — similar to Jooni in <em>Peninsula</em>. For these characters, zombies are part of their daily lives, and their constant presence is normalized.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for the second season of AMC’s <em>The Walking Dead: World Beyond</em>.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The setting in <em>World Beyond</em> has electricity, helicopters and modern medicine. Characters in endemic narratives have regular access to shelter, food, water and medicine, so they don’t need to resort to violence over limited resources. And notably, they also don’t often refer to themselves as survivors. </p>
<p>Endemic narratives acknowledge that existing within an infected space alongside a virus is not necessarily a bad thing, and that not all inhabitants within infected spaces desire to leave. It is rare in endemic narratives for a character to become infected. </p>
<p>Instead of going out on zombie-killing expeditions in the manner that occurs frequently in the other <em>Walking Dead</em> stories, the characters in <em>World Beyond</em> generally leave the zombies alone. They mark the zombies with different colours of spray-paint to chronicle what they call “migration patterns.” </p>
<p>The zombies have therefore just become another species for the characters to live alongside — something more endemic.</p>
<p><em>The Walking Dead</em>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3743822/"><em>Fear the Walking Dead</em></a> (2015-), <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3843168/"><em>Z Nation</em></a> (2014-18), and many other survival-based stories seem to return to the past. In contrast, endemic narratives maintain a present and sometimes even future-looking approach. </p>
<h2>Learning from stories</h2>
<p>According to film producer and media professor Mick Broderick, survival stories maintain a status quo. They seek a “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4240277">nostalgically yearned-for less-complex existence</a>.” It provides solace to imagine an earlier, simpler time when living through a pandemic. </p>
<p>However, the shift from survival to endemic in contagion narratives provides us with many important possibilities. The one I think is quite relevant right now is that it presents us with a way of living with contagion. After all, watching these characters survive a pandemic helps us imagine that we can too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190821/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Krista Collier-Jarvis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As COVID-19 transitions from a pandemic to an endemic, apocalyptic science-fiction and zombie movies contain examples of how to adjust to the new normal.Krista Collier-Jarvis, PhD Candidate in English, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1910862022-09-28T01:38:17Z2022-09-28T01:38:17ZWhen the World Turns is a profoundly moving theatrical experience for children with complex disabilities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486963/original/file-20220928-24-l51mvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C1%2C994%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When the World Turns by Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer: Theresa Harrison</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Review: When the World Turns, by Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart</em></p>
<p>When the World Turns is a beautiful new work designed for children with complex disabilities and their families. </p>
<p>Australian children’s theatre company Polyglot are renowned for their approach to child-centred arts experiences. Their work has a reputation for fostering the creative agency of children as audience and artists. </p>
<p>UK company Oily Cart creates shows for all children regardless of age and perceived ability. </p>
<p>Their new theatre work, When the World Turns, emerges from this combined artistic creation philosophy. At its heart is an inclusive, child-led approach.</p>
<p>When the World Turns begins in the foyer. Performers emerge dressed in safari suits like explorers, with torches and maps at the ready. </p>
<p>Each family group is greeted by one of these performers; they become the guide for the family throughout the experience. </p>
<p>The invitation is to help explore and discover things in a new wondrous, breathing, rustling world. </p>
<p>As the performer engages with us in the foyer, they introduce a scrunched-up paper ball made from a heavy, brown paper and invite us to unfold the ball to see what mysteries it reveals: the words “when you are still, you can feel the earth moving”. </p>
<p>The performer animates and puppeteers the map, encouraging a sensory exploration with the sounds and tactile experience of the paper. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-so-fringe-interactive-childrens-theatre-takes-centre-stage-47362">Not so Fringe: interactive children's theatre takes centre stage</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A gentle introduction</h2>
<p>We are then guided into the performance, a beautifully lit world held by a gentle soundscape and a scenic design consisting of hundreds of plants creating pathways throughout the space. </p>
<p>Each family group is led to a “pod” enveloped by plants, which acts as a home base throughout the experience. </p>
<p>Audience members can leave and explore, but they can always return to their family in this slightly protected zone throughout the performance. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C995%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of adults and children around a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C995%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486958/original/file-20220928-22-330mwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Audience members can always return to their family.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer: Theresa Harrison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The performers slowly introduce sensory and story elements to this pod and interact with us. By introducing sensory elements to the audience in small direct ways, they are demystified and made familiar. The artists are then able to expand and develop the sensory possibilities of the performance as it progresses. </p>
<p>A large paper snake (made out of the same material as the map introduced earlier) winds its way in and around our pod, landing on shoulders and sliding over knees, before it is handed to us to animate ourselves. </p>
<p>A pine-cone and a mandarin are revealed as wondrous objects by the performer. We are invited to explore each item by smell and touch.</p>
<p>Throughout, the sound design is building slowly, with repeated motifs and intimate sonic elements gradually layering to soothe, relax and familiarise. </p>
<p>The performers appear in costume and with puppets to become animal-like creatures that visit the pods and engage with the audience. </p>
<p>The bush-like world we are in comes completely alive. A parade of creatures is formed behind a performer carrying a large glowing orb, and merrily weaves its way around the space. In the show I saw, two audience members gleefully join the parade with their own torches, at times leading the procession and at times following. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-radical-form-of-accessibility-is-pushing-the-boundaries-of-theatre-performance-125797">How a radical form of accessibility is pushing the boundaries of theatre performance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Led by the children</h2>
<p>A very large sheet of paper, again the same type of paper as the map from the foyer, is placed over our pod and we shelter as the sky darkens and the sound of rain begins. Scratching and dropping noises can be heard on the material over our heads. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman stands over a tent made from brown paper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486961/original/file-20220928-26-szjwg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We shelter as the sky darkens and the sound of rain begins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer: Theresa Harrison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The canopy is removed and the space all around us begins to transform, as plants are rearranged by performers to break apart the pods and open up the central performance area to the audience. </p>
<p>Some performers remove shoes, some lie down or lean on the plants around them. Slowly, as audience members start to call out and vocalise, the performers echo and repeat the sounds in a call and response sonic landscape. While the vocal tics of children with disabilities are often experienced as disruptive and a cause for anxiety and concern for family members, here they are celebrated and folded into the work.</p>
<p>Eventually, the child audience members realise they are leading the performance. The performers are responding to their noises and sounds; these are creating the shape and experience of the performance. </p>
<p>The performance has been handed over to the children with complex disabilities. There is an exquisite sense of joy and play permeating the room. </p>
<p>With that, we are told the performance has ended. A final ball of crumpled paper is unwound to reveal the words, “now this world is listening to you”.</p>
<h2>Profoundly moving</h2>
<p>It is hard to describe the profoundly moving experience of watching audience members arrive at the Arts Centre Melbourne and viscerally sensing the mix of excitement and uncertainty of coming to see a show, even one billed as inclusive and specifically designed for their families. </p>
<p>During the show, the children, earlier vocal and restless, are suddenly silent and still. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C995%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young girl stands behind reeds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C995%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486962/original/file-20220928-14-5dze8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The work has been designed for these children to interact.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer: Theresa Harrison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Families visibly relax as they realise the work has been designed to specifically accommodate the way their children will interact with the performance. </p>
<p>When the World Turns reveals new possibilities for child-led approaches in sensory and participatory performance and this might expand our understanding of the transformative potential of theatre. </p>
<p><em>When the World Turns played at Arts Centre Melbourne for Alter State. Season closed.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/soothing-to-an-almost-unexpected-degree-new-online-art-project-glow-is-rethinking-mindfulness-for-new-parents-189884">'Soothing to an almost unexpected degree': new online art project Glow is rethinking mindfulness for new parents</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191086/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Austin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A collaboration between Polyglot Theatre and the UK’s Oily Cart puts an inclusive, child-led approach at its heart.Sarah Austin, Lecturer in Theatre, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1841992022-06-05T16:13:57Z2022-06-05T16:13:57ZUkraine diaries: art in the face of the war<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466660/original/file-20220601-48284-l8xm3k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1326%2C865&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A contemporary work of art? No, a protected one. Taken in Kiev, on 18 April. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romain Huët</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Lviv, 18–20 April 2022. The city is calm. The streets are full of onlookers, sauntering under the intermittent sunshine. At first glance, life looks normal. In reality, the changes are profound.</p>
<p>Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Lviv has welcomed <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/3/14/lviv-as-refugees-flee-a-city-mobilises-for-war">tens of thousands of refugees</a> from throughout the country, mainly from Kyiv and towns in the east. A curfew is in place from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The sale of alcohol has just been authorised again, but not before 8 p.m. Spirits are strictly forbidden. Around the city are several checkpoints, barricades built by civilian volunteers, minor protection on some windows, and sandbags or big tarpaulins protecting monuments from potential shrapnel. During my two days here, six or seven sirens have sounded around the city, disrupting collective life, but only momentarily. On 18 April, a Russian missile killed <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-zelenskiy-condemns-shelling-bodies-line-streets-mariupol-2022-04-18/">seven people</a>.</p>
<p>The experience of war encourages people to focus their attention on armed resistance. But war also prompts nonviolent resistance. There is an <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-critique-internationale-2018-3-page-89.htm?contenu=plan">everyday economy</a> of war, woven from collective stitch-ups and arrangements. Behind the scenes, people replenish the frontline’s provisions, take in refugees, develop international networks and seek funding. This has to do with maintaining a peace economy in war time.</p>
<p>I wanted to meet artists and learn about their thoughts on resistance. Art provides a vital language to transcribe what is happening. War also rages <a href="https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/par-les-temps-qui-courent/nadia-kaabi-linke-artiste-plasticienne">within its boundaries</a> as Ukrainians seek to confront Russian cultural dominance in post-soviet states.</p>
<h2>Denys Metelin, a street artist</h2>
