Culture in Crisis

This ambiguous expression has been used on purpose. On the one hand, it may refer to the problem of how culture operates in the times of economic crisis, and on the other hand, it may refer to the state of culture being the consequence of a wider phenomenon – the crisis of civilization. It can also describe structural crisis of culture. In this paper I would like to focus on the first aspect of this issue; however, the two other aspects will also be related to the first one.

We can look at the crisis from many perspectives. For some it is God's wrath rather than inevitable consequence of mistakes. As a result of such interpretation they fear this wrath. People who hold that opinion merely want to maintain status quo and keep as much as possible of the period of prosperity. For others, crisis is an impetus to reform inefficient economic and social systems. The crisis can spur new solutions in every field of economy and human activity. As the authors of the report "Culture in Crisis, Crisis in Culture" ("Kultura w kryzysie, kryzys w kulturze") put it: "The economic crisis can be an opportunity to revise and change attitudes as well as to overcome weaknesses of culture industry" ("Sytuacja kryzysu gospodarczego może stać się okazją do zrewidowania zachowawczych postaw i usuwania słabości tkwiących w sektorze kultury"- trans. A.O.).

In a period of economic boom culture and other areas of life develop freely and in a "stress-free" way. It does have some advantages but at the same time it does not bring about any change. In good times nobody focuses on streamlining the available resources. Rapid economic growth makes people stop worrying about excessive costs since there is the constant flow of money. For this reason, cultural institutions very often consume all of the available financial resources disproportionately to their needs. Too large investments constitute another threat. It frequently happens that in the period when there is too much money new investments (e.g. erecting a new building) are prepared and realized without consideration of its future effects on the institution. The maintenance costs of the institution grow disproportionately to its substantive activity. That is why resources should be managed carefully and should be invested mostly in substantive and educational activities. 



Some threats are also present in culture itself. Usually, in a period of economic prosperity, commercial and mainstream activities become the most popular, with the entertainment being the point of reference. The expectations of wider audience, who due to higher financial capabilities "consume" cultural events, have to be taken into consideration . Bold experiments, which sometimes exceed common sense, are also carried out. Such extreme behavior is a result of commercialization of culture and ignoring the costs.



Crisis is, therefore, a time to "stand in truth". Both the creators and the participants of culture need to answer important questions and stop merely entertaining the audience. When resources for culture have to be limited, one may think over the budget and structure of the institution. It is also a good moment to cut unnecessary expenses. It cannot, however, be done at the cost of substantive activities. Crisis brings back reason and brings us back to the most important issues. Thus, it is worth using economic crisis to change reality. Nevertheless, we should remember that some people will see only drawbacks and limitations in the crisis. The authors of the above-mentioned report state: "Limited funds for cultural activities can trigger a defense mechanism. Its main feature is the limitation of the core program activities so as to make it through the hardest times. All the activities that lead to streamlining the expenses, including stuff reductions, can be interpreted as an attempt to limit artistic freedom and >>kick the artists when they are down<<". ("Mniejsze dotacje na działalność kulturalną mogą uruchomić mechanizm obronny, którego naczelną cechą będzie ograniczanie działalności programowej tak, aby moc przetrwać najtrudniejszy okres. Wszelkie działania zmierzające do racjonalizacji wydatków, w tym redukcja etatów, mogą być odbierane jako zamach na wolność artystyczną oraz »dobijanie leżącego«” – trans. A. O.). 



The current crisis is, as it seems, a good time to revise many different fields of human activity, including cultural activity. Instead of complaining we should think about new opportunities and resources that will help us survive and develop. The new forms of activities, return to effective and proven solutions, and, most importantly, focusing on the quality of cultural events will enable us to restore the faith in the importance of human actions. Some initiatives give us hope that this is possible. An example of such attempt is the above-mentioned report prepared for the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the conference "Arts in Times of Crisis, British and French Perspectives". The conference took place in December last year at the Cergy-Pontoise University and was organized together with ENCATC (European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centers). 

Artur Zaguła

Artur Zaguła