True progress must be guided by the need to protect and support both people and nature. Consequently human activities that enhance individual and societal well-being with less resource use and less harm to nature should be strongly encouraged and supported, notably the arts, culture and heritage sector (ACH).
ACH is not about passive consumption of resources or the prioritising of commercial production. It is about engagement, participation and life experiences. It enables people to express themselves and to engage with others. It provides meaning which helps people understand themselves and each other, and feel connected and grounded.
What is culture?
There are two distinct ways to look at and define culture. Firstly, culture can be considered in a holistic sense as encompassing the full range of phenomena, such as artifacts and activities, that are transmitted throughout all human societies.
More specifically, culture can be considered as the ‘ways of life’ that define a particular culture such as their values and beliefs, norms, symbols, language, and rituals. Broadly speaking, culture can be described in terms of both tangible and intangible phenomena – which are not separate, but closely entwined.
Tangible, material culture covers the physical expressions of a culture, such as technology, design, architecture, artworks and historic artefacts.
Intangible, non-material culture includes language, philosophy, literature (both written and oral), politics, science, mythology, religion and principles of social organisation such as customs, norms, and laws. Intangible cultural phenomena also include symbolic and expressive forms like art, theatre, music, dance, and a wide variety of rituals, such as weddings and funerals.
The value of culture
The Arts, Culture and Heritage sector provides profound value and meaning to people in a variety of ways. ACH is usually talked about in terms of the impact of a cultural experience or cultural work on the individual. These valued impacts are experienced at the emotional, intellectual or spiritual level. The transcendent experiences people have when connecting with a historical, symbolic, aesthetic or social aspect of culture, are usually very positive and thereby add to peoples’ overall well-being.
Whilst cultural experiences are highly valued by individuals in an emotional sense, they are less valued in a financial sense. Artists, for instance, struggle to pay their bills whilst they are simultaneously providing cultural expression that helps everyone participate in, and understand, their cultural milieu.
On the other hand the primacy put on the economic, produce-and-consume aspects of life is unhealthy in many ways. In particular to this discussion, it undermines diverse and creative expression because of factors like standardisation, technological advances (such as artificial intelligence) and bureaucratic control. There is little scope to make profit from the ACH sector; therefore big business stays clear of it, which is a good thing. However, participants in ACH still need to pay their bills.
Cultural sustainability
Overall, there needs to be a better balance between commercial imperatives and what actually makes people thrive. ACH needs a greater voice but it is drowned out by rhetoric about economic development, the argument being that unless you look after the bread first, there won’t be any roses. People always need both at all times.
In order to sustain and enhance individual cultures, ACH should be diverse and inclusive, involving people of all ages and backgrounds who would be able to participate in and enjoy all types of arts and cultural activities. This means that all people invest more time, energy and money into ACH – and less into commercial goods and services. In this way we support ACH which in turn helps us thrive.
A thriving Arts, Culture and Heritage sector helps society thrive.