...towards a m a n i f e s t o
by Free Software on Nov.22, 2009, under
Some thoughts on happiness...
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| Hedonic well-being? |
Let Sunshine Win the Day
The North West m a n i f e s t o events came about as a response to societal changes and as a way of artists and health allies expressing their frustrations and articulating shared passion. As a piece of work, it’s less about strategising and more about connecting and moving forward, and very much in the tradition of artist’s manifestos: its about shouting from the roof-tops.
Last week’s event in Liverpool was planned to give voice to practitioners across Merseyside to come together and exchange ideas and vision to inform the manifesto and celebrate some of the unfolding activity across the area. So, as part of a series of events, exploring shared aspirations for the field, this was a bit of a hybrid event, and with over fifty people in the room was vocal, buoyant and inspiring.
I introduced the session by framing our practice in relation to wider national and regional activity and placing the arts at the heart of society, both in reflection and reaction.
Artistic Director of FACT, Mike Stubbs went on to give a Liverpool context, painting a picture of a thriving and engaged cultural sector and challenging us to think about how we evidence our impact.
Punctuated with artist’s interventions, the session drew some significant thoughts and insight from participants that can be found on the dedicated m a n i f e s t o /merseyside blog pages (only available to that sessions participants, but all the m a n i f e s t o sessions will be drawn together leading up to June 2011).
The only off-note, was in Nic Marks’ rounding-up of the morning. Marks, of the new economics foundation (nef), mistakenly forgot he was at an arts event and not a happiness forum, missing, as he did the cynicism, experience and discontent in the room, (and perhaps wider society).
Whilst many of the people in the session had eloquently described how the arts are, by their very nature political, and I’d opened the session by expressing frustration at societal acceptance of blame for government mismanagement and the crimes of the bankers, Marks focused on what he saw as ‘cheap shots’ at the happiness agenda.1
Now I may be mistaken, but at all the m a n i f e s t o events, I’m mindful of ensuring a couple of things; keeping what I say as consistent as possible, for parity’s sake across the region, and focusing on the long (and rather obvious) history of the arts being more than little baubles and trinkets to pacify people, but as exciting, provocative, subversive and again, political.
By suggesting that cynical politicians may just be hijacking the happiness agenda and arguing our work wasn’t just about making people happy, I apparently blinded Marks to why he was there: to look at the arts in relation to well-being.
And the Five Ways to Well-being by nef are pretty much accepted as good, common-sense ways of looking at day-to-day actions to promote well-being. By connecting with people: being active: taking notice of things beyond our day to day: keeping learning and giving. So no argument there, in fact this ‘latest scientific evidence’ is blindingly obvious.
That’s why we asked Marks to round things off; we thought that all these actions might in fact, contribute towards more fully engaged members of society who connect with others and actively debate and question the status quo: take more than a passing interest in the sound-bites of the popular press and see the potential of shared voices and practice as being part of something bigger: contributing to wider civic society.
Surely then, the result of being a fully engaged citizen might just lead to a more cynical and less superficially ‘happy’ society. Describing my comment about our work not just being about making people happy, as being a ‘cheap-shot’ typical of the media, and for a ‘quick laugh’ Marks risked skewing the whole flavour of the session and devaluing the contributions made.2
I doubt that anyone taking part in the session would question the impact of the arts on well-being, that’s why we’re all involved, we weren’t there to explore the damage we can inflict on each other with our practice.
The point is, that the arts offer so much more than hedonic gratification, and through participation give voice to frustration, anger and cynicism; in other words, art is more than the blind pursuit of happiness (whatever that is) that we’re all told we must aspire to.
Like flat-screen TVs, 4x4 cars or celebrity spray-on tan, it seems happiness is being peddled on the consumerist must-have shopping list. Well, with 2.5 million people unemployed and counting, it looks like the only quick-fire state route to happiness will be through prescription drugs, no doubt on offer through our local National Health Franchise.
Whilst we’re on our way to understanding well-being, (and I’d suggest that the arts and cultural engagement play a big part in that journey), I find it increasingly difficult to imagine how subjective happiness can be identified let alone measured.
