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1
LT1001NThe Leisure and Tourism Environment
Lecture 7
Arts, Culture and Heritage
2
Lecture Content
The nature of art and culture
Elitism and populism
Culture or kitsch?
Commodification and the cultural industries
Arts and the media
Heritage – preservation, interpretation and re-creation
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Arts, Culture and Heritage
A broad subject area
We treat these three elements together because they inter-relate and overlap
The classical arts
The popular arts
Culture in general
Heritage
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The nature of art and culture
What is art ?
“As the Surrealists demonstrated, art is art when somebody says it is”
Lewis, J (1990)Art, Culture and Enterprise
London: Routledge
5
Some definitions
Raymond WilliamsCulture and Society (1958)Keywords (1983)
An art (orig.): A human attribute or skill ‘Art’: A particular group of skills, the
imaginative or ‘creative arts’ ‘Artist’: a special kind of person,
possessing these creative ‘artistic’ skills
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‘The Arts’
Literature Music Drama / Theatre Painting Sculpture Ceramics
Variously described as:
‘Classical Art’ ‘Fine Art’ ‘High’ Art
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Some characteristics of classical arts
BACKGROUND Origins in classical
Greek and Roman culture
There, the province of a privileged ruling Patrician class
Drawing, painting, sculpture, music, drama, literature
Inter-related genres
IMPLICATIONS
Minority interest
Understood only by highly educated minority
Social class implications
Not accessible to all
Elitist in nature
Confined to certain artistic forms
Distinct from entertainment
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Elitism vs populism in the arts
Often stated key concern ‘Classical arts’ (exclusive) versus ‘popular
arts’ (inclusive) But many consider this dichotomy to be
artificial (see Tusa, Walden) Three aspects:
access to the arts - popularisation but to what kind of arts? (‘democratisation’
versus ‘cultural democracy’). funding implications – the remit of the Arts
Council initially confined to ‘classical arts’.
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The elitism / populism debateOptional reading for those interested
Tusa, J., (2000) Art Matters: Reflecting on Culture. London: Methuen. Chap.6. ‘Populism Versus Elitism – Real Enemies or Bogus Opponents?’
Walden, G. (2000) The New Elites. Making a career in the masses. London: Penguin Books. Chap.5., ‘A Culture of Pretence’
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Democratising Culture vs. Cultural Democracy (Council of Europe)
DEMOCRATISING CULTURE
Classical art is taken as the starting point
Emphasis on content, standards, quality, values – ‘fine art’
People should learn to “appreciate” it
Requires certain educational level
Claimed by some to be elitist
CULTURAL DEMOCRACY The starting point is
people and the art that they create
Community-based – ‘community arts’
People create it for themselves
Not rooted in classical arts
Populist
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Culture
Can take many forms, have many meanings
Serves as a medium through which people define themselves
Culture and identity
Classical or ‘high’ culture
Popular culture
Mass culture
Low culture
Commodification of culture - good or bad?
Postmodern thinking
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Culture
“Whenever I hear the word culture, I
reach for my gun”
Hermann Goering (1893-1946)
Why does the word ‘culture’ evoke such powerful emotions?
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Culture - etymology
A complex and value-laden word
Originally: meant much the same as ‘cultivation’, as in the growth of crops
Then developed a parallel meaning of improving one’s mind, through education and exposure to the fine arts, humanities and the principles of science
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Culture and self-improvement
Link therefore made between culture and self-improvement
Cultivation of the mind – culture / education link
Reflects Victorian beliefs – cf. ‘Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences 1867-1871’
Arts and science linked – discovery – reflection of modernity
cf. a much later debate, C.P. Snow, “The Two Cultures” (1959)
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Narrow and broad views of culture
Narrow view: familiarity with / involvement in the fine arts - painting, sculpture, literature, dance, drama - as a measure of societal advancement
Broad view: (sociological) – ‘culture’ is the totality of the customs, artistic achievements and general civilisation of a country or people
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Material culture
Term used by anthropologists, archaeologists and museum curators
Designates the physical (‘cultural’) objects associated with a particular people, whether they are useful or not
Artefacts as signifiers
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Hostility to culture
Began in 19th Century
Complex links made between ‘higher’ culture and class distinctions
This caused many people to reject its implied claim of superior knowledge and refinement
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Hostility to culture – international connotations and cultural identity
1st World War – jingoistic reaction to the use of culture in German propaganda
Similarly, in 30’s, in reference to Soviet Russia
Chinese ‘cultural revolution’, 1966-1976
UK ‘Department of Culture, Media and Sport’ (1997) almost has Orwellian or totalitarian overtones (cf. Soviet ‘Ministry of Culture’)
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Extended meanings of culture:Culture and anti-culture
‘Culture’ is increasingly used to indicate any group of people linked by some common characteristic, activity, belief or circumstances, often in a pejorative sense:
Yob culture Drink culture Drug culture Laddish culture Gun culture Cyberculture Net culture Rave culture Punk culture Queer culture