<p>Denys Metelin, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/metelin_denys/?hl=fr">a street artist</a>, is from Crimea. In 2014, after Russia’s invasion, his father packed his bags and threw him onto the next train to Lviv. He was 19. War has haunted him ever since.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CcSQG-Pt-WA","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>He has made it the main subject of his work. His point of view is clear: he does not want to indulge in tragedy. To change how war is seen, “you need to find a perspective to understand the bombs”, he says. He plays and works with the symbols from the Soviet Union, subverting their meaning. His work strips war of its horrors and praises collective Ukrainian forces.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459263/original/file-20220422-11-orrhbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459263/original/file-20220422-11-orrhbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459263/original/file-20220422-11-orrhbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459263/original/file-20220422-11-orrhbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459263/original/file-20220422-11-orrhbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459263/original/file-20220422-11-orrhbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459263/original/file-20220422-11-orrhbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Denys Matelin in his workshop on 18 April.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romain Huët</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459264/original/file-20220422-26-1pau9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Work by Denys Metelin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romain Huët</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459265/original/file-20220422-24-8kat0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Work by Denys Metelin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romain Huët</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the first two days of the invasion, Denys followed into the steps of thousands of Ukrainians by heading to one of the volunteering centres that sprang up throughout the city. He was clueless as to what to do.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“On the first day, I was so bewildered and panic-stricken that I went to buy sweets for child refugees and get a smile out of them. On the second day, we built barricades all over the city. On the third day, I learned how to make Molotov cocktails.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since then, he took first-aid lessons and also trained to fight. He stills attends these courses three times a week “to be ready if the Russians come here”.</p>
<h2>Viktor Kudin, painting urban text</h2>
<p>I also meet Viktor Kudin, an architect and artist. When the war broke out, he fled Kyiv for Lviv.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459808/original/file-20220426-16-42ic33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Work by Viktor Kudin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romain Huët</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition to his work as an artist, Kudin raises funds for the Ukrainian army. He experienced Russia’s invasion as a real moral shock. Overwhelmed with stress and “negative feelings”, he went to buy material to paint with. Every day, you can find him on the rooftops of Lviv, painting the city, houses and streets.</p>
<p>His paintings show a somewhat transformed landscape. A detail attests to the ongoing war: graffiti insulting Putin, a small poster indicating the locations of shelters, plumes of black smoke drifting skywards, a Ukrainian flag holding out against the wind. People are absent from his paintings.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When I paint, I will often hear the sirens before a blitz. I’m alone on the rooftops and the streets start emptying.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>War transforms life. It also has an impact on urban texts and cityscapes. Victor tells me his inspiration has taken a real hit. He wavers between “tears and hatred”, adding, “I can’t live with such intense feelings. I want to give names to these forces running through me. I want to understand them.”</p>
<p>Words get stuck in his throat. His anger frees them: “We’ve got to destroy Russia. We’re going to kill them all.”</p>
<h2>Fear and fatalism</h2>
<p>The artists I meet all come back to one consistent reaction: a combination of fear and fatalism. On 24 February 2022, it was disbelief that first took hold of them. <a href="https://www.antiqvitas-nova.art/press/">Alexander Denysenko</a>, an artist who shares a studio with his father, Oleh, confided to me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I was stunned. I didn’t know what to do. I left my house and started walking. I walked without knowing where I was going. I couldn’t stop walking. And then I phoned my friends. We wondered what we could do.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This disbelief was all the more potent as many of these artists were a long way from the volunteer groups that have been operating in the Donbas since 2014. War was going on in the background, but it had been normalised. Its effects were not felt.</p>
<p>It has now broken into everyday life. In Lviv and elsewhere in Ukraine, it has become inescapable, even though it varies in intensity. Alexander’s disbelief quickly turned into a conviction that the Russian invasion was real. It was just that everything seemed submerged. Until then, he did not know anything about war as a tangible reality. But when war suddenly crashes down on you, life is abruptly transformed and, from then on, has to be organised alongside the war. </p>
<p>After their initial disbelief, and its share of disempowering feelings, their despondency turned into rebellion. The list of possible reactions to this kind of situation is limited: you can flee; you can try to maintain your habits in an upended and uncertain daily life; or you can make yourself useful without really knowing how. Some artists have taken up arms and gone to the front. Others have stayed put and continued to practise their art in spite of everything.</p>
<h2>War provides opportunities: promoting Ukrainian art</h2>
<p>These artists are determined to make Ukrainian art better known. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/marta_trotsiuk/?hl=fr">Marta Trotsiuk</a> runs a gallery. Before the war broke out, she would organise exhibitions throughout Lviv. She now works toward solidarity among the city’s artists to tackle the present emergency. She is energetic, even restless: she has been invited to take part in the Venice Biennale in the coming days. For her, this moment is an opportunity to make the uniqueness of Ukrainian art known.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CcnPmZctvzP","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Her first job was to organise a petition and a collective letter to denounce Russia’s aggression and call for sanctions against its artists. She justifies this by explaining that “culture is one of Moscow’s preferred methods in pushing its propaganda. It’s soft power, quite simply.”</p>
<p>In addition to this political initiative, Ukrainian artists are trying to organise a series of cultural events for refugees: concerts, plays, films, exhibitions – so many daily events that could help refugees “unwind”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb0aksONfB3","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>As the world collapses, art comforts people in the face of an unbearable reality. The purpose of these cultural events is not to directly express war or look at it differently. It is mainly to relieve people afflicted by war and forced in exile. Like others, Marta has set herself a challenge:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“[I want to make] people feel less inhibited about art, making our events attractive to them. We hope that they will come to think that there’s something for them in these events, and that our art will speak to them… People come from all over the country: from Kyiv, Odessa, and many other cities. They’re shy, they keep their distance, but when they come they’re always pleased to be there.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>“Being lumped together with the Soviet Union is simply unbearable.”</h2>
<p>This claim that Ukrainian art is unique is especially heartfelt. Marta is disappointed and tired of people’s habits: like others, she bristles against the common confusion between Russian and Ukrainian art. She explains angrily:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When we’re not being confused with Russians, we’re being portrayed as their ‘little brothers’… Being lumped together with the Soviet Union is simply unbearable. Our history is different. What’s more, our language is closer to Polish than it is to Russian. We’ve been independent since 1991. Since then, we’ve been fighting Russia’s imperialism and its daunting propaganda.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Marta readily asserts how proud she is of Ukraine:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’m a proud Ukrainian. We have to carry on fighting. We even have to fight to get back our border from 1991, when we became independent. We have to change Russia’s government and get it to recognise what it’s carried out: genocide in Ukraine.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This nationalistic line is unapologetic. The main tension in nationalism seems to reside in Marta’s words:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We’ve got to be patriotic and keep our traditions alive, because we’ve been attacked. Otherwise, we’ll be wiped out as a people.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>National pride flourishes where a people is threatened with extinction. The war is giving the people the feeling they have discovered a collective power, a unity that is all the more strong as the threat is real. Behind Marta’s revolt, some prospects brought on by war are taking shape: the possibility of the world taking an interest in Ukrainian culture, artists, works and uniqueness. In a world crumbling, these artists have started dreaming of a new future: a people aware of itself, forging its destiny and promoting its uniqueness worldwide. The imagination is a place where reality can be defied.</p>
<h2>Turning viewers into witnesses</h2>
<p>Remarkably, art is not presented as it would be in peacetime. It does not seek to make war intelligible, or offer a break in which the world, in its cruelty, can find expression. Rather, it seeks to supplement war. It encourages uprising and a refusal to give up among all those who still have strength. Lastly, it records memory. All these works produced as the war rages capture the people’s accomplishments, actions and words, helping them escape transience. Artists hope to make us not just viewers but also witnesses.</p>
<p>And while some carry on creating works during the war, others try to salvage them. Bogdana Brylynska works at the <a href="https://cityofliterature.lviv.ua/mans/bogdana-brylynska">“Territory of Terror” Memorial Museum</a> in Lviv. From the outset of the war, she has been salvaging works throughout Ukraine, especially in the south and east of the country, where a large portion of Ukraine’s national cultural heritage can be found: “Our aim is to preserve heritage in Mariupol and so many other cities”, she says. Volunteers swing into action to protect monuments, using either tarps or sandbags, to protect them from shrapnel.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459268/original/file-20220422-16-ryrfj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459268/original/file-20220422-16-ryrfj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459268/original/file-20220422-16-ryrfj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459268/original/file-20220422-16-ryrfj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459268/original/file-20220422-16-ryrfj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459268/original/file-20220422-16-ryrfj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459268/original/file-20220422-16-ryrfj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Romain Huët</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some statues are hidden in secure locations – abroad or in underground passages. Volunteers also get organised to transport the most important works to Lviv. In all the country’s museums, people find creative ways to get works out:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We’re not waiting for government orders to save these works. Since the Maidan Revolution, we’ve got used to getting organised on our own. Since then, we’ve forged so many ties with the whole country that we’re in touch with volunteers everywhere. Since the revolution, we’ve realised what our collective capacities are really like.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Volunteers transport the artworks. This requires finding answers to practical questions, like how to pack up the works without damaging them:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“At first, we really didn’t know how to do it. We tried lots of methods before finding techniques that worked well enough… But that’s not the only problem. Because we don’t have any official licence to transport these artworks, there are tedious negotiations at checkpoints to establish that we’re not stealing the works but protecting them. You have to be resourceful. We’re used to it!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In such a situation, resistance is about salvaging the materiality of the world, the memory of the country. It is about saving the world from destruction as much as you can. I’m now leaving Lviv to head for Kyiv, and then Kharkiv.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article could not have been written without the precious help of Julia Sinkevych, a film producer. I am indebted to her for making my many meetings in Lviv possible</em>.</p>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Thomas Young for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en">Fast ForWord</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article is a continuation of the author's research and ANR 'Ethnographie des guerillas et des émeutes: formations subjectives, émotions et expérience sensible de la violence en train de fait - EGR' <a href="https://anr.fr/Projet-ANR-18-CE39-0011">https://anr.fr/Projet-ANR-18-CE39-0011</a>.</span></em></p>The experience of war also inspires non-violent forms of resistance.Romain Huët, Maitre de conférences en sciences de la communication, Chercheur au PREFICS (Plurilinguismes, Représentations, Expressions Francophones, Information, Communication, Sociolinguistique), Université Rennes 2Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1822782022-05-12T20:00:34Z2022-05-12T20:00:34ZThe arts helped us through the pandemic – NZ’s budget should radically rethink how and why they’re funded<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462596/original/file-20220512-22-tp7a94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5439%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist Sofia Minson working on a mural of musician Tiki Taane in downtown Auckland.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The past two years have made it impossible to ignore the problem in Aotearoa New Zealand’s arts sector. The pandemic has been brutal, with venues shut, festivals cancelled and audiences staying home. </p>
<p>At the same time, art in all its forms – books, music, TV, film, even the visual and performing arts – <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444919/kiwis-find-refuge-escape-or-healing-in-arts-during-pandemic-study">helped people</a> through lockdowns and uncertainty. We were reminded how vital art is for our well-being, sense of belonging, education and aspirations for a better world. </p>
<p>The government acknowledged this with emergency relief packages in <a href="https://mch.govt.nz/regenerating-arts-culture-and-heritage-sector">2020</a> and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/127656062/govts-120m-funding-boost-for-arts-and-culture-offers-relief-for-omicronhit-sector">earlier this year</a>.
