Culture in crisis

The title of this article is purposefully a bit misleading. I am interested in what culture can do in times of wider societal crisis, rather than a state of crisis particular to culture itself. However, as recent events in the UK have shown, the two are necessarily linked. Culture is thrown into crisis, predominantly through the threat of reduced funding streams, the second the drawstrings of the pubic purse are pulled tight. But some cultural practitioners are also too quick to spell disaster for the sector and the potentially misleading title of this article is intended to press the question: what is the real crisis?

Over the past ten months as the first Artist Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme, I have been thinking about how artists can really make a difference in the societies they find themselves in. It seems to me that by examining what culture can do when the fabric of society is itself at risk, that we might learn something about the operation of culture more generally. In this regard, I was very interested to learn about the response of cultural institutions to the crisis in Japan when earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe created a national disaster.

The World Bank has estimated that the financial cost of the disaster could be in excess of US$235 billion, making it the most expensive natural catastrophe on record.(1) Faced with such an enormous scale of destruction it seems extremely difficult, maybe even inappropriate, to try and untangle whether cultural value has any meaning at this time. Yet, it is enlightening to examine the response of some of the artist-led and artist-focussed spaces in Japan, to see what ‘cultural value’ might mean for a society in crisis.

Once the scale of the damage from the events of 11 March 2011 became apparent, almost all artist-focussed spaces in Japan released public statements. A common thread across these statements was a sense of helplessness and frustration at the lack of capability to meet the level of need in the Tohoku region.

In practical terms, many organisations curtailed their published programme of activities and instead gave over space and resources to money-making activities, to support the work of the Japanese Red Cross and other humanitarian and relief agencies. For example, the Kiyosumi Gallery Complex held a silent auction which raised ¥38,564,467 (£300,000), which they donated to Japan Platform.(2)

Other organisations found alternative ways to support the crisis. ARCUS in Moriya, Ibaraki gave over their studio spaces to families who were made homeless by the evacuation of the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

There are numerous moving examples of people taking action to raise funds and support the relief effort, but out of all the cases I have come across there are very few that directly use art, or invest in art, as something that has a meaningful role to play at this time. There is one clear exception: Japan Art Donation.

Set up very quickly after the events of 11 March, by independent Tokyo based curator Kenji Kubota, Japan Art Donation calls for gifts of money that will be ring fenced for cultural activities. The website cites the rationale: ‘It is this unabashed belief in the necessity of art itself as a vital instrument in the rebuilding of the devastated areas of Tohoku that marks out Japan Art Donation in comparison with the other culturally led relief efforts.’

Kubota is quick to acknowledge that the first thing to do in such a natural disaster is to save as many lives as possible and then to secure water, food, shelter and clothing for those affected. But he also recognises that with the huge economic pressure on local and national budgets, culture will be the first thing to be cut. He told me, “maybe it is not important right now, but Japan Art Donation will be needed by local artists and local museums eventually… I think the recovery of the area will take a long time – five years or ten years. So ideally we would want to be active for five or ten years.”

By mid-May Japan Art Donation had received over ¥6 million (£50,000). In one sense this is a great achievement but it is also a very limited financial resource.

Kubota is a curator of contemporary art, however he is conscious that there is a paramount need to preserve traditional cultural practices, which are at risk of disappearing after the tsunami washed away entire towns and villages. Kubota remains open minded about what specific activities the money should be spent on, but the preservation of traditional cultural practices through the versatile possibilities of contemporary art is just one of the tasks that Kubota sees Japan Art Donation undertaking.

Kubota recognises both the instrumental and intrinsic value of culture. His ultimate aim is to heal the people of Tohoku and to revitalise their lives, to make them human again. Artists have something particular to offer; in the case of the devastation in Japan that offer is prompted by a social need.

What is so inspiring to me about Japan Art Donation is that it is the idea of one man, driven by his belief in the necessity and power of art and his desire to support the people of his country in a time of crisis. Japan Art Donation seems to be standing for the principle that access to culture and freedom of cultural expression are fundamental rights and key to the positive fulfilment of life. After food, then comes art.