The CULTURALdollars are the hardest won dollars of all. Cultural producers are unquestionably among the most productive people. Through our eyes, and ears they get through to our minds. As the sun colours flowers, so too do cultural producers colour life.
George Bernard Shaw observed that without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable. And before him, Aristotle observed that the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Nevertheless, culture is the central concept, the corner stone, upon which the study of anthropology is founded. Anthropology encompasses that range of phenomena that are transmitted through social interaction in human societies – the very stuff that musingplaces are all about.
Culture is everything that we do, all the things that make us who we are.
These things are among the things that give cause to invest in musingplaces. As productive community cultural enterprises musingplaces deliver 'the goods' and they do so in spades if given the chance. Cultural producers' work is an important element in a viable society. Take them away and look at what os left.
Tasmanian politicians might well agree with Pierre-Auguste Renoir for whom 'a picture' – musingplace perhaps – should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. He went on to say that there are too many unpleasant things in life as it is, without creating still more of them.
If we take lutruwitaTASMANIA as a case study it is soon be clear that the CULTURALdollar needs to be well spent. Here are some 'dot points' to consider.
• ... The CITY of LAUNCESTON receives to support the QVMAG's recurrent budge annually as a line item State Govt. funding originally provided, ostensibly, to support research activity. The case for which has diminished over time given that the 'research output' is not evident in publication output etc.
• ... Thus the QVMAG receives, and annually, line item State Govt. funding currently standing as something in the order of $1.5 Million.
• ... The $1.5 Million the QVMAG receives might equally fund between 75 and 100 cultural producers' stipends research grants, ect.
• ... Alternatively, the $1.5 Million the QVMAG receives apparently could fully fund four to five income generating cultural organisations statewide.
• ... The $1.5 Million the QVMAG receives has no performance indicators that are transparently applied and reported on with due diligence – especially so in regard to research outputs. What other operation in any sphere receives such funding?
• ... The question also arises, if the $1.5 Million the QVMAG receives was to be redirected, what performance indicators would be applicable?
• ... Another question also arises, is the $7plus Million Annually the QVMAG as an institution currently receives from the 'public purse', could more be achieved for its Community of Ownership & Interest via another operational model?
• ... The question also arises, if the $1.5 Million the QVMAG receives from the State Govt. was to be redirected by the State Govt., what class of cultural outcomes could be achieved for which communities where?
Of course there is more to be said in this space and 21st C 'citizen assemblies', 'citizen science', 'citizen curation' and 'citizen participation' in musingplaces can deliver a great deal if the paradigm is touched by the CULTURALdollars in the 'public purse'. This has been achieved elsewhere and in a fiscal crisis.
Interestingly, the City of Launceston advises, July 15 2022, that "the Council does not intend to empanel an independent, standalone, Citizen’s Assembly as part of the Plan's implementation" – that is the 48 page QVMAG FUTURES PLAN that Council cannot reliably provide to its constituency. This poses yet another question, how much did it cost to produce this document and at what cost to what program delivery?
CONTEXT … CLICK HERE
THE WHAT IF FACTOR … CLICK HERE
21st CENTURY MUSING IN lutruwitaTASMANIA … CLICK HERE
SO WHAT NOW? … CLICK HERE
BY WHAT MEASURE SUSTAINABILITY … CLICK HERE
A STRUCTURE FOR COLLECTIONlutruwita … CLICK HERE
HOW MIGHT A COLLECTIONlutruwita COME TO BE … CLICK HERE
FISCAL MATTERS … CLICK HERE
CONCLUSION … CLICK HERE
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