Yet the basic model for arts funding hasn’t changed and still doesn’t deliver equitable, sustainable income for artists or arts organisations. Nor is it delivering equitable and sustainable <em>access</em> to the arts for all people. </p>
<p>The evidence has been stark. People working in the creative arts <a href="https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/research-reflects-significant-challenges-of-making-a-living-as-a-creative-professional-in-aotearoa">earn just NZ$35,800 a year</a> on average, with only $15,000 of that coming from their creative practice. It’s hard to be hopeful about support for up-and-coming artists when the funding system and wider arts economy is geared towards an elite few.</p>
<p>The existing funding model has also been <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/127067028/artists-renew-calls-for-changes-to-aotearoas-arts-funding-models">questioned</a> for the amount that ultimately reaches artists themselves, and what this means for <a href="https://creativewellbeingnz.org/News%20Links%20Index/Creating%20change%20for%20Rangatahi">audiences</a> and everyone involved the sector. </p>
<p>The pandemic brought this all to a head, with arts sector advocates calling for more than a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/128618617/hundreds-of-events-artists-access-governments-culture-support-schemes?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter">temporary lifeline</a>, and nothing less a <a href="https://www.tetaumatatoiaiwi.org.nz/nga-toi-advocacy-network/nga-toi-in-aotearoa/">long-term vision and strategy</a> for a sustainable, diverse, equitable future for the sector.</p>
<p>Rather than ask what the arts should receive in next week’s budget, we propose instead a complete revamp of Aotearoa New Zealand’s arts policy and funding systems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462600/original/file-20220512-14-c6ua2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462600/original/file-20220512-14-c6ua2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462600/original/file-20220512-14-c6ua2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462600/original/file-20220512-14-c6ua2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462600/original/file-20220512-14-c6ua2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462600/original/file-20220512-14-c6ua2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462600/original/file-20220512-14-c6ua2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Laneway Festival in Auckland in 2019, before the pandemic threw live entertainment into turmoil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>New world, old models</h2>
<p>As we emerge (tentatively) from a world-changing experience, now is the perfect moment to listen to those calls for action. The government has already indicated an <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/recognising-importance-our-arts-culture-and-heritage">understanding</a> of the multiple ways in which the arts are important to society, beyond just the economic.</p>
<p>And while the pandemic placed immense financial pressure on those working in the arts, it also showed how the sector could be funded at an unprecedented level that acknowledges the vital relationship between the arts, society and well-being.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-should-have-a-universal-basic-income-for-artists-heres-what-that-could-look-like-182128">Australia should have a universal basic income for artists. Here's what that could look like</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/development-and-resources/new-zealanders-and-the-arts-2020">2021 survey</a> by Creative New Zealand, most New Zealanders support public funding of the arts. But despite the many social and political changes since the country adopted the British arts council model in 1963, the essential funding rationale has barely changed from its colonial origins.</p>
<p>Specifically, and in spite of the official rhetoric, the government’s arts policy initiatives still rely on a calculus, embedded in policy over the past 40 years, that measures the primary value of art based on its direct or indirect contribution to the economy and GDP.</p>
<p>How about we set 2023 – the 60th anniversary of the Arts Council – as the year we come up with a completely new system?</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1524526029536079873"}"></div></p>
<h2>10 ways forward</h2>
<p>Change needs to start with the state genuinely listening to artists, others involved with the sector, and the wider population, about the role and function of the arts beyond purely economic measures. That should include Māori views of art as integral to, and integrated with, all aspects of life and society.</p>
<p>Genuinely listening implies an open-ended process, not one where there is already a plan waiting in the wings to be implemented regardless. Such a process could draw on <a href="https://kep.org.nz/assets/resources/site/Voices7-15.Wananga.pdf">marae-based decision making</a> and <a href="https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/consensus">consensus-based democracy</a> models, with the process guided by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/even-if-next-weeks-budget-avoids-the-issue-its-time-new-zealand-seriously-considered-a-wealth-tax-182505">Even if next week’s budget avoids the issue, it’s time New Zealand seriously considered a wealth tax</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But we can also look overseas for inspiration with alternative ways of resourcing the arts. Research we’re involved with has thrown up ten tangible ways New Zealand’s support for the arts could be improved:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a liveable universal <a href="https://www.thebigidea.nz/stories/calls-for-artists-wage-revived">wage, benefit or income</a> for artists</p></li>
<li><p>a social insurance or welfare scheme for artists, including pensions</p></li>
<li><p>tax exemptions and credits</p></li>
<li><p>liveable pay standards and fair minimum fee scales aligned with expertise</p></li>
<li><p>long-term funding schemes, grants of five years and longer available for all artists</p></li>
<li><p>royalties for all arts disciplines</p></li>
<li><p>housing support for artists</p></li>
<li><p>subsidised arts studios, venues and offices</p></li>
<li><p>participatory grant systems where artists and communities decide on funding allocation</p></li>
<li><p>arts funding in all levels of education, including fully subsidised tertiary education</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-budget-should-treat-public-health-like-transport-vital-infrastructure-with-long-term-economic-benefits-180322">Why the budget should treat public health like transport – vital infrastructure with long-term economic benefits</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Transformative change</h2>
<p>Revamping government policies and structures will ideally involve a more holistic recognition of the multiple ways the arts benefit society. For example, the Treasury’s <a href="https://www.treasury.govt.nz/information-and-services/nz-economy/higher-living-standards/our-living-standards-framework">Living Standards Framework</a> considers individual and collective well-being and wealth beyond the merely financial.</p>
<p>Similarly, we might listen to the late <a href="https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2021/01/25/manuka-henare-obituary.html">Manuka Henare</a>’s proposal for a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299135370_The_economy_of_mana">Māori economic model</a> that placed mana, well-being and self-determination at its centre. Or the <a href="https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/24">Māori adaptation</a> of so-called “doughnut economics”, based on fairness, sustainability and social well-being.</p>
<p>Applying these kinds of values to arts policies and funding would help avoid tokenism and the risk of sliding back towards the economic status quo.</p>
<p>In 2017, the government promised it would be transformative, although the catchphrase was quietly dropped. It’s time to revive that transformative ideal and begin the change that would make a difference, for and through the arts, for generations to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Harvey is affiliated with Arts Makers Aotearoa. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Molly Mullen is affiliated with Te Ora Auaha: Creative Wellbeing Alliance Aotearoa.</span></em></p>Art has value well beyond the financial, including proven health and well-being benefits. It’s time this was recognised in the way the sector is funded.Mark Harvey, Senior Lecturer in Creative Arts, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauMolly Mullen, Senior Lecturer in Applied Theatre, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1757142022-01-27T11:48:04Z2022-01-27T11:48:04ZTaylor Swift v Damon Albarn: why the idea of the lone songwriter is outdated<p>Damon Albarn, the lead singer of Blur and Gorillaz, has recently been criticised for his “outdated” views of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60121132">modern songwriting</a>. In an interview with the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-01-23/damon-albarn-blur-gorillaz">LA Times</a>, Albarn explained that US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s “co-writing” approach was at odds with his “traditionalist” view of writing songs. He went on to say that co-writing “doesn’t count” as songwriting.</p>
<p>Calling out fellow songwriters for not writing their own material is bad form for musicians, particularly so given that the definition of songwriting has become ever more fluid over time, and depends greatly on the genre of music. Pop music is often written collaboratively, and these teams are becoming larger. Indeed, 2017 analysis by <a href="https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/songwriting-why-it-takes-more-than-two-to-make-a-hit-nowadays/068478">Music Week magazine</a> shows it now takes an average of four and a half writers to create a hit single. </p>
<p>The process of creating songs has both integrated itself within and kicked against the industrialisation of the music industry. And it has developed hand in hand with <a href="https://www.toptal.com/finance/market-research-analysts/state-of-music-industry">technological changes</a> both in “manufacture” and distribution.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1485714265675812866"}"></div></p>
<p>Authorship is at the heart of debates about songwriting, partly because of the notion of the creative auteur, where the songwriter is seen as the major creative force of the band, or artist. Much of the artists’ income generated from music comes from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/31/top-songwriters-call-for-end-to-bully-tactics-by-artists-over-royalties">songwriting royalties</a>, and sharing authorship is one way of rewarding musicians who contribute to the success of a hit song.</p>
<h2>The singer-songwriter</h2>
<p>The concept of the singer-songwriter, in the more traditionalist way we know today – think <a href="https://jonimitchell.com/">Joni Mitchell</a>, <a href="https://neilyoungarchives.com/">Neil Young</a>, <a href="https://www.paulsimon.com/">Paul Simon</a>, <a href="https://dollyparton.com/">Dolly Parton</a> – came into being during the 1960s and early 1970s. This is when folk music crossed over into the development of rock music. And with it came the idea of being authentic. </p>
<p>This was a challenge to “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Tin-Pan-Alley-musical-history">Tin Pan Alley</a>” writing, which involved music publishers effectively employing songwriters to create hits for artists to record and perform. An alternative <a href="https://www.jimcarrollsblog.com/blog/2020/4/22/motown-ten-commercial-lessons-from-the-hit-factory">conveyor belt method</a>, where tracks were built up by sending them from studio to studio, depending on where the best and most appropriate session players worked, was also seen as something to move away from. </p>
<p>This method was used by labels like <a href="https://www.motownrecords.com/">Motown</a> in the US, who <a href="https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/motown-sound-producers-and-songwriters/">transferred recorded tracks</a> between Detroit and the West Coast, building on them between the two locations. This could feel <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stevie-wonder-beat-motown-records/">disempowering to musicians</a>, who often had no overview of the track they were contributing to, and only heard the final version of the song when it was released.</p>
<p>This idea of authenticity became important to both black and white musicians. <a href="http://www.chuckberry.com/">Chuck Berry</a> was regarded as “real”, for instance, and so was <a href="https://www.bobdylan.com/">Bob Dylan</a>, whereas a lot of music that was considered to be pop was not. The key authentic band in the UK at this time was <a href="https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/shes-at-the-controls/">The Beatles</a>. Although they began by doing covers, they soon developed a style that sounded unique while still paying homage to their influences. Songs were often about their personal feelings or everyday situations. This style of songwriting still thrives in indie and DIY communities today.</p>
<h2>Complex collaborations</h2>