And yet as far back as the 2006 Conservative Party Conference, David Cameron has muted the idea of a happiness index, commenting, ‘Let optimism beat pessimism, let sunshine win the day..." Five years later, the NHS, Education and Cultural sectors are undergoing fundamental changes and the banking crisis has thrown the global economy into turmoil. Under the instruction of Cameron, a happiness index is being prepared as I type.
Clive Parkinson
Blue Monday: January 24th 2011
1. In his summing up, Marks said that Cameron and the Government don’t talk about happiness, whereas in reality, there is a wealth of coalition rhetoric on the subject.
2. Rounding off the event and from the lectern, Nic Marks looked me squarely in the eyes and asked, ‘Isn’t happiness the most important thing for our children?’ (Like Ricky Gervais, but without the irony). I wanted to scream, ‘Of course it is, you twerp!’ but I applauded politely thinking, ‘I’d like my children to have a healthy degree of cynicism too; oh and food and shelter, oh and education and love...’
by Free Software on Nov.22, 2009, under
Bits and Bats…an Arts and Health Networking Miscellany
27th January, 6:00 – 8:00
Venue at MMU: Details will be emailed to you at least 48 hours in advance
Just to remind you that at this networking evening, I’ll be sharing some very quirky films from the early days of the NHS, purely for our fun and conversation. They are wonderful. If you have any film/new media at all that you’d like to share, please let me know in advance.
m a n i f e s t o update…
For those of you who have been involved in these events to date, a big THANK YOU. There’s another event at the Bluecoat Gallery on the 19th.
Its part m a n i f e s t o and part celebration of work underway in Merseyside and if you want to attend, please get in touch with Polly Moseley at pollymoseley@mac.com
Following the first stage m a n i f e s t o work which has seen a gathering of passion, vision and aspiration of those involved, I’ll be drawing all the strands together for a second stage of activity which will see us coming together and refining what it is, where it goes and what we do with it. By June 2011 we’ll have something very public to share.
The North West Arts and Health Network is past 1500 members…but what does it all mean?
In reality, our reach is potentially far wider than this, as a number of you email this to your networks on my behalf (thank you)!
Remembering that this network is informal and free…what is it that you’d like to see happening? How can we support each other and what would be useful to have online…most anything is possible.
It would be easy for me to put a survey out and ask you all the obvious questions; but what would the point be? Because if I’m asking the questions, I’m steering things just a bit too much.
So what might be a good starting point is if you email me thoughts, ideas and aspirations and I’ll put some of those questions on the BLOG, anonymously, but so others can see the sorts of things people are talking about. So feel free to email me at artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk and we can beef up our network in ways that are useful to you.
News in from Jeremy Hunt...
… ‘Culture and sport support a range of policy priorities including, but not limited to, economic growth, health and wellbeing, and safer and stronger communities’.
Thanks for that one Jeremy.
See his letter to local authorities below.
29 December 2010
Dear Councillor
We are writing to you about our shared goal of getting better local services for people and to update you on some practical measures to help local authorities delivering cultural and sporting services when the government's overriding priority is deficit reduction, as reflected in the local government finance settlement.
We would like to highlight some of the many examples of improvement and modernisation across local cultural and sporting services. Culture and sport support a range of policy priorities including, but not limited to, economic growth, health and wellbeing, and safer and stronger communities. It is for these reasons that culture and sport are so important to communities and tend to attract significant local interest. Councils across the country have also learned that it is important to prepare for changes with evidence that can be defended.
Through the Future Libraries Programme (FLP) the Local Government Group and Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (MLA) are supporting 36 councils to find new ways to deliver library services without cutting the front line. We thought it would be helpful, ahead of the formal publication of findings from the programme, to share with you examples of the leading savings options that are emerging and our newsletter gives you more information. The MLA and Local Government Group can help if you want to find out more and are available to assist you in looking at a wider range of options and ideas for your library services that could help you save money while minimising the need for cuts to front line services.
Library authorities outside the programme are also developing innovative approaches to providing services:
* Essex County Council will be helping to improve Slough Borough Council's library service and reduce its administration costs from 1 January 2011;
* Investment by Aviva has contributed towards the transformation of York Central Library with more books, the latest technologies and new services;
* In North Yorkshire volunteers at Grassington Hub are at the heart of service delivery.
We are convinced that innovation, led by the energy and experience of councils themselves, is also going to provide the best recipes for modernising cultural services generally in a tougher financial climate.
There are also lots of examples of councils developing different approaches to providing local cultural and sporting services and responding to the economic situation by being innovative:
Many councils are successfully commissioning their cultural services to deliver more efficiently other key service priorities such as adult social care, health, better outcomes for children and young people and economic development;
* Manchester City Council has focused its culture and sport services as major drivers of economic growth, inward investment, and job creation and training;
* Leicester Comedy Festival has developed relationships with communities and the health service to respond to issues such as men's health, teenage pregnancy and healthy eating amongst children and young people;
* Suffolk Artlink manages a series of projects aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable people in Suffolk including older people and their carers;
* In Kirklees a partnership between creative arts organisations offer a range of services for people as part of their mental health and wellbeing care planning services.
There are a number of different ways by which examples such as these are shared widely across the local government sector, including:
LGID's website brings together in one place the learning that is coming out of the "Passion for Excellence" improvement work in partnership with DCMS and key public bodies.
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=21131849
The Living Places website is a suite of online resources developed by DCMS and key public bodies to support the contribution of culture and sport to planning http://living places.org.uk
LGID has also launched two new publications outlining ways the sector can improve its efficiency through new ways of working and making better use of assets and sources of further help. http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=24327034
Help and advice is available and it could assist you in providing the culture and sport local people will be looking for while making the savings that are needed.
JEREMY HUNT
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
Cllr CHRIS WHITE
Chair, LG Group Culture, Tourism
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27th January, 6:00 – 8:00
Venue at MMU: Details will be emailed to you at least 48 hours in advance
Just to remind you that at this networking evening, I’ll be sharing some very quirky films from the early days of the NHS, purely for our fun and conversation. They are wonderful. If you have any film/new media at all that you’d like to share, please let me know in advance.
m a n i f e s t o update…
For those of you who have been involved in these events to date, a big THANK YOU. There’s another event at the Bluecoat Gallery on the 19th.
Its part m a n i f e s t o and part celebration of work underway in Merseyside and if you want to attend, please get in touch with Polly Moseley at pollymoseley@mac.com
Following the first stage m a n i f e s t o work which has seen a gathering of passion, vision and aspiration of those involved, I’ll be drawing all the strands together for a second stage of activity which will see us coming together and refining what it is, where it goes and what we do with it. By June 2011 we’ll have something very public to share.
The North West Arts and Health Network is past 1500 members…but what does it all mean?
In reality, our reach is potentially far wider than this, as a number of you email this to your networks on my behalf (thank you)!
Remembering that this network is informal and free…what is it that you’d like to see happening? How can we support each other and what would be useful to have online…most anything is possible.
It would be easy for me to put a survey out and ask you all the obvious questions; but what would the point be? Because if I’m asking the questions, I’m steering things just a bit too much.
So what might be a good starting point is if you email me thoughts, ideas and aspirations and I’ll put some of those questions on the BLOG, anonymously, but so others can see the sorts of things people are talking about. So feel free to email me at artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk and we can beef up our network in ways that are useful to you.
News in from Jeremy Hunt...
… ‘Culture and sport support a range of policy priorities including, but not limited to, economic growth, health and wellbeing, and safer and stronger communities’.
Thanks for that one Jeremy.
See his letter to local authorities below.
29 December 2010
Dear Councillor
We are writing to you about our shared goal of getting better local services for people and to update you on some practical measures to help local authorities delivering cultural and sporting services when the government's overriding priority is deficit reduction, as reflected in the local government finance settlement.
We would like to highlight some of the many examples of improvement and modernisation across local cultural and sporting services. Culture and sport support a range of policy priorities including, but not limited to, economic growth, health and wellbeing, and safer and stronger communities. It is for these reasons that culture and sport are so important to communities and tend to attract significant local interest. Councils across the country have also learned that it is important to prepare for changes with evidence that can be defended.
Through the Future Libraries Programme (FLP) the Local Government Group and Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (MLA) are supporting 36 councils to find new ways to deliver library services without cutting the front line. We thought it would be helpful, ahead of the formal publication of findings from the programme, to share with you examples of the leading savings options that are emerging and our newsletter gives you more information. The MLA and Local Government Group can help if you want to find out more and are available to assist you in looking at a wider range of options and ideas for your library services that could help you save money while minimising the need for cuts to front line services.
Library authorities outside the programme are also developing innovative approaches to providing services:
* Essex County Council will be helping to improve Slough Borough Council's library service and reduce its administration costs from 1 January 2011;
* Investment by Aviva has contributed towards the transformation of York Central Library with more books, the latest technologies and new services;
* In North Yorkshire volunteers at Grassington Hub are at the heart of service delivery.
We are convinced that innovation, led by the energy and experience of councils themselves, is also going to provide the best recipes for modernising cultural services generally in a tougher financial climate.
There are also lots of examples of councils developing different approaches to providing local cultural and sporting services and responding to the economic situation by being innovative:
Many councils are successfully commissioning their cultural services to deliver more efficiently other key service priorities such as adult social care, health, better outcomes for children and young people and economic development;
* Manchester City Council has focused its culture and sport services as major drivers of economic growth, inward investment, and job creation and training;
* Leicester Comedy Festival has developed relationships with communities and the health service to respond to issues such as men's health, teenage pregnancy and healthy eating amongst children and young people;
* Suffolk Artlink manages a series of projects aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable people in Suffolk including older people and their carers;
* In Kirklees a partnership between creative arts organisations offer a range of services for people as part of their mental health and wellbeing care planning services.
There are a number of different ways by which examples such as these are shared widely across the local government sector, including:
LGID's website brings together in one place the learning that is coming out of the "Passion for Excellence" improvement work in partnership with DCMS and key public bodies.
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=21131849
The Living Places website is a suite of online resources developed by DCMS and key public bodies to support the contribution of culture and sport to planning http://living places.org.uk
LGID has also launched two new publications outlining ways the sector can improve its efficiency through new ways of working and making better use of assets and sources of further help. http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=24327034
Help and advice is available and it could assist you in providing the culture and sport local people will be looking for while making the savings that are needed.
JEREMY HUNT
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
Cllr CHRIS WHITE
Chair, LG Group Culture, Tourism
Annus horribilis?
by Free Software on Nov.22, 2009, under
 |
| Mark Wallinger |
Last November I had the pleasure of speaking at the 2nd Annual International Arts and Health Conference in Melbourne. My paper; A Brightly Coloured Bell-Jar explored the relationship between our aspiration to well-being and increased dependency on medication for all our ills. You can hear a podcast of this paper at http://www.artsforhealth.org/podcasts and it will be available in print in February 2011.
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| Polly Morgan |
Two pieces of writing that echo and expand on some of the themes I raised are below.
Is this the end of the children’s decade?
Polly Toynbee questions whether voters believe David Cameron's new year's message, that: "We're tackling the deficit because we have to – not out of some ideological zeal. This is a government led by people with a practical desire to sort out this country's problems, not by ideology. When we talk of building a bigger, stronger society, we mean it." Or will they believe Ed Miliband's view that the "irresponsible pace and scale" of the cuts is a "political choice by those in power, not necessity"?
 |
| Steve Bell; The Guardian |
How to Stop Living and Start Worrying.
Since when did happiness, wisdom and contentment become the cornerstones of a fulfilling life? Whatever happened to doubt? Instability? Melancholia?
This month, Polity Press are releasing How to Stop Living and Start Worrying, a collection of interviews with Simon Critchley, which playfully parodies the conventional self-help manual. Critchley sketches an alternative view of the role philosophy plays in our lives today, covering an ambitious range of topics: from science and religion, to poetry and politics, love and humour, life and death.
…and finally
The next M A N I F E S T O event will be on the 19th January at the Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool…details to follow.
...and don’t forget the first North West Arts and Health Networking session of the year on January 27th between 6:00 and 8:00 in the evening when I’ll be sharing some odd little films from the birth of the NHS in the 1940’s and I encourage you to submit material for sharing too. I’ll confirm the venue the week before, but for now, could you RSVP to artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk
