Art and politics have always been inseparable bedfellows and every medium has taken its turn in encapsulating ideas of change, revolution, greatness and memoriality, from the permanency of sculpture and architecture to the impermanence of works on paper.  Art and propaganda have been not just inseparable but cojoined as one faction after another sought to use the products of creativity for other purposes. Indeed, the catchcry from certain political quarters at every recent election has been a rallying cry to not only better the livelihoods of arts workers but to cement the status of the Arts on a philosophical level. Whether politicians actually believe in what they are saying as opposed to making empty political capital is another matter entirely. Words and actions are two separate things. The Greens candidate in the recent state election in Victoria, stated that –

Art is fundamental to our society. It brings us joy, fun, deep thinking, connection with each other, and new ways of understanding the world and our place in it. Of course, this came from a candidate and party who may well have their tentative hands on the rudder of state in propping up minority governments, but as always, the thought is less policy than wishful thinking and accompanied by a qualifying economic rider that relieves said politician of having to explain how any of this might work. To quote –

The arts also play a key role in the economy. They contribute 7% of our total economy, and 9% of a state workforce is employed in the creative industries. Beyond this, millions of visitors attend galleries and museums, festivals, theatres, music events and more.

That as a statement is no doubt true and can be backed up by the treasury. The redoubtable Abraham Maslow placed Aesthetics/self-realisation at the top of his pyramid of needs in 1943 and well above basic needs. How he saw that being achieved is open to question but then again, he wasn’t a politician.

Unfortunately, grandiose promises on the part of candidates of any persuasion seldom get out of the starting gate once the election is over and basic needs rise to the top. That 7% of the total economy in Australia [let alone Victoria] figure does not improve since it is based on gallery and concert attendance with the afficionados of art and music largely fixed in number. The 9% involved in some way in the Arts are not all creators/performers and the majority of the population – the other 94% – aren’t interested much at all. While a Greens candidate can blithely state that art is ‘fundamental’ to society, it is in essence an empty statement. There may be a fundamentality in a philosophical sense but in reality the average person in the street doesn’t go to galleries or attend highbrow concerts.  There may well be joy, fun, connection with each other, and new ways of understanding the world and our place in it, but a trip to the pub would probably prove to be just as fruitful. The ‘deep thinking’ element of the arts may also be a misnomer. People don’t attend arts events in general to improve their thinking or even to think at all – a visceral rather than cerebral response is far more the norm. Visual artists regularly give artist talks to handfuls of patrons at a time but as with contemporary choreography, the explanation for work  may well elicit framed questions such as ‘how long did it take to make this work?’ rather than discussion about the fundamentals of life, but the glazed look that tends to envelope large sections of the audience after only a few sentences of said explanation, may well be the best indicator of the arts as a superficial and temporary stimulant at best.

So, in the realm of politics, why would any candidate, Greens of otherwise, be promoting policies related to the Arts when the purse is not going to be getting appreciably larger and will inevitably be centered around the maintenance of state-owned facilities and collections. When questions of funding the rising cost of living, medicine and childcare loom large not only is the rate per head of population attending concerts and galleries more likely to decline than rise, but questions about the fundamental cultural basis of society are less than likely to get an airing at all. No matter what history will tell us about the times in which we now live, any cultural highlights probably won’t come from governments at all so much as individuals self-funding their existence. While the records may well show that an amount of money was spent illuminating the side of a building or on a New Year fireworks display or on bringing to Australia yet another unmissable collection of Impressionist paintings which had patrons queuing down the street, such events are momentary. Graffiti on the walls on the city may well have a longer shelf life but I doubt that the erstwhile Greens candidate was suggesting a paid increase in graffiti art as fundamental to cultural health.

Is proclaiming an arts policy during an election pie in the sky or simply wishful thinking? Without the economic rider thoughts of actual workable policy may not exist at all. Justification always comes in monetary terms. People have no difficulty accepting the basic figures of the Australian economy – Agriculture 2.27%, Industry 25.5, Service 65.7% and of course traffic infringement fines making their contribution with annual increases in double figures. Arts would seem to come under ‘service industries’ as its reason for existing at all and not some philosophical valuation as to the quality of life trotted out prior to each election although in the most recent Victorian election, the major parties had little or nothing to say about the arts or the funding therewith. Governments of all colours in the last half century have hardly ever determined that the time was right to be splashing out on niceties or fripperies such as the Arts unless there is political legacy to be registered and it would seem that nothing will ever change. Far from being fundamental to life, the arts are seen as the product of an underworld of ‘others’.

As Sir Humphrey Appleby once said in Yes, Minister, the much-acclaimed BBC satire, being in politics and being in government are not the same thing.