Deploying artists
- Posted by Erica Mattson on April 29th, 2008
Edmonton Journal arts reporter / Alberta novelist Todd Babiak published an article today titled "Don't spin oilsands, deploy artists." In this piece he comments on a $25 million provincial advertising campaign aimed at improving perceptions about oil sands development among U.S. policymakers and poses an alternative: investing in a cultural diplomacy program instead as a way to bolster the province's reputation. Here's a brief excerpt and a link to the full article:
"Alberta's authors, dancers and puppeteers wouldn't shill for the province in any way; simply through their work, and the way their work represents a civilized, cosmopolitan, interesting and modern province, they will counter Alberta's burgeoning national and international reputation as a sludge pit."
DEMOS has a project and a publication on cultural diplomacy that serve as great reads for anyone interested in the subject.
False dichotomy: our
False dichotomy: our reputation would then be of a civilized, cosmopolitan, interesting and modern sludge pit. Being a cultural powerhouse and an environmental disaster aren't mututally exclusive - and considering that "art is drawn to wealth," they often snuggle up together quite comfortably.
When this sort of "political solution" is suggested (or happens, as when Alberta was featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival - remember that oil sands truck on Washington D.C's National Mall?), let's call a shill a shill.