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Arts and EntertainmentSome descriptor words (after Hughes, 2000)
ARTS ENTERTAINMENTrefinement fundamental enjoyment excitement
learned (educational)
purposeful / enduring
frivolous escapist
serious emotional passive delight
creative inspirational self-indulgent amusement
enlightenment cultured pleasurable transitory / ephemeral
expressive non-commercial
fun commercial
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Arts – characteristics of the genre
Classical music, ballet, plays, opera, paintings, sculpture
Associated with ‘refinement’ and with something more than the ‘ordinary’ man or woman could either produce or appreciate without training, education and effort
The arts are regarded as the work of a few talented people and represent the highest levels of human creative ability
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Arts – characteristics of the genre
Works of art are created for their own sake as an expression of the creator’s vision, and are not created primarily with a view to making money
Similarly, performers have chosen to enter this field because of some inner impulse, natural talent, and intrinsic satisfactions, and not necessarily for financial reward
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Arts – characteristics of the genre
The ‘culture’ of a nation or society often refers to its commitment to these values
For some, the terms ‘fine arts’ and ‘culture’ are synonymous and interchangeable
People who understand and appreciate the arts as so defined are said to be ‘cultured’
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Entertainment – characteristics of the genre
In contrast to the arts, entertainment has overtones of being light, pleasurable and undemanding
It requires little effort to appreciate
Entertainment is generally considered to be, in some way, inferior to, and less valuable and serious than, the arts
At its most extreme, people who seek only popular entertainment and have no interest in the arts are said to be ‘uncultured’
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Mainstream arts – originsCEMA and the Arts Council
In 1940 the Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) was set up to promote interest in the arts during wartime
It was highly successful and gave rise in 1945 to the Arts Council of Great Britain
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The Arts Council – original remit
"To develop a greater knowledge,
understanding and practice of the fine arts
exclusively, and in particular to increase the
accessibility of the fine arts to the public, to
improve the standard of execution of the fine
arts and to advise and co-operate with
government departments, local authorities and
other bodies on any matters concerned
directly or indirectly with these objects"
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The Arts Council – current remit
To develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and practice of the arts
To increase the accessibility of the arts to the public throughout the UK
To advise and co-operate with government departments, local authorities and other bodies on any matters concerned with these objectives
28
Arts providers
National art galleries and museums (Tate Modern, Tate Britain, National Gallery)
Local art galleries and museums
Concert halls, theatres and arts centres (South Bank Centre; Barbican; National Theatre)
Private art collections (Courtauld Institute)
Commercial art galleries (Connaught Brown; Saatchi gallery)
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Culture and the media
The media have an important role in the promotion and dissemination of culture
Through popularising classical culture (e.g., television: ‘The South Bank Show’; BBC-2; Channel 4)
Through presenting new and experimental culture
Through creating new media-driven cultural forms
Through integrating cultural forms
Through developing new audiences for arts programmes
30
‘Popular’ cultureThe term ‘popular’ can have several meanings (Williams, 1976)
Inferior kinds of work (‘popular’ tabloid press vs. ‘quality’ broadsheet press)
Setting out to win favour (‘popular journalism’, ‘popular entertainment’)
Well liked by many people (‘deservedly popular’)
Originating from (made by), and identified with, the majority of people (‘popular culture’)
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Popular culture
Entertainment and many other activities including football, fashion, shopping, watching television, and visits to bars and clubs have been categorised as ‘popular culture’
Popular culture is a broad culture with which most people can identify
Shapes their behaviour and their consumption patterns
Most of this ‘cultural product’ is commercially produced – by the ‘cultural industries’ (commodification)
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Popular culture
It may be the outcome of a creative process, but whether it involves self-conscious expression or merely reproductions of the world is debatable
Sold to consumers to make money, rather than as a primary expression of human creativity
A commodified product
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Mass culture
One step further down the road to commercialisation
A standardised ‘cultural product’ produced for mass consumption
In the 21st century, the cultural experiences of the majority of the population of the industrialised world are received through television, video, CDs, DVDs and computers - the electronic mass media
Consumers are persuaded to purchase through intensive marketing campaigns
34
Culture or kitsch?
Questions of value and artistic merit are inescapable, although difficult to arrive at
What gives something artistic merit?
It is arrived at by external judgment, not inherent in the object (Lewis, 1990)
It is therefore contentious and not universally agreed upon
But most would agree on what is worthless by any reasonable standard – described as ‘kitsch’ – crass, tasteless, vulgar, hideous, mass-produced !
