The Arts And Their Place

There are many aspects of Educational reform that I sometimes think ought to be examined more carefully before they are proposed or acted on, although the one that really made me sit up and think was the recent decreases in funding that will be going from Arts Australia to various Arts affiliated organisations.

It is easy to see how this particular sector of Educational and vocational training would be easily targeted for funding cuts. It does not after all produce something tangible which we can load onto ships and export.

so it is hard to perceive as painting acting and circus training as contributing to peoples wealth of knowledge and skills.  The vocational future that it promises people is possibly in some circles is also conceived as questionable.

Yet here it is within our midst. Melbourne University have a highly esteemed Arts Faculty in St Kilda Road, Ruyton and the Presbyterian Ladies College among other secondary schools prize their students upon the musical abilities they acquire.

Every year Her Majesty's along with The Regent and The Arts Centre put on a wide range of productions that exist within the realm of The Arts.  So what is it that The Arts contributes to our lives and keeps us so attached to them?

It could be that among other disciplines such as Architecture and Horticulture that The Arts are a significant influence upon social culture. They put into full view the intangible ideas which would only exist within peoples minds but which collectively define what we do and don't believe.

Perhaps we hold onto the Arts because we also know that while we are hesitant to stand up and express a contentious view, that The Arts have some perceived leeway with which to do this. Its portrayal of various views might hit a nerve with some but then isn't that what it is supposed to do?

Far from being a discipline or industry that seeks merely to sedate us, The Arts also seek to get our attention and to make us think, to argue, and to debate. So while The Arts won't produce the next high rise building or the next piece of public infrastructure, it might get us thinking about the motivations and invested interests that guide some of what happens within our lives.

It is able to give a voice to views and populations that may otherwise not have a voice. Without The Arts we may not be left with a bland cultural landscape but we may acquire one that is severely curtailed in its ability to get our attention and to make us think.

An art in itself which should be encouraged and which can be measured in dollars, if it stops us in our tracks from committing to something which would otherwise consume a lot of money for very little value.