<p>Modern songwriting has moved on further still, with artists engaging with studio technology very early in the process. Here, a song may be built up from a beat, and the beatmaker is considered to be part of the songwriting team, which may also include producers, arrangers, programmers and chorus specialists. Kanye West, for example, credits <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/2094846/kanye-west-all-day-writing-production-credits/">21 musicians</a> on his 2015 track, All Day. This can seem remarkably different from the perception of the “traditional way” of writing music.</p>
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<p>As I discuss in my <a href="https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/shes-at-the-controls/">recent book</a> on sound engineering and production, each component writer in these complex studio tracks is a specialist in their field. They possess not only the technical skills but are also in the know about the latest underground sounds – so in this way, they actually have a lot in common with the Tin Pan Alley teams or the Motown writers. </p>
<p>Indeed, if we were to define songwriting as the construction of songs where before there were only ideas, then anyone involved in creating a song is a songwriter. Whether they are created by a team on a production line or in a bedroom by a solo artist, they are still skilful combinations of music, rhythms and lyrics.</p>
<p>Taylor Swift began her professional life as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkD20ajVxnY">country singer</a>, and to gain any credibility within that very rigorous music scene, she really had to know how to write a song, as well as carry one as a performer. Almost certainly, Damon Albarn knows this. His own skills as a writer have really diversified to incorporate different technologies and musical influences. Both are excellent songwriters, regardless of their preferred ways of working.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Reddington does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Anyone involved in the creation of a song is a songwriter.Helen Reddington, Senior Lecturer Department of Music, Writing & Performance , School of Arts and Creative Industries, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1738032021-12-16T11:37:09Z2021-12-16T11:37:09ZHow the arts can help us come back together again – podcast<p>In this episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a>, we bring you three stories exploring how the arts help people deal with the challenges life throws at them. We’ll hear about a photography project in Sydney bringing people back together as COVID restrictions lift, the importance of storytelling and humour in Indigenous art in Australia, and why the second world war led to the birth of public arts funding in Britain. </p>
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<p>First, we head to the City of Parramatta, a diverse suburb of Sydney, Australia, that’s changing fast as it undergoes a vast amount of construction and development. It was also an area hit hard by the COVID pandemic and subject to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/27/western-sydney-disproportionately-fined-for-covid-lockdown-breaches">a hard lockdown</a>. Reporter Olivia Rosenman went to Parramatta in mid-December to join a photoshoot organised by Cherine Fahd, associate professor at the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney, for a new project: <a href="https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/c3west/cherine-fahd-parramatta-yearbook/">Being Together: Parramatta Yearbook</a>. </p>
<p>Fahd has been commissioned by C3West, an arts programme in western Sydney run by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, to take portraits of people in the style of a school yearbook, amid the changing landscape of Parramatta. Some of the photos will be put on display in public in 2022 and compiled together in a printed yearbook. Fahd tells us that the project helps mark a moment in time, “a way of us coming back together after a period of social distancing and being apart”.</p>
<p>Next, we travel from Sydney up the eastern coast of Australia to Brisbane, where reporter Rhianna Patrick went to meet Angelina Hurley, a PhD candidate at Griffith University. Hurley is the daughter of the trailblazing Aboriginal artist Ron Hurley, and she talks to us about his life and work. </p>
<p>She explains how art used to process the trauma of colonisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia, and also to give voice to other issues – sometimes with a big helping of humour. “You’re able to address hardship and help the community deal with it,” Hurley tells us. </p>
<p>In our final story, we head to Bristol in south-west England to meet Kirsty Sedgman, a lecturer in theatre at the University of Bristol. Sedgman takes us back to the second world war in Britain when, amid the death, destruction and deprivation of wartime, a new tradition was born: state money was spent to save an arts building for the first time. </p>
<p>The first recipient of this public arts funding was a theatre – the Bristol Old Vic. And instrumental <a href="https://theconversation.com/arts-rescue-package-by-all-means-protect-britains-jewels-but-dont-forget-the-rest-of-the-crown-142100">to its wartime story</a> is a famous economist, John Maynard Keynes. This was the first time public money was poured into a building that would house “grand cultural experiences”, Sedgman explains, “the kind that would rebuild Britain’s sense of itself from the ashes of the war”.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This episode of The Conversation Weekly is supported by the UK/Australia Season Patrons Board, the British Council and the Australian Government as part of the <a href="https://ukaustraliaseason.com/">UK/Australia Season</a>, which centres on the theme Who Are We Now? The season’s programme reflects on the two countries’ shared history, explores their current relationship, and imagines their future together.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>To end this week’s episode, we’ve got some recommended reading from Gregory Rayko, international editor for The Conversation based in Paris. </p>
<p>This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with reporting by Rhianna Patrick and Olivia Rosenman and sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/?hl=en">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also sign up to <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter?utm_campaign=PodcastTCWeekly&utm_content=newsletter&utm_source=podcast">The Conversation’s free daily email here</a>.</p>
<p><em>You can listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a>, or find out how else to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">listen here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173803/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsty Sedgman received funding from a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cherine Fahd and Angelina Hurley do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointments.</span></em></p>Three stories from Australia and the UK exploring the role of art in helping people deal with the challenges life throws at them. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.Gemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationDaniel Merino, Assistant Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1685592021-11-07T13:11:24Z2021-11-07T13:11:24ZOnline arts programming improves quality of life for isolated seniors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429810/original/file-20211102-17-1o1mygu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C5760%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Older adults can experience negative health effects due to social isolation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Older adults, especially those who live in rural areas, are affected by their isolation. In Newfoundland and Labrador, 22 per cent of residents are <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91-215-x/2020001/sec2-eng.htm">over the age of 65</a>. These older adults live in <a href="https://www.citypopulation.de/en/canada/admin/10__newfoundland_and_labrador/">the sparsely populated coastal communities or in the small number of more urban centres</a> that are scattered throughout the province. </p>
<p>Social isolation and loneliness <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228637">negatively influence the quality of life of older adults</a>. The rurality of N.L. threatens older adults’ ability to engage with peers, their community and the health-care system. </p>
<h2>Arts-based programming</h2>
<p>The combination of an aging population and the potential negative health effects caused by social isolation presented a problem that our team — consisting of members from the Regional Health Authority, the Western Regional School of Nursing, health professionals and a local performing arts organization — aimed to address. </p>
<p>We designed opportunities for older adults with mild to moderate frailty or cognitive decline to be socially connected through participation in arts-based activities. Our program aim was to prove that engagement in the arts could help these older adults <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27855424/">maintain their cognitive health and improve their quality of life</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nlcahr.mun.ca/Research_Exchange/SmART_Aging_Oct_22_2020.pdf">SmART Aging was a community-based virtual arts program</a> delivered by local professional artists in western Newfoundland. The program connected socially or geographically isolated older adults with artists and other participants through online sessions that featured a variety of expressive arts disciplines. Local artists developed engaging programming that was specifically aimed at the older adult population. </p>
<p>Eight artist-led sessions were available using virtual technology, and older adults could participate from the comfort of their own home and at no cost. The art sessions ranged in focus from letter writing to painting and drawing, as well as storytelling and theatre skills. Participants could choose to attend only one session, or complete all the sessions.</p>
<p>Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was affected in various ways, <a href="https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/lifestyles/local-lifestyles/western-newfoundland-project-will-join-artists-with-isolated-older-adults-to-support-their-cognitive-fitness-382391/">including a delayed start, a change from the proposed blended in-person and virtual format to solely virtual, and changes in the recruitment process</a>. Initially, community health nurses identified eligible participants from their existing caseloads. However, due to the impacts of the pandemic, the recruitment process changed to public promotion and self-referral.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An older woman draws, a tablet next to her propped up on a walker" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430296/original/file-20211104-15-cmb90y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Virtual arts classes can help foster social interaction for older adults who feel isolated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Positive feedback</h2>
<p>To measure program effectiveness, the project team offered an anonymous survey to participants that asked them to provide feedback on their experience and satisfaction with the program. Virtual focus groups were also held at the end of the sessions with the project team and the artists to evaluate the program and to identify strengths, opportunities for improvement and the overall sustainability of offering a similar program in the future. The distance that clients would have needed to travel for this program if virtual access was not available was also tracked.</p>
<p>Participant and artist feedback confirmed that the program was successful in engaging participants and enhancing their quality of life. Participants enjoyed the sessions, interacted with others and felt included in the art sessions. Participants were interested in participating in future sessions, and 90 per cent would recommend the program to family and friends. One participant’s feedback reflected the success of the program:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The artist was fantastic. I felt very relaxed once we got started. And it was so nice to see the other ladies and man on the screen. It was like having company in my house: but I didn’t have to clean up!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Artist feedback was also very positive, with all of the artist respondents receiving participant feedback that they were engaged in the sessions and enjoyed it. The findings support further program offerings and the possible expansion of the program. One artist wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I am grateful for the braveness of the participants who stepped into something new! I was amazed to see and feel a shift from ‘chaos’ to ‘calmness’ from the participants after we settled into the activities and a sense of ‘confidence’ by the end. It was great when participants could share their audio and video so we could directly connect in those ways.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Alleviating social isolation</h2>
<p>While the pandemic altered both program delivery and recruitment, and decreased the expected participation, overall the program was a success. Even the small number of attendees represented a significant impact on saved travel time and cost. </p>
<p>Collectively, the participants would have had to travel 3,836 kilometres (return) if they had attended in-person art sessions. It is the hope that art-based projects like this will continue to be explored as an option for improving older adult social isolation and positively benefiting health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dawn Pittman has received funding from NL SUPPORT.
