Today,Culture sector negotiator Catherine Craig and I attended a seminar at Congress House, to discuss the role of the arts within the trade union movement. The event was attended by representatives from trade unions and arts organisations, including the Arts Council, and radical theatre group Banner.
Paul Nowak spoke on the necessity of utilising the arts, and working with the art movement, to facilitate our growth. Last year, Liverpool was given the status European Capital of Culture, and he took us through some of the key factors surrounding this, including raising the profile of unions among the arts world; providing a platform for working communities, and engaging with the ever-changing face of the workplace today. They did this via online photography competitions, under the banner ‘the demon work’; and book readings, featuring celebrities and politicians. They also held a ‘radical walk’ guided tour, and sponsored theatre and music performances.
Martin Brown, Deputy General Secretary of actors’ union Equity, provided a really good insight into the state of television in this country today, and the detrimental consequences this has had on our actors. With ITV in freefall, and the BBC left to carry the can, there are too many commercial channels in the UK, leaving precious little room, or funding, for UK drama.
Acting is a notoriously perilous and insecure industry, not to mention a highly difficult career to get in to, and so the consequences of this dumbing down will only increase pressure on some of our most talented actors, many already forced out of acting due to acute financial pressures.
It is a sad indicator of our times that a classically trained actor can expect to earn little more than minimum wage (often, as is the case with many PCS Culture sector members, having to rely on income from low paid jobs in order to facilitate their careers).
With the recent trend in reality tv shows and the proclaimation that, ANYONE can be an actor/singer (well, of course we can!), things are only set to get worse. Martin raised the success of commercial theatre, now in it’s 5th record year, and compared this with the situation surrounding local theatre, which is in crisis. He emphasised the importance of the arts in allowing us to ‘tell our own stories, in our own ways’. Lamentably, it seems, the collapse in production is now so steep, we are back to pre ‘97.
As a former artist myself, I ask, where have we gone wrong? For me, it has, and always will be, a class issue. There is a real polarisation within the arts world – the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ . This has always been the case. The priviledged classes have always had the luxury of being able to indulge their artistic endeavours, not having to worry about paying the next bill. Yet, some of the greatest art that has ever been has been borne off the back of struggle. To (very badly and with more than a touch of creative license) paraphrase a well-known philosopher: “how many potentially great artists are slogging around the clock in a fast food restaurant? And vice-versa (see, told you. But you get my drift).
Case in point. A couple of years ago I was invited to an art opening at a Bond Street Gallery. The artist in question, an old Etonian, had, not to put too mild a point on it, all the artistic expertise of a doughnut. Yet he had studied at the Sorbonne. He had a wealthy father who indulged his son’s artistic ambitions every step of the way.
So I found myself there, avoiding the lecherous gropes of the Marquis of Bath and other over privileged ingrates. The whole scenario left me fuming. Just a week before, I had witnessed a young black youth, a passionate artist, stopped and searched by the police in my neighbourhood. This kid was one of the best rappers I have heard, yet he was subjected to this dehumanising assault. The old Etonian, a completely talentless twerp, if I may be so bold, is probably to this day, snorting coke and god knows what else, funded by the many thousands his work continues to command.
It is completely crazy that during these particularly difficult times, where kids need an outlet for their creativity more than ever before, music venues are being shut down, funding to community groups severely cut in some boroughs…and the only ‘hope’ you can get for entering any kind of music career, comes via Simon Cowell and his Carnival of Capitalism. Yet, the need is there, more now than ever before.
Megan Dobney gave a great presentation on the TUC’s participation in the arts and various networks thus far. It is not before time that Black History Month is now rightly called Black History Celebrations.
I don’t need to illustrate here just how much black culture has enriched our society, and continues to do so. Megan also talked about Jarvis Trainer’s work with schools in the USA, LGBT History months, Jewish History film evening, the Womens History Tour, and the SERTUC film club, which found it’s genesis within the TUC’s Stephen Lawrence task group.
Our comrades from T&G Unite provided us with a brilliant insight into the work they have been doing, particularly with migrant workers. To quote our sister: ’we organised the unorganised’ – and with massive success. The T&G have harnessed the artistic talents of their migrant worker membership with great success. Proof that we can bridge the gaps, not simply industrially, but creatively. This is all great and positive news and gives scope to all sorts of possibilities to us within the trade union movement.
A delegate from BECTU highlighted the problems arising from raising union awareness within the generally disparate and transient artistic communities. This is something we really need to take heed from, although it is my feeling that, if we collectivise around universal issues such as pay, and have a strong and solid campaign strategy, we can ensure we reach out to all, even those in the most isolated of industries, painters for example.
Another point raised was ‘who is commissioning the commissions?’ (good question).
Due to erratic pay, many artists simply cannot afford to belong to trade unions. After all, you might get paid well one month, then not see anything else for a further six. How can one budget in these conditions? Also, organisations such as the Performing Rights Society, who protect live performance copyright, require an upfront sum of 100 pounds or more. Many musicians cannot afford this, and thus, it leaves them open to further exploitation and abuse. Multi millionaire man-of-the-people Sting once loftily proclaimed that ‘music is its own reward’. Well, try saying that to the struggling street performer who is about to get kicked out of her/his home.
What would Picasso have said to this? He would have said ‘ action is the foundational key to all success’.
So, let’s do it! Looking forward to further forums on this – it is a multi-faceted area, and one which we as trade unionists should all get involved with. Without art, what is life? It shapes us, our presents, and our futures.
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