Asking for it

No surprise but it’s pretty clear that there is zero interest in culture by all the parties this election. A bit of ‘cultural communities’ talk and a lot of jumping on the ‘feature film’ band wagon and that’s just about it.

If you do want some answers you could have a go at putting a question up on Askaway (when we last looked there weren't any on culture or the arts). The level of responses as of a week ago was: National 9, Labour 18, Internet/Mana 23, United Future 36, NZ First 56 and Greens 136.

Acting

The Act Party don't have a culture policy as such. Of the 19 policy areas outlined on their website none include culture or heritage. A search for the word ‘culture’ brings up zip unless you count the “nation’s commercial culture” or “business culture”. And ‘art’? Just a 2012 comment by Rodney Hide that he was pleased the new Wellington Mayor had a “special interest in Wellington's arts and culture scene.” Good to know but not much help. As for the Act budget, not a cent art-wise, unless you're in the film industry where you're promised just under $52 million as part of economic development.

On the other hand, when it comes to throwing a few metaphors around about the good life and Act’s ideal New Zealand, art is dragged on over and put to work. This is thanks to deep-pocketed Act supporter and super collector Alan Gibbs. Act leader Jamie Whyte kicks off the party’s advertising campaign with a brisk walk across the Gibbs' farm. The talk is all “This is a good country” but the walk is more about expensive art via Zhan Wang, Leon van den Eijkel, Bernar Vernet and Anish Kapoor with a couple of giraffes thrown in for emphasis. You can watch the complete ad here.

Image: Jamie Whyte and his wife promote art in Act's TV advert (Thanks S)

Labour and the visual arts

Labour has just published its Arts Culture and Heritage Policy. You can read it and get a copy here. And what do the have to say about the visual arts?

"Labour will: 

• continue to focus on measures which will lift the incomes of artists and those who
  work in the cultural sector. 
• bring back PACE (a special programme for artists on the benefit), and look at how we can link it into creative apprenticeships. 
• commit to a long term New Zealand presence at the Venice Biennale."
•  structure Creative New Zealand to ensure that it is practitioner led, that Maori and  Pacific Arts have independent top level representation, and that spending is focussed on supporting artists rather than bureaucrats.
• require Creative New Zealand to review processes and funding criteria to ensure that processes are easily understandable, clearly and fairly applied, including on a regional basis, and the focus is on funding high quality work, not high quality funding applications. "

 and

• partner with Te Papa and the arts community to ensure that the visual arts have a permanent and prominent home in a national institution." (What ever that means)

It's not easy being green

“The Green Party will ensure contestable funding for arts and cultural heritage organisations with a proven commitment to arts education to enable the establishment of secretariats and premises.”
Green Party Arts, Culture and Heritage Policy

The blue and the red and the green

Will the three main political parties issue cultural policies for this year's election? Maybe, maybe not. Most of them are still riding on policies set in 2011 and from these quick and dirty word clouds you can see there's not much between them.  All of them tend to speak through the language of economics throwing around incentives, sectors, initiatives, production and occasionally, jobs.

Over the last couple of years National has actioned its obsession with commemorating war and funding war memorials while at the same time fretting over and massaging the commercial movie industry. Unfortunately National’s Minister for Culture and Heritage Chris Finlayson is not really an arts guy and definitely not keen on anything contemporary. He's on record as declaring against “gloomy art”. The Minister for Culture & Heritage has only made one speech on the subject in the last 12 months and that was at Ralph Hotere’s funeral back on 28 Feb last year. 

Meanwhile Labour is pretty much settled in the same middle ground as the blue people arts wise while the Greens look like they aspire to a more local community focus (where do they get these ideas from?). Can we expect cultural innovation this election? No sign of it yet but hope springs etc etc.

In the shadows

We’ve mentioned the interests of the current Minister of Arts Culture and Heritage often enough so, post Labour's Shadow Cabinet shuffle, here’s a look at their new line up art-wise. The good news is that both the Shadow spokesperson (Grant Robertson who has often been tipped as a potential PM) and one of the Associates are ranked high. Grant Robinson is number 2 as Deputy leader and the Associate Jacinda Ardern is ranked at 4. The other Associate is Darien Fenton who is ranked at 16. So far as interests go Robertson is positioned in his Labour Party profile as “a keen sports fan, particularly cricket, rugby and the mighty Wellington Phoenix. He is also a fan of New Zealand music and literature, and loves cooking and movies.” Fenton and Ardern’s Labour Party profiles makes no mention of the arts at all although Fenton was once a music teacher and claims some early experience with film. As to the Labour Party's arts policy – well you try and find it on their website we couldn’t. But here it is on The Big Idea. Thanks CNZ.

Image: from top right to left Grant Robertson, Jacinda Ardern and Darien Fenton