Culture as Capital Part 4: Heritage as Commons
Original Kitchener, August 17 2024
The first post in this series proposes "showing the world who and what we are by working together as the five cities and seven nations of Grand River Country to organize a 'Culture as Capital ManiFest and Homecoming' event for, say, 2026 or 2027.”
Once upon a time, there was a federal funding program that offered an investment of 75% of up to $2 million to Canadian cities interested in functioning as a showcase for artistic achievement. Larger cities could bid to become a “Cultural Capital of Canada” for a year; the following year it would be another city’s turn. There were also grants for smaller centres.
My idea of adapting this program model from the Chrétien era to serve current needs and opportunities here in the Grand River watershed began last September. It was a reaction to the news about the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra (KWSO) board of directors declaring bankruptcy and abandoning ship, making it necessary, once again, to think about how to "Save Our Symphony."
I’ll say more about how my proposal relates to the crisis at the symphony and the state of the arts in Waterloo Country in general later. Before I go there, I’d like to say something about “ManiFest,” “Homecoming” and other terms I’ve been using here.
These are part of a working title I came up with, largely for my own amusement, and for the “musing” process, which is ongoing. This may not be the best wording for an elevator pitch; the terms aren’t clearly defined, and can be misunderstood. My use of the phrