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Against the wall, the Art Gallery of Hamilton
Community standards testing for the visual arts
in Alberta
OTTAWA, June 4, 1996 -- Long-awaited changes to Canada's Copyright Act
took a step forward today as Acting Minister of Heritage and Member of Parliament
for St. Henri-Westmount, the Honourable Lucienne Robillard, began the Second
Reading debate of Bill C-32.
"Culture is the essence of our national identity, the expression of
our pride. It allows each and every one of us to participate in the building
of our collective history," said Minister Robillard. "The amendments
to the Copyright Act were drafted with that in mind. Bill C-32 will strengthen
the heart and soul of the Canadian cultural sector, as well as providing
a more solid economic basis."
Among the proposed measures contained in Bill C-32 are: rights which will
provide royalties to producers and performers of sound recordings; a levy
on recordable, blank audio media, such as cassettes and tapes, which will
remunerate creators for private copying of their musical works; provisions
to give exclusive distributors of books in Canada greater protection in
the Canadian market; and limited exceptions for non-profit educational institutions,
libraries, archives and museums, as well as people with perceptual disabilities.
A recent report in the Globe and Mail (April 10) reveals information
about more than just the usual cuts to the arts in Ontario. New Democrats
cite unidentified Progressive Conservative government sources with access
to government business plans. The NDP says that the PC's will cut $1.4-billion
this fiscal year an $2.9-billion next year.
The NDP reports that the following, among many other things, is under consideration:
The Ministry of Citizenship will withdraw from public broadcasting, re-evaluate
government support for programming and move to make sport, recreation and
cultural sectors "self-reliant".
The Art Gallery of Hamilton in Hamilton, Ont., currently has no deficit
and has a $3.5 million endowment. However, its director, Ted Pietrzak, also
reports that in 1995 the AGH suffered a loss of $150,000. The AGH relies
on government for two-thirds of its revenue. As well, attendance has been
low for some time. The struggle appears almost to be too much. The Toronto
Globe & Mail (March 9) reported that the AGH board has considered
converting the gallery into a "passive resource" or an institution
with a fixed exhibition and no curatorial activity. Not willing to give
up yet, however, the AGH board will try for the next two years to raise
funds from the public and private sectors. It plans to run a deficit for
the next two years in order to have enough money for marketing efforts.
There was no mention of what the art museum would do if it failed to raise
sufficient funds.
As well, the AGH now charges admission and its director is talking about
deaccession -- after years of collecting art of all countries and styles
it appears to now have a specialization in Canadian and U.S. art.
Other museums the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario in
Toronto are reaching out to the public through "populist" exhibitions.
The AGO's OH!Canada Project is an "interactive, multifaceted art event".
The ROM's "Watching TV: Historic Televisions and Memorabilia from the
MZTV Museum" exhibits TV-related objects from the 1920s and on. A review
by Robert Fulford in the Globe & Mail (March 6) is extremely
harsh claiming that both shows are desperate attempts by museum staff to
prove that the museums are not irrelevant to the public. In exchange for
technical enhancements and pop culture paraphanalia, Fulford suggests that
these "absurdly desperate museums" will win the contempt of the
public.
A news release from the Alberta government's Dept. of Community Development
and Communications last December outlined "New Directions for Lotteries
and Gaming". The biggest concern Alberta arts groups and artists may
have with the new directions is that there is a proposal to apply community
standards testing to funding. It seems that the Committee which put forth
the proposal is very concerned that the VLTs (one-armed bandits) attract
too many people from rural and blue-collar communities. A redistribution
of money has occurred which, through the granting process, places rural
money into affluent areas (or areas used by affluent people?). An article
by B. Drainie in the Toronto Globe explains that the $545-million lottery
revenues (for 1995) are to be used "for the overall betterment of the
quality of life of Albertans..." The monies are used to fund sports,
heritage, recreation and the arts.
While few artists will actually see any of this money directly, it appears
that visual art institutions and organisations may have more at stake. A
phone call by ABM to the Alberta Crafts Council confirmed their great concern
and anger at the possibility of restrictions being placed on funding. In
early March/96, a forum was held in Calgary to discuss the situation --
nothing was resolved but many unpleasant words were flung about. The editor
of the Calgary Sun, reports Drainie, called all 20th century artists "morally
bankrupt" and "gargoyles who sneer down on the community".
A retort was not recorded.
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