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Culture and the mediaThe birth of ‘the cultural industries’
The media have been a driving force in the development of the ‘cultural industries’
These promote and sell ‘popular culture’ and ‘mass culture’
They may also popularise traditional culture
But may change its essence through commodification
36
Popularising ‘classical’ cultureSome examples
The Henry Wood Proms
‘Proms in the Park’
‘Pavarotti in the Park’
Nigel Kennedy; Evelyn Glennie; Julian Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
‘The Three Tenors’ (Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti)
‘Hooked on Classics’
Raymond Gubbay organisation
Classic FM
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Popularising ‘classical’ cultureA paradox
The Millennium Dome – an embodiment of ‘popular culture’, and an icon of New Labour’s cultural policy, has been a catastrophic failure, while:
Tate Modern and Tate Britain – both based on classical and contemporary art, have been highly successful with a mass public
Suggests that the supposed ‘elitist’ connotations of classical art are not borne out in practice
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Audiences and access – some further myths
Prevalent stereotype of classical arts audiences as being predominantly white, middle-class, wealthy, public-school educated
Not borne out at all by demographic analysis of attendance figures at classical arts events
See Tusa article (Readings 7), pp.15-16.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
One of the largest Government departments
Formerly the Department of National Heritage
Renamed by New Labour (1997)
Has policy responsibility for museums, galleries and libraries, the built heritage, the arts, sport, education, broadcasting and the media and tourism, as well as the creative industries, the Millennium Projects and the National Lottery.
Website: www.culture.gov.uk
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Culture and the media – a paradox
The media selects particular individuals and confers on them iconic status
They become media icons – elite figures
The public do not object to, or denigrate, elite celebrities (e.g., footballers)
So why is elitism acceptable in sport but frowned upon in the arts?
41
Culture in postmodernity(see Featherstone, 1991)
Clear distinctions such as those previously made between art and entertainment are now increasingly seen as being unjustifiable
The arts-entertainment distinction is ultimately a matter of judgement
The definition of what is / is not art has been made by a small (until recently) body of well-educated people
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Culture in postmodernity(see Featherstone, 1991)
Postmodernity involves the breakdown of established structures, and the blurring of traditional boundaries
Known as ‘dedifferentiation’
There are no certainties and everything has its own validity
There are no clear rules for interpreting the world
Each individual can give and derive meaning from objects and activities precisely as they wish
43
Heritage: a definition
“The representation of the past for popular contemporary consumption” Fiona Terry-Chandler (2000)
Heritage is about preservation, interpretation and re-creation
But it is clearly also about commercialisation, commodification, and consumption
The ‘heritage industry’ is a significant part of the broader ‘cultural industries’
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Heritage types
Can distinguish between:
Cultural heritage - languages and customs
Built heritage - historic buildings and sites
Natural heritage - fauna and flora
45
The heritage industry
Hewison (The Heritage Industry, 1987) is critical of much of this, in a UK context:
“While the real economy crumbles, a new force is taking over: the Heritage Industry, a movement dedicated to turning the British Isles into one vast open-air museum”
How much is authentic, and how much pastiche?
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MuseumsChanging roles – the growth of ‘edutainment’
Traditionally, the role of museums is one of:
Collection Conservation Display Education
But this role is changing to embrace elements of:
Entertainment Interaction Interpretation
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The postmodern museum
Characterised by:
Widening of range of exhibits, reflecting pluralisation and contemporarisation of history
Direct participation by visitors / greater interactivity – elimination of ‘the glass case’ (Hooper-Greenhill, 1988)
Great attempts to communicate with, and interpret for, visitors (through audio-guides, videos, websites, etc).
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Set Readings (Readings Seven)
Paper 1: Tusa, J. The former broadcaster discusses the nature of
art and why it is important in society Papers 2: Urry, Foley & McPherson
Introduction to heritage concepts and the postmodern museum
Papers 3: Deuchar, Terry-Chandler Presenting and representing heritage – ‘Titanic’
(exhibition and film)
49
Recommended further reading
Du Gay, P. (ed.) (1997)
Production of culture / cultures of production. London: Sage / Open University.
An interesting introduction to the ‘cultural industries’
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LT1001N - Keeping ahead !WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE BY NOW (Week 7)
Downloaded Lectures 1- 7 from the website Revised these lectures and made your own
supplementary notes Prepared Readings Six (Elvin; Holt & Mason;
Whannel papers) for this week’s seminar Completed and written up your Portfolio Section
Three (‘The Sport and Recreation Domain’)
Beginning Portfolio Section Four (‘The Arts, Culture and Heritage Domain’)
Recommended