The SmART Aging project was supported by a SPARK grant from CABHI</span></em></p>Social isolation in older adults can contribute to negative health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this, but an arts-based program can alleviate some of the loneliness.Dawn Pittman, PhD Student, Nursing, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1685482021-11-01T12:27:19Z2021-11-01T12:27:19ZCOVID-19 threatens the already shaky status of arts education in schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427842/original/file-20211021-19-mpwsjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5182%2C3680&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As more normalcy returns to schools, will arts education programs rebound?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/giani-clarke-a-senior-at-wilson-high-school-during-her-news-photo/1306725559">Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents can watch their kids draw and paint at home or perform in school music concerts and dance recitals. But they may not know how their school arts program compares with others around the country.</p>
<p>As a music education professor and a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hKa909sAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researcher who studies arts education policies</a>, I know that access to and the quality of arts programs vary greatly among states, districts and even schools within the same district.</p>
<p>Additionally, I see that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2021.1931599">disruptions from the pandemic</a> are threatening the already <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2010.490776">tenuous status</a> of the arts in public schools.</p>
<h2>Who gets to study art and music?</h2>
<p>Music education first made its way into American public schools in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40318321">Boston in the 1830s</a>. It started with singing instruction, with instrumental music to follow later in the century. Today, arts programs in K-12 schools include visual arts, music, theater, dance and multimedia or design.</p>
<p>A congressionally mandated <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011078">study from 2011</a> offers a snapshot of what’s available to kids. Back then, 94% of public elementary schools reported that they offered music instruction, and 83% offered visual arts. Theater (4%) and dance (3%) were much less common.</p>
<p>Data also shows that, at least at the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2020.1773365">high school level</a>, larger schools and traditional public schools offer more arts courses than do smaller schools and private or charter schools.</p>
<p>But the more locally one looks, the more disparities emerge. For example, only <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012014rev.pdf">22% of high schools</a> with high concentrations of poverty offer five or more visual arts courses, compared with 56% of high schools with low concentrations of poverty. Some evidence suggests schools with mostly white students offer <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2014.914389">significantly more music offerings</a> than schools in the same metropolitan area that serve mostly students of color.</p>
<p>Disparities also exist in terms of how qualified arts teachers are in different schools. In Utah, for example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2014.944967">fewer than 10%</a> of elementary school students receive music instruction from certified specialists. And in my own analysis of music education in Michigan in 2017-2018, I found only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429421989961">two-thirds of urban schools</a> had certified music teachers, compared with almost 90% of suburban schools.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Boy wearing a blue shirt and face mask paints a piece of wood outside as a man wearing a pink shirt and orange baseball cap offers direction" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428829/original/file-20211027-21-1gotzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428829/original/file-20211027-21-1gotzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428829/original/file-20211027-21-1gotzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428829/original/file-20211027-21-1gotzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428829/original/file-20211027-21-1gotzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428829/original/file-20211027-21-1gotzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428829/original/file-20211027-21-1gotzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visual arts and music classes are common in public elementary schools, while theater and dance are rare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tim-gibson-center-gives-direction-to-a-4th-grader-working-news-photo/1279154819">Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cuts to instruction</h2>
<p>These findings offer clues to how the arts are currently positioned in U.S. schools. </p>
<p>Although the arts were considered a core subject in the 2001 federal <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/1">No Child Left Behind Act</a>, they were not factored into annual testing or related sanctions against underperforming schools. As a result, instructional time in the arts was <a href="https://arteducators-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/448/bf6db6ff-3e19-4642-8f33-93415c74810b.pdf?1452927747">cut back</a>. </p>
<p>In two studies from 2007 to 2008, schools indicated that they had cut an average of <a href="https://www.ewa.org/report/choices-changes-and-challenges-curriculum-and-instruction-nclb-era">145 minutes per week</a> across the nontested subjects, lunch and recess. Where visual art and music were cut back, it was for an average of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3200/AEPR.109.6.23-28">57 minutes per week</a>.</p>
<p>Because states determine curricular requirements and other policies, the landscape varies. <a href="https://c0arw235.caspio.com/dp/b7f9300062f044d142eb469b83ba?state=Arkansas">Arkansas</a>, for example, requires 40 minutes of elementary school art and music per week, while <a href="https://c0arw235.caspio.com/dp/b7f9300062f044d142eb469b83ba?state=Michigan">Michigan</a> has no requirement for either. Only <a href="https://www.ecs.org/artscan-at-a-glance/">32 states</a> consider the arts a core subject.</p>
<p>Furthermore, a school superintendent’s priorities may be the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429412474313">deciding factor</a> in whether a school district’s arts education is robust or merely an afterthought. In a 2017 study I did on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429417739855">arts education in Lansing, Michigan</a>, a midsized school district that had cut staff to fill a budgetary gap, I found elementary schools offered a single music and art class once every eight weeks.</p>
<h2>Benefits of arts education</h2>
<p>Arts education has been associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-381460-9.00012-2">increased cognitive ability</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000376">academic achievement</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264180789-en">creative thinking</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2015.1086915">school engagement</a> and so-called “soft skills” like <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED598203">compassion for others</a>. However, many of these studies are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632910109600008">correlational rather than causal</a>. It may be that more advanced and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429413485601">more privileged</a> students pursued arts education in the first place. </p>
<p>Still, research on the benefits of the arts has spurred many schools to invest in <a href="https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/articles-and-how-tos/articles/collections/arts-integration-resources/what-is-arts-integration/">arts integration</a>. This approach marries arts content with traditional academic subjects. For example, students might <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858420902712">learn history though theater performances</a>. Other policies aim to use <a href="http://turnaroundarts.kennedy-center.org/">arts integration and artist residencies</a> to improve test scores, attendance, graduation rates and other metrics.</p>
<p>Some arts education advocates have <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3399646">pushed back</a> with a rallying cry of “art for art’s sake.” They worry that if arts education is always justified by its impact on math and reading achievement, it may be viewed as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20299381">nice but not necessary</a>.</p>
<p>More recently, arts education proponents talk about access to a well-rounded, rich curriculum as an <a href="https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/legislation-policy/naappd/arts-facts-access-to-arts-education-in-not-equitable-2017">equity issue</a>. This has led large districts in <a href="https://www.ingenuity-inc.org/">Chicago</a>, <a href="https://www.creativeadvantageseattle.org/">Seattle</a>, <a href="https://www.edvestors.org/bps-arts-expansion/">Boston</a> and <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Study/88827">Houston</a> to slowly chip away at disparities in arts education.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="High school students sing in individual green tents during choir class" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427845/original/file-20211021-23-1r8arvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427845/original/file-20211021-23-1r8arvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427845/original/file-20211021-23-1r8arvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427845/original/file-20211021-23-1r8arvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427845/original/file-20211021-23-1r8arvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427845/original/file-20211021-23-1r8arvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427845/original/file-20211021-23-1r8arvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">COVID-19 changed how students participate in arts classes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/choir-director-dawn-mccormick-leads-students-keyonna-page-news-photo/1231401397">David Ryder/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>COVID-19 and arts education</h2>
<p>Hands-on arts classes made for an awkward fit with remote learning when schools suspended in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2021.1931597">Many music teachers reported</a> that they were told not to hold live virtual classes with students, and that their students did not engage much with their assignments.</p>
<p>Yet when schools returned to in-person instruction, frustrations and confusion continued to abound. After a community choir rehearsal in Washington state turned into a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/13/us/coronavirus-washington-choir-outbreak-trnd/index.html">superspreader event</a>, singing and playing wind instruments <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/will-coronavirus-silence-school-bands-and-choirs/2020/08">were banned</a> in many schools. In visual arts classes, the sharing of materials was an issue. And across schools, arts teachers were limited by social distancing restrictions and guidelines around keeping groups of students separated. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Preliminary results of a survey I’m conducting suggest that high school music class enrollment has suffered during the pandemic. This may be as a result of students <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-trends-in-public-school-enrollment-due-to-covid-19-168911">exiting the public school system</a> or of safety concerns regarding singing and performing in large groups.</p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>As more normalcy returns to schools, will arts education programs rebound? Two forces may help determine the answer.</p>
<p>On one hand, the concern over so-called <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/central/blog/mitigating-learning-loss.asp">learning loss</a> is pushing school districts to invest in extra tutoring and coaching in traditionally tested subjects like math and English language arts. As in the aftermath of No Child Left Behind, this could crowd out instructional time for the arts.</p>
<p>However, the pandemic has also drawn more attention to <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-returning-to-school-with-anxiety-grief-and-gaps-in-social-skills-will-there-be-enough-school-mental-health-resources-165279">mental health and student wellness</a>. Arts classrooms may provide a <a href="https://artsedsel.org">natural place</a> for <a href="https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/">social and emotional learning</a> because of the focus on collaboration, goal-setting and emotional expression. </p>
<p>There are also government and nonprofit efforts to <a href="https://www.amacad.org/publication/case-for-arts-education">make arts education more consistent</a> across the country. Proposed legislation like the <a href="https://oregonculture.org/2021/04/encouraging-words-from-congresswoman-bonamici/">Arts Education for All Act</a> would expand arts education in K-12 public schools and require more data reporting on arts achievement at the state and federal levels.</p>
<p>For now, access to school arts education remains unequal in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic could help focus attention on these inequities and spur solutions, or it could further complicate the perennially shaky footing of the arts in schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168548/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan D. Shaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even before the pandemic, access to arts programs and qualified instructors varied greatly among schools and districts.Ryan D. Shaw, Assistant Professor of Music Education, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1698222021-10-27T02:50:10Z2021-10-27T02:50:10ZCan artists revive dead city centres? Without long-term tenancies it’s window dressing<p>After 18 months of lockdown, the City of Melbourne is understandably anxious to get people back to the CBD and inner areas. Commercial vacancy rates are high, international student numbers have plummeted and the streets are dead. </p>
<p>The council’s $A2.6 million <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/news-and-media/Pages/Creatives-to-fill-shopfronts-and-bring-back-the-buzz.aspx">plan to provide</a> “creatives and entrepreneurs” with “flexible, short-term licence agreements” should, however, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/empty-shops-an-opportunity-for-creative-revival-but-planning-is-key-20201022-p567im.html">ring alarm bells</a>. </p>
<p>You can’t just add instant culture to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877916614000447">activate an area</a>. These kinds of efforts are not just exploitative, there is no evidence that they work. </p>
<p>Temporary use arrangements in Australia keep artists on the edge of being thrown out at any time. </p>
<p>As the council CEO Justin Hanney <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-in-five-cbd-shops-vacant-but-some-are-seizing-opportunity-20211019-p5915s.html">notes</a>, artists will have the space month-to-month and the properties can be “taken back by the landlords/owners at any point in time”. </p>
<p>Serious cultural producers will tell you one of the most important components of their ability to work is security of tenure.</p>
<p>Perhaps unwittingly, though, the shopfront program may hold promise. Economists predict the current <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/short-term-pain-but-economists-predict-long-term-gain-for-melbourne-cbd-20211019-p5915h.html">economic slump</a> will persist for at least a year, meaning temporary users will likely be looking at a more meaningful time frame. </p>
