Saturday, December 11, 2010

UNEXAMINED CULTURAL CENTERS

I'VE BEEN READING A BOOK ABOUT mEXICAN ART AND CULTURE AND came across perspectives of pride, originality and authentic existence of indigenous arts and artists. The Mexicans of Inca and Mayan descent are staunch protectors of their art. A story is told in the book that a westerner came to order a certain craft from a man. It was so cheap that he decided to sell it by the thousands in his country. But when he came back to clinch the deal so that the man would be producing it by the thousands, he was shocked: the man rejected the deal. Why because he did not want to lose his freedom, to breathe, to enjoy life, to enjoy his work. If he had accepted the deal, it would have meant his being at his working table all day and perhaps all night long just fulfilling the quota. And that is not his idea of life at all.

I won't say that we are far away from that authentic artistic inner life of the man mentioned above, but we could probably do more if only our cultural institutions were not so riddled with political wranglings. In one institution, a past officer continues to hold sway in the organization, practically running it again. In another institution, favorite groups, teams and artists are enjoying the budgetary allocations. Worse yet, officers are dipping their fingers into the pie instead of being nurturers of artists. Not only in government institutions but also in non-government groups, there are issues to be resolved. In an association the top officer grabbed the grand prize at the Christmas party despite the fact that he already enjoys lucrative perks like "uncontrolled and capricious" use of funds of the association which runs into millions of pesos. Yet the ordinary members can hardly afford to put out their artistic product for lack of funds to finance its production.

In other words, there seems to be a lapse in moral governance, a lack in democratic processes so that everyone enjoys the benefits due them.

It is time to sit back and reflect on what we can do. In the case of government cultural institutions, I suggest that all of them should undergo financial and management audit. Here are the standards:
1. Is the institution spreading the benefits to as many groups and artists as possible?
2. Are the artists being compensated fairly?
3. Are the administrators artists themselves and so presumed to be sensitive to the plight of artists?
4. Are the officials and officers of the organizations hands off the budget for artists and artworks? Are they doing their jobs as nurturers others instead of nurturers of themselves?
5. How free are the artists to voice out their comments and opinions in running the organization? (After Cory won the presidency, I was one of those who presented an idea into how the cultural program of the government should look like. Taking off from the Cuban experience, I presented one that shows in detail how each artistic grouping would be led by leaders who would then form the core of national officers of the cultural sector of the country. Unfortunately, most of those running the cultural institutions now are still carry over of the Marcos regime who hardly have changed the cultural make up of the country. We don't hear nor read of artistic movements that jar our sense of injustice, or heighten our sense admiration and love for our country. Instead we have cutie cutie presentations, hewing close to the entertainment we find on tv. It seems it is only Lisa Macuja who has been able to put direction in her field of ballet -- showcasing classics and now going to Filipino themes thereby showing a holistic view of culture.

6. How much is allocated for artistic production, for artists' honoraria, for administration?

7. Is there a feedback mechanism after every artistic event or program from the audience?

8. Has it contributed to developing our artistic views, contributed to the creation of an artistic movement, or deepen our understanding of life through the artwork?

Many more questions may be raised given a committee that will handle the audit with great dedication.

After all, the unexamined (artistic) life is not worth living, to paraphrase Socrates.