Presentation 1: Susan Jones
The morning session was opened by the presentation of Susan Jones, director of the a-n Artist information company. She explained her work in advocating the rights and the value of the artists through the “Paying the Artists” campaign This is a project led by the a-n The Artist Information Company and AIR, which aims to “create the need for and confidence to deliver long-term change in the status and recognition of visual artists within exhibition practice and the wider arts ecology through access to persuasive evidence, advocacy and the consolidation of visual arts peer networks.”
a-n The artist information Company commissioned a research to DHA Communications about to find out about artists remuneration in the UK. 1000 artists filled a questionnaire about their income and the results were quite surprising. First, 72% of artists earn up to £10K year from art practice, while only 12% earn £20K or more. Moreover out of the 62% of artists who exhibited in publicly-subsidised gallery in last 3 years, 71% of them had not received any fee for exhibiting; one third of the artists who received fees were given £200 or less. This data clearly depicts a life marked by economic concerns for most artists, but also implies problems in the organisations and provision of artistic exhibitions: nearly half of all artists reported that exhibiting their work is prohibitively expensive and 63% have turned down an offer to exhibit for reasons including unsuitability of venue, lack of fees, or non payment of expenses. The average artist – usually female, often at the beginning of her career, and valuing sharing her work with the public as the main motivation for exhibiting her work – cannot afford to exhibit her artworks. Visual artists, galleries and audiences miss important opportunities: nevertheless, the report states that improving artists’ fees for exhibitions is not a priority for venues. This picture is disheartening not only to artists, but also to those who value artistic experiences. Therefore, a-n The Artist Information Company has launched the “The Paying Artists” campaign, which aims to obtain transparency on artists’ pay, a national policy on paying artists and pay policy to be written into funding agreements; moreover, this campaign promotes the value and role of visual artists and seeks to empower them to make the case for payment for their work (for further information see www.payingartists.org.uk).
During the Q&A session, the participants shared their own experiences, some as artists, some as other collaborators in art galleries. The practicalities of “The Paying Artists” campaign were discussed, and so were the ideals and the values behind this project that embraces cultural value, economic value, policy and artistic practice. Her presentation was not only the ideal start for a debate around the value of the arts, but also provided advice about presenting quantitative data in a new, engaging and creative way.
Presentation 2: David Fleming
In the following session, David Fleming, OBE, presented his work about museums and social justice. First, he addressed the very notion of “social justice”, a term that has different meanings according to different people; in the particular case of his work, social justice is a term that embraces the promotion of mutual respect between ethnically and socially diverse parts of the society, focusing on the encounter between different generations and fostering a dialogue on human rights. Moreover, when it comes to the Museums of Liverpool, social justice is practiced also through policy: the museums are free and aim to be a place of exchange for the whole local community. The value of museums, according to Fleming, can be not only economic, but also cultural, as it is a centre for research and collection; in his vision, nevertheless, the value of the museum is mainly social. In order to fulfil its role in a society, a museum must be audience focused, educational, community orientated, democratic, open to debate, diverse and socially responsible. The attention to the audience – its needs, its composition, its preferences - is crucial aspect of museum management.
In Liverpool, a town with a rich cultural and historic heritage, but also one of the most deprived cities in England, offers a particular context for museums, but also endless occasions for debate around social justice. National Museums Liverpool is composed of six different spaces (the International Slavery Museum, the Museum of Liverpool, Sudley House, Seized!, the World Museum, Walker Art Gallery, Merseyside Maritime Museum and Lady Lever Art Gallery), each addressing the theme of social justice in a different way. The portfolio of National Museums Liverpool’s events and activities dedicated to democracy, social inclusion and justice is immense and includes national and international causes. All the exhibitions, nevertheless, aim to provoke an emotional response in the spectator, in order to establish a deep connection between the museum, the individual and society.
The value of museums, therefore, lies not only in the objects they contain, but in the people who attend exhibitions and events. The promotion of social impact in museums is not limited to Liverpool’s experience but expands to the whole nation: the Museums Association, of which Fleming is a past president, is promoting a new vision for the value of museums called “Museums Change Lives”: Museums Change Lives aims to enthuse people in museums to increase their impact, encourage funders to support museums in becoming more relevant to their audiences and communities, and show organisations the potential partnerships they could have with museums, to change people’s lives (for further information see http://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-change-lives).
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