<p>In addition, Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-in-five-cbd-shops-vacant-but-some-are-seizing-opportunity-20211019-p5915s.html">extension of the program</a> to “performance, new retail pop-ups, entrepreneurial activities, even community radio stations” opens out the field.</p>
<p>The program is part of the joint state government and council <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/news-and-media/Pages/%24100-million-boost-to-Melbourne%E2%80%99s-reopening.aspx">A$100m recovery fund</a>, in addition to the state’s <a href="https://creative.vic.gov.au/news/2021/new-targeted-support-for-creative-workers-and-organisations">$A15 million package</a> to support the hard hit creative sector. </p>
<p>These are positive initiatives. In crisis there is opportunity. Now, let’s think about how best to use this opening. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-all-but-killed-the-australian-cbd-147848">How COVID all but killed the Australian CBD</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="empty arcade in Melbourne's CBD" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Melbourne’s streets emptied during the city’s lockdowns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-12-april-2020-one-1702544935">Shutterstock.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What do artists actually need?</h2>
<p>Arts, music, performance and other cultural activities should be treated as neither saviours nor indicators of a city’s economic health. They exist in their own right, with many spin-off and flow-on effects for the city including associated anti-racist, anti-fascist, LGBTI+-welcoming, social, environmental and political activism. </p>
<p>The strength of a city’s cultural scene is not linked to its economic success. The exception is that the more successful the city becomes, the more the scene is at risk.</p>
<p>Some of the world’s best cultural scenes are in poorer cities: New Orleans, Chicago, Berlin. Some of the world’s best scenes that have since died were in cities that became rich: New York, London, Paris. In all of these cities, along with cities like Austin, Seattle, Brisbane and Melbourne, two key conditions existed for the seeds of those scenes to be sown. Plenty of space and cheap rent.</p>
<p>Cities known for their arts and cultural activity today make a point of supporting those scenes – such as in New Orleans with a stream of world famous festivals employing only local artists and paying them well – or still have land available for cultural use and cheap housing, such as in Chicago and Berlin.</p>
<p>But Berlin is changing rapidly. The city celebrated for its alternative scene is gentrifying, with vacancy rates shrinking and property prices and rents <a href="https://www.insidenetwork.com/the-berlin-real-estate-market-and-vacancy-rates/">increasing</a> (due more to the large tax incentives offered to companies to relocate to Germany’s capital than to any cultural activity). These trends place the scene <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/mar/15/club-closure-berlin-dance-east-west-germany-gentrification">under pressure</a>.</p>
<p>Cultural entrepreneurs are responding by <a href="https://www.holzmarkt.com/">buying their venues</a>, often with institutional assistance, before the land becomes too expensive. Housing activists are <a href="https://righttobuildtoolkit.org.uk/case-studies/spreefeld-genossenschaft-berlin/#">building their own co-ops</a>, and artists are campaigning effectively for <a href="https://www.themayor.eu/fr/a/view/hamburg-s-alliance-for-housing-is-here-to-fix-the-housing-crisis-8257?trans=en-US">more social housing</a>, <a href="https://www.thelocal.de/20210907/housing-is-a-human-right-rent-activists-step-up-pressure-ahead-of-german-elections">rent caps and freezes</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-09-23/berlin-referendum-targets-city-s-corporate-landlords">renationalisation</a> of private housing companies.</p>
<p>Most of these initiatives are aided by considerable financial or government support, with cultural producers and entrepreneurs recognised and respected members of civil society. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-artists-and-cultural-industries-recover-from-the-covid-19-disaster-149815">How to help artists and cultural industries recover from the COVID-19 disaster</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What could Melbourne do?</h2>
<p>Melbourne’s large cultural scene has been fighting gentrification for decades. Organisations such as <a href="http://fairgo4livemusic.com/">Fair Go for Live Music</a>, <a href="https://www.bakehousestudios.com.au/slam">Save Live Australia’s Music</a> and most recently, <a href="https://www.saveourscene.com.au/">Save Our Scene</a> have clearly shown the threats from economic growth to local culture. Until very recently, government support has been sorely lacking. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1446974770634010630"}"></div></p>
<p>But in the current economic climate, with vacancy rates higher and property prices and rents lower than they have been for years in the inner-city and stricken CBD, a real opportunity exists to literally as well as metaphorically embed the scene in the city’s fabric. </p>
<p>Part of the $A100 million recovery fund should provide deposits and guarantees for artist and artist-collective purchases of inner-city property. That would take those places out of the market and secure a place for the arts for the long term. </p>
<p>The state government and council could broker secure, long-term leases for cultural producers, using influence and incentives to negotiate reasonable rentals that would give owners secure, long-term revenue streams. </p>
<p>They could help venues, performance spaces, galleries and cinemas to fully open up again. Permanent arts spaces could be secured in the <a href="https://www.nicholasbuilding.org.au/">Nicholas Building</a> – a hive of cultural production right on the doorstep of the Town Hall. </p>
<p>The Nicholas Building <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/oct/12/the-only-place-like-it-in-the-world-why-the-nicholas-building-is-the-creative-heart-of-melbourne">is on the market</a>, and artists fear they may lose it to development. Could it, instead, enter into public or collective ownership? </p>
<p>The pandemic-induced slump will pass and Australia’s cities will come to life again. They are stable and secure places to invest. Students will return, vacancies will decline and commercial and residential rents will increase, irrespective of the health of arts and culture.</p>
<p>Now is the time to act. If Melbourne’s state and city governments do not take the chance now to value what we are lucky to still have, we may lose it forever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Shaw has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, and the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius Gastwissenschaftsprogramm für Stadtforschung an der HCU (Fellows Program
for Urban Research at HafenCity University Hamburg) .</span></em></p>City centres have been hit hard by lockdown measures - but can artists and entrepreneurs really breathe life into the space?Kate Shaw, Honorary Senior Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1691272021-10-18T12:11:42Z2021-10-18T12:11:42ZHow to nurture creativity in your kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426475/original/file-20211014-7324-1u31syx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4998%2C3344&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Creativity has many academic, professional and personal benefits.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/four-children-drawing-with-chalk-on-pavement-royalty-free-image/AB15713">Stephen Simpson/Stone Collection via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents who want their kids to be more creative may be tempted to enroll them in arts classes or splurge on STEM-themed toys. Those things certainly can help, but as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OzW_dWUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">professor of educational psychology</a> who has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316979839">written</a> <a href="https://www.springerpub.com/creativity-101-9780826129529.html">extensively</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688">about creativity</a>, I can draw on more than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/h0063487">70 years of creativity research</a> to make additional suggestions that are more likely to be effective – and won’t break your budget. </p>
<h2>1. Be cautious with rewards</h2>
<p>Some parents may be tempted to reward their children for being creative, which is traditionally defined as producing something that is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3902_1">both new and useful</a>. However, rewards and praise may actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.1.14">dissuade your child’s intrinsic interest</a> in being creative. That’s because the activity may become <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9780306420221">associated with the reward and not the fun</a> the child naturally has doing it. </p>
<p>Of course, I am not saying you should not place your child’s artwork on your fridge. But avoid being too general – “I love every bit of it!” – or too focused on their innate traits – “You are so creative!” Instead, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316832134.028">praise specific aspects</a> that you like in your child’s artwork – “I love the way you made such a cute tail on that dog!” or “The way you combined colors here is pretty!” </p>
<p>Some rewards can be helpful. For example, for a child who loves to draw, giving them materials that they might use in their artwork is an example of a reward that will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316979839.020">help them stay creative</a>. </p>
<p>It is also important to note that there are many activities – creative or otherwise – for which a child may not have a particular interest. There is no harm – and much potential benefit – in using rewards in these cases. If a child has an assignment for a creative school activity and hates doing it, there may not be any inherent passion to be dampened in the first place.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Boy draws at table partially covered with art supplies" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426576/original/file-20211014-7324-vetody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426576/original/file-20211014-7324-vetody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426576/original/file-20211014-7324-vetody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426576/original/file-20211014-7324-vetody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426576/original/file-20211014-7324-vetody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426576/original/file-20211014-7324-vetody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426576/original/file-20211014-7324-vetody.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If a child already enjoys a creative activity, offering rewards or nonspecific praise for it may actually dampen their enthusiasm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-boy-at-home-drawing-at-the-table-royalty-free-image/1257515701">Noel Hendrickson/DigitalVision Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Encourage curiosity and new experiences</h2>
<p>Research shows that people who are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316228036">open to new experiences and ideas</a> are more creative than those who are more closed off. Many parents have children who naturally <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2014.07.004">seek new things</a>, such as food, activities, games or playmates. In these cases, simply continue to offer opportunities and encouragement. </p>
<p>For those whose children may be more reticent, there are options. Although personality is theoretically stable, it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.694157">possible to change</a> it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000088">in subtle ways</a>. For example, a study – although it was on older adults – found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025918">crossword or sudoku puzzles</a> can help increase openness. Childhood and adolescence is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1">natural period for openness to grow</a>. Encouraging curiosity and intellectual engagement is one way. Other ways might include encouraging sensible risk-taking – such as trying a new sport for a less athletic child or a new instrument for one less musically inclined – or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022110361707">interest in other cultures</a>. Even very simple variations on an evening routine, whether trying a new craft or board game or helping cook dinner, can help normalize novelty. </p>
<h2>3. Help them evaluate their best ideas</h2>
<p>What about when children are actually being creative? Most people have heard of brainstorming or other activities where <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/divergent-thinking">many different ideas are generated</a>. Yet it is equally important to be able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1803_13">evaluate and select one’s best idea</a>. </p>
<p>Your child might think of 30 possible solutions to a problem, but their creativity will not be expressed if they select the one that’s least interesting – or least actionable. If giving praise can be tricky, feedback can be even tougher. If you are too harsh, you risk <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1037/a0036618">squashing your child’s passion</a> for being creative. Yet if you are too soft, your child may not develop their creativity <a href="https://doi.org/10.2190/EM.28.1.b">to the fullest extent possible</a>.</p>
<p>If your child seeks out your input – which in adults can be a <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.64870144">good indicator of creativity</a> – make sure to give feedback <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410802391827">after they have already brainstormed</a> many possible ideas. Ideally, you can ensure your child still feels competent and focus on <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487">feedback that connects to their past efforts</a>: “I like the imagery you used in your poem; you are getting better! What other metaphors might you use in this last line?”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl walks over an aerial bridge made of rope and planks surrounded by trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426574/original/file-20211014-28-ysbysf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426574/original/file-20211014-28-ysbysf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426574/original/file-20211014-28-ysbysf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426574/original/file-20211014-28-ysbysf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426574/original/file-20211014-28-ysbysf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426574/original/file-20211014-28-ysbysf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426574/original/file-20211014-28-ysbysf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More guarded kids may need to be encouraged to try new foods or activities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/girl-walks-through-one-of-the-circuits-of-the-aventura-news-photo/1335426205">Rafael Bastante/Europa Press via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Teach them when not to be creative</h2>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2013.799413">creativity isn’t always the best option</a>. Sometimes, straightforward solutions simply work best. If the toilet is clogged and you have a plunger, you don’t need to make your own from a coat hanger and bisected rubber duck. </p>
<p>More notably, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj0801_1">some people</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2005.tb01247.x">including teachers</a>, say they like creative people but actually have negative views of creative kids without even realizing it. </p>
<p>If your child is in a class where their creativity is causing some blowback, such as discipline issues or lowered grades, you may want to work with your child to help them understand the best course of action. For example, if your child is prone to blurt out their ideas regardless of whether they are related to the discussion at hand, emphasize that they should <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2014.905247">share thoughts that are directly relevant</a> to the class topic. </p>
<p>If, however, you get the feeling that the teacher simply does not appreciate or like your child’s creativity, you may want to suggest that your child keep an “idea parking lot” where they <a href="https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789462091498/BP000003.xml">write down their creative thoughts</a> and share them with you – or a different teacher – later in the day.</p>
<p>Creativity has a host of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000433">academic</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2001.tb00234.x">professional</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618771981">personal</a> benefits. With some gentle nudges, you can help your child grow and use their imagination to their heart’s content.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James C. Kaufman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Art classes and STEM toys are nice, but there are simple and free ways parents can encourage their child’s creativity – or keep it from getting squashed.James C. Kaufman, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1658972021-08-18T06:47:38Z2021-08-18T06:47:38ZHow Indonesian young creative workers in Yogyakarta stay productive amid the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416286/original/file-20210816-23-1o44o5i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Danastri Rizqi Nabilah, a filmmaker from Yogyakarta – a city in Indonesia known for its education and art – has no choice but to sell snacks after losing up to 40% of her income during the pandemic.</p>
<p>The 29-year-old usually travels between Yogyakarta and Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, for a number of projects. However, COVID-19 has forced her to stay in her home town.</p>
<p>“I received an offer from a film producer. Of course I accepted. But now I have to tend to my small catering business too,” she said when we interviewed her last October.</p>
<p>Danastri is one of <a href="https://bisnis.tempo.co/read/1221592/faktor-penyebab-pertumbuhan-industri-kreatif-di-yogya-tinggi">172,000 creative workers in Yogyakarta</a> who have had to seek alternative sources of income to make ends meet and continue their artistic endeavours.</p>
<p>The pandemic has battered the arts and culture sector in Indonesia. Many producers and organizers have been forced to cancel events, concerts and movie releases.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.sindikasi.org/wp-content/uploads/SurveyFreelanceCovid_Content_200415.pdf">survey</a> by the Jakarta-based creative workers’ collective, SINDIKASI, shows nearly half (42%) of 144 respondents have had to rely on their personal savings to get by, while 22% have had to borrow money from friends and family.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://pair.australiaindonesiacentre.org/research/young-people/creative-economy-how-young-creative-workers-in-yogyakarta-are-dealing-with-covid-19">our latest research</a>, we sought to understand how the pandemic has impacted young creative workers who make up around 18% of the total number of people working in Indonesia’s creative sector. The economic contribution of this sector amounted to <a href="https://www.kemenparekraf.go.id/asset_admin/assets/uploads/media/pdf/media_1598879701_BUKU_BEKRAF_28-8-2020.pdf">nearly 5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019</a>.</p>
<p>The study was done in Yogyakarta, home to the largest community of creative workers in Indonesia. The province contributed Rp 3.3 trillion (around US$208 million) to the national economy in 2016 – the largest among the country’s many provinces.</p>
<p>We found a combination of many factors determine how these creative workers in Yogyakarta respond to the pandemic. These factors include demographic background, social class, network and artistic capabilities. </p>
<p>In turn, these factors help the creative workers seek the best strategies to stay productive in these turbulent times.</p>
<h2>Turbulent times in Yogyakarta</h2>
<p>Our team conducted in-depth interviews with 30 young workers in Yogyakarta from a number of creative fields such as film, dance, photography, fashion, music and theatre.</p>
<p>Due to COVID-19, we selected informants and held all focus group discussions online.</p>
<p>These interviews and discussions were held in October 2020, so the study captures the conditions in Yogyakarta after eight months of the pandemic.</p>
<p>We found the coping strategies of these creative workers vary.</p>
<p>Some were caught off guard by the pandemic and forced to postpone their plans and projects. Some even developed signs of social anxiety and are still reeling from the effects of lockdowns and social restrictions. </p>
<p>Others chose to remain patient and observe how the industry will adapt, while relying on their personal savings to cover daily expenses. The rest found new sources of income and business opportunities.</p>
<p>We found a number of factors affected which of these responses were taken by Yogyakarta’s diverse community of young artists. These factors included their social class, artistic skills and professional networks.</p>
<p>As their incomes have shrunk while their savings remain limited, a large chunk of our informants have had to try their luck in other sectors to survive during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Meyda Bestari (27), a producer for a small puppet theatre group in Yogyakarta, has had to work as a translator and web consultant to scrape by. Her husband Rangga, who also studies theatre in the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta, on the other hand, is growing a gecko-breeding business, which has saved them financially.</p>
<p>This is also what Danastri experienced. However, despite the many limitations imposed by the pandemic, Danastri is able to stay productive as she has access to a solid network of some of the best filmmaking communities in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. This allows her to continue working on a number of productions.</p>
<p>Professional connections with other artists determine what options these young creative workers have to continue working on projects during the pandemic.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415403/original/file-20210810-19-rx5v7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415403/original/file-20210810-19-rx5v7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415403/original/file-20210810-19-rx5v7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415403/original/file-20210810-19-rx5v7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415403/original/file-20210810-19-rx5v7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415403/original/file-20210810-19-rx5v7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415403/original/file-20210810-19-rx5v7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Irwanda Putra (24) is a professional dancer involved in this study. In March 2021, Irwanda performed his solo composition in the 8x3 Festival held by the research team.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Documentation of the Youth Studies Centre, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ObO_vq472v8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Irwanda’s performance in the 8x3 Festival.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Agni Tirta (35), a filmmaker based in Yogyakarta, is the founder of the <a href="https://belantara-films.business.site/">Belantara Film</a> production house and also the head of the Yogyakarta Filmmakers’ Community (<a href="https://paguyubanfilmmakerjogja.wordpress.com/"><em>Paguyuban Filmmaker Jogja</em></a>, or PFJ)</p>
<p>During the pandemic, Agni says they have lost a number of jobs. However, their years of relations with officials in the city’s Department of Culture has helped them find new work opportunities.</p>
<p>With the PFJ, Agni managed to arrange funding from the department to support filmmakers in Yogyakarta during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Agni’s extensive experience in Yogyakarta’s filmmaking scene has helped him build the network and reputation needed to get by in challenging times.</p>
<p>However, the story of Yogyakarta-based musician Adrian Muhammad (31) paints a different picture and proves that just having musical capabilities may not be enough.</p>
<p>Adrian is part of a well-known orchestra in Jakarta, but he was forced to return to his home town after all his shows and projects were cancelled.</p>
<p>Despite his proven skills as a musician, Adrian now has to start from the bottom again in Yogyakarta. He does not have a solid professional network of artists, as is the case with Agni and Danastri.</p>
<p>While looking for opportunities, the father of two even dipped his toes in a number of attempts at business, including selling frozen food and used cars.</p>
<p>However, his instinct for music leads him to come up with fresh artistic ideas from time to time. </p>
<p>“I have plans to compose songs for children […] such as [the famous Indonesian children’s song] <em>Naik-Naik ke Puncak Gunung</em>, and collaborate with other artists who can make animations,” he said.</p>
<h2>Is there hope ahead?</h2>
<p>From the findings above, we conclude that young creative workers in Yogyakarta possess a strong drive to get through the pandemic. With all the limitations due to social restrictions, they have still managed to adapt to challenges in their respective fields.</p>
<p>Some have even successfully created new strategies to stay productive during the pandemic.</p>
<p>However, the stories we gathered from these creative workers show a need for the government to better support Indonesian artists.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415402/original/file-20210810-27-15o3rrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415402/original/file-20210810-27-15o3rrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415402/original/file-20210810-27-15o3rrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415402/original/file-20210810-27-15o3rrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415402/original/file-20210810-27-15o3rrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415402/original/file-20210810-27-15o3rrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415402/original/file-20210810-27-15o3rrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This creative exhibition is part of the 8X3 Festival. The event is a collaboration between the research team and young creative workers involved in this study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Documentation of the Youth Studies Centre, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From their experiences, we note the urgency of sustaining various collectives that can help young creative workers stay connected with not only each other but also national and global stakeholders in the creative economy.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective">collectives</a> include but are not limited to groups of individuals who work together, share connections and collaborate on projects.</p>
<p>Establishing sustainable collectives will help young creative workers by tapping into the network and artistic assets of its members, particularly in challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>Young creative workers can use these collectives to better communicate and share information on jobs and project opportunities. They can access its members’ digital talents – something that has grown in importance as the economy becomes increasingly online. Collectives can also drive artists to keep innovating and finding new ways to show their art.</p>
<p>We hope that, through these initiatives, Yogyakarta can be a site for a pilot project to create a sustainable creative ecosystem. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This research is funded by the Australian government through the <a href="https://pair.australiaindonesiacentre.org/">PAIR program</a> facilitated by the Australia-Indonesia Centre (AIC)</em>.</p>
<p><em>The Australia-Indonesia Centre (AIC) supports The Conversation Indonesia (TCID) in the publication of this article</em>.</p>
<p><em>The article has been updated to correct the name of one of the respondents. It should be Danastri Rizqi Nabilah, and not Danastri Rizky Nabilah as previously stated.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oki Rahadianto Sutopo receives funding from the Australia-Indonesia Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annisa R. Beta receives funding from the Australia-Indonesia Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ariane Utomo receives funding from the Australia-Indonesia Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregorius Wibawanto receives funding from the Australia-Indonesia Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Novi Kurnia receives funding from the Australia-Indonesia Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Brown is a member of the Australia Indonesia Business Council (AIBC). Her start-up, Bisnis Asia, received Australian government funding for research on foreign investment in collaboration with CIPS Indonesia. She works for The Australia-Indonesia Centre, which is funded by the Australian Government.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marlene Millott is employed by The Australia-Indonesia Centre which receives funding from the Australian Government.</span></em></p>The pandemic has battered the arts and culture sector in Indonesia. Many producers and organizers have been forced to cancel events, concerts and movie releases.Oki Rahadianto Sutopo, Executive Director of Youth Studies Centre, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Gadjah Mada Annisa R. Beta, Lecturer in Cultural Studies, School of Culture and Communication, Faculty of Arts, The University of MelbourneAriane Utomo, Lecturer in Demography and Population Geography, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of MelbourneGregorius Ragil Wibawanto, Lecturer at Department of Sociology, Fisipol UGM., Universitas Gadjah Mada Novi Kurnia, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Gadjah Mada Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1630572021-07-15T14:51:57Z2021-07-15T14:51:57ZArts venues set the stage for wonder, the critical sense we need for post-pandemic innovation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410009/original/file-20210706-21-y3rqm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C1296%2C3973%2C2149&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Instructional sign, Boston Museum of Fine Arts. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Peng/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://fortune.com/2021/03/09/covid-pandemic-how-life-has-changed-coronavirus-one-year-later-march-2020/">has changed everything</a>, from how <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-01/return-to-office-employees-are-quitting-instead-of-giving-up-work-from-home">we work</a> and <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/07/the-pandemic-is-rewriting-the-rules-of-retail">shop to</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-a-year-of-zoom-meetings-well-need-to-rebuild-trust-through-eye-contact-160405">how we communicate</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2347631120983481">and learn</a>.</p>
<p>Worryingly, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/05/17/the-politics-of-choosing-winners-and-losers-with-taxpayer-money.html">governments have overtaken market forces</a> in deciding economic winners and losers, with <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-when-the-musics-over-covid-19-decimated-the-arts-in-canada-and-the/">arts spaces</a> ending up among the biggest losers despite well-documented evidence that the <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/nea-arts-economic-study-1484587">sector is a major driver of growth</a>.</p>
<p>Aside from their direct economic contributions, we need arts venues to recover because they are the optimal stages to refine a sense of wonder. Wonder is the sense of “wow” emerging when our abilities to neatly explain or categorize what we are seeing fail. It is an indicator that our mental frames have been broken by new content. </p>
<p>It’s also a feeling of discontent with the status quo, turning our attention to unrealized potential: future customers, possible innovations, new alliances. It encourages us to think about the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000018">collective dimensions</a> of our identity and efforts. It’s a force that transforms.</p>
<p>My research findings demonstrate how <a href="https://ecwpress.com/products/fifteen-paths">honing imagination and wonder</a> is essential to creating cultures dedicated to <a href="https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/dweitzne/">innovative and responsible corporate practices</a> demanded by a <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/banking-system-resilience-in-the-time-of-covid-19">growing majority</a> of workers. That is why any society hoping to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/12/fact-sheet-president-biden-and-g7-leaders-launch-build-back-better-world-b3w-partnership/">build back better</a> must start by supporting their arts venues, the training ground for wonder. </p>
<h2>Activating wonder</h2>
<p>In researching my new book, <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487508425/connected-capitalism/"><em>Connected Capitalism: How Jewish Wisdom Can Transform Work</em></a>, I took a deep dive into the critical role that wonder plays in building innovative cultures. </p>
<p>Our work lives must provide not only financial rewards, but intellectual meaning, emotional connection and awe-inducing wonder. Most of us are familiar with the first two, desiring meaning in the work we do and valuing the connections that emerge from co-operative partnerships formed in the workplace. </p>
<p>But wonder is often a blind spot. Many of the executives and policy-makers I interviewed operate under the misguided belief that activating wonder somehow requires us to detach from the challenges of the material world.</p>
<p>While we may not name it as such, many of us experience wonder in concert halls, galleries and theatres, spaces where we encounter weird sounds, unusual colours and strange ideas. Honing a sense of wonder in the unique setting of arts venues will equip us for the type of rebuilding demanded by turbulent times.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A light bulb against a pink sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410010/original/file-20210706-13-12yzzky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410010/original/file-20210706-13-12yzzky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410010/original/file-20210706-13-12yzzky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410010/original/file-20210706-13-12yzzky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410010/original/file-20210706-13-12yzzky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410010/original/file-20210706-13-12yzzky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410010/original/file-20210706-13-12yzzky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wonder encourages us to think about the collective dimensions of our identity and efforts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sixteen Miles Out/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Journey without a known outcome</h2>
<p>My last book, <a href="https://ecwpress.com/products/fifteen-paths"><em>Fifteen Paths</em></a>, documents the year I spent learning about the power of wonder and imagination by hanging out with iconoclastic artists. In the spring of 2019, to celebrate the book’s release, I organized events with some of the artists, inviting audiences to join our unrestricted conversations about politics, capitalism and creativity. We met at concert halls and galleries in Toronto, San Francisco, and Brooklyn, N.Y. — in the latter case, at the now-shuttered art space Rough Trade, a painful reminder today of the cost the pandemic has had on independent arts.</p>
<p>At Rough Trade, a few months before the pandemic, Sonic Youth’s <a href="http://www.sonicyouth.com/symu/lee/">Lee Ranaldo</a> explained to me how, when we go to a gallery to experience an art exhibit or head to a theatre to attend a concert, we are committing to a journey without a known or definitive outcome. </p>
<p>That simple act is the initial step in stimulating a sense of wonder. Pursuing an experience as an ends in itself is antithetical to outcome-focused business environments where there is concern about “<a href="https://hbr.org/2020/03/building-a-culture-of-experimentation">getting off-track</a>” with experimentation. As Ranaldo said, “that’s where innovation comes … when you are threatening the stability of things and knocking some plates off their spindles you are potentially pushing the conversation, and therefore the culture, forward.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three men standing next to each other in a line with arms around each other in a black and white photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408006/original/file-20210623-27-gj41f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408006/original/file-20210623-27-gj41f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408006/original/file-20210623-27-gj41f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408006/original/file-20210623-27-gj41f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408006/original/file-20210623-27-gj41f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408006/original/file-20210623-27-gj41f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408006/original/file-20210623-27-gj41f8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From left, Lee Ranaldo, David Weitzner and Nels Cline at Rough Trade in Brooklyn, N.Y.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allen Ying)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Getting over fear of the unknown</h2>
<p>Also in Brooklyn, Wilco’s <a href="https://www.nelscline.com/">Nels Cline</a> discussed another point in the wonder journey: getting over the fear when facing the unknown. He compared it to the aversion one might have to off-putting sounds. But sharpening our sense of wonder empowers us to stick with the discomfort and engage in potentially radical explorations.</p>
<p>Improvising live music only emerges when artists embrace discomfort. Cline hopes that non-musicians open themselves up to wonder, knowing that if we’re not feeling a little uncomfortable or uncertain, then we’re probably not in the process of creating something transformational.</p>
<p>As policy-makers begin executing post-pandemic reopening strategies, they need to know arts venues matter not just because of the revenue they generate, which could be replicated by replacement industries, but because of the societal resources they are uniquely positioned to develop.</p>
<p>Consequently, it’s critical to make entry to arts venues accessible. Prior to the pandemic, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ago-annual-pass-permanent-1.5373672">the Art Gallery of Ontario</a> announced plans to either eliminate or dramatically lower admissions fees, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-01-10/moca-free-admission">joining other galleries</a> with similar approaches. Such efforts need to be continued, despite the near-term funding crunch.</p>
<h2>Go experience art</h2>
<p>Equally important, however, is the type of work audiences encounter once inside the admission gates. Curators and artistic directors should not shy away from programs that may be disorienting or uncomfortable to a popular audience because that’s the path to wonder. Wonder occurs precisely when what confronts us is difficult to process, interpret or immediately understand.</p>
<p>Arts managers have always faced the challenging trade-off between artistic integrity and the ability to reach a larger audience. But if what we’ve said about wonder is true, there’s reason to hope opting for the former will serve the latter. Audiences will seek out the opportunity to experience the mysterious or disturbing elements of art as practice for navigating a turbulent business environment.</p>
<p>As for the rest of us: Go experience art, especially if it was not a pre-pandemic habit! While this prescription might strike some as an oversimplification, many of us don’t have the opportunity to hone our sense of wonder. </p>
<p>In the business world, we’re told these feelings slow down strategy execution and <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/09/the-business-case-for-curiosity">raise the costs</a> of doing business. But efficiency is not a value that should be prioritized when rebuilding. Until wonder is welcomed in all work spaces, the health of our society is contingent on the ability to experience and refine the sense in artistic spaces.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Weitzner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Until wonder is welcomed in all workplaces, the health of our society and our capacity to imagine new alternatives is contingent on the ability to experience and refine wonder in artistic spaces.David Weitzner, Assistant professor, Administrative Studies, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1638242021-07-03T10:53:17Z2021-07-03T10:53:17ZMichael Sheen is right – there is a class crisis in the arts<p>The actor Michael Sheen recently complained about the lack of opportunities in film and journalism for working-class people. Writing in the <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2021/06/michael-sheen-why-creative-industries-need-do-more-offer-others">New Statesman</a>, Sheen said that the path he had taken into the film industry – as a working-class young man from South Wales – has all but disappeared. But Sheen isn’t just complaining, he is doing something about it. </p>
<p>He’s started a creative arts scheme for people from working-class and under-represented communities. Sadly, he is right to be concerned. The latest Office for <a href="https://www.culturehive.co.uk/CVIresources/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-jobs-in-the-cultural-sector-part-2/?owner=CH">National Statistics Labour Force Survey data</a>, collected in the summer of 2020, suggests an ongoing class crisis in the arts. The screen industries, with which Sheen is closely associated, key roles are dominated by the middle classes. For producers and directors, 61% were middle class. In screen occupations, only 25% of the workforce is working class – the lowest proportion since this data was first collected in 2014. </p>
<p>Our research found that a complex blend of social inequalities, labour market failures, and outright discrimination are making these jobs so exclusive and keeping talented working-class people from making it.</p>
<h2>Early obstacles</h2>
<p>We know that low pay and work insecurity, the costs of education, and the importance of networks and nepotism, all influence who makes it in Britain’s screen sector. Yet there are more subtle barriers stopping working-class success. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.pec.ac.uk/research-reports/screened-out-tackling-class-inequality-in-the-uks-screen-industries">research</a> for The Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, and our recent book <a href="https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526144164/">Culture is Bad for You</a>, we found class inequality starts early in the life of our cultural workers. </p>
<p>Access to culture, both in school and extracurricular, was important in shaping whether a job in the screen sector would be plausible as a career. Unequal access to culture in childhood also had important implications later in life. Not having the “correct” cultural references shaped working-class origin workers’ sense of confidence in the workplace. It was also part of the feeling that they were not at home in the middle-class environment of the film set, the TV studio, or the office where productions are commissioned. </p>
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<p>While issues of unpaid work and internships have seen lots of <a href="https://www.creativetoolkit.org.uk/your-rights/nmw">policy</a>, screen sector, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1360780419895291">academic</a> attention, these unwritten cultural rules have not. One painful, example of this came in our interviewees’ discussions about discrimination as a result of their accents. </p>
<p>They told us their accents would be mocked and joked about in ways that went far beyond “playful banter”. Discrimination based on accent connects directly to well-known issues of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gwao.12318">sexism</a> and <a href="https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/jbctv.2020.0506">racism</a> in the screen industry. The markers of social class, such as someone’s accent, aggravate the injuries felt by women, people of colour and disabled people, as they struggle to get in and get on in the industry. </p>
<h2>Social barriers</h2>
<p>Even if the financial and social network barriers to success were solved, these cultural barriers would still exist. Consciously or not, those who are well connected via school and university, and are middle-class starting points, may <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0038038520982225">find new ways</a> to exclude those who make it into places that they dominate. This is not to say that more senior people working in cultural jobs actively seek to reinforce these inequalities, but what they say is often <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1367549419886020">at odds</a> with their practice.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.culturehive.co.uk/CVIresources/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-jobs-in-the-creative-and-cultural-sectors/?owner=CH">data</a> from the Centre for Cultural Value’s impact of COVID on the cultural sector project suggests 2020 saw huge numbers of job losses and reduced working hours in key parts of the cultural industries. While film and TV seem to be recovering from restrictions on working hours as a result of the first lockdown, music, performing and visual arts occupations saw the numbers of workers reduce by 55,000. The loss of a third of the workforce, the huge uncertainty about reopening and recovery, means the class crisis is only likely to get worse.</p>
<p>There is significant discussion of social mobility in relation to the government’s current “levelling up” <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/there-can-be-no-true-levelling-up-if-social-mobility-cold-spots-endure">agenda</a>. This sits alongside changes in the media industry, with the BBC’s new <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/24/bbc-set-targets-workforce-based-class-status/">focus</a> on social mobility and Channel 4 moving to <a href="https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-opens-business-leeds">Leeds</a>. These are starting points to address this class problem. The stories of discrimination will continue until there is a change in the culture of our cultural industries that are still comfortable excluding people because they are different from the dominant, middle-class norm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dave O'Brien receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Taylor receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Research has found that the arts industries are lacking working-class representation and that the barriers to entry start early in lifeDave O'Brien, Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries, University of SheffieldMark Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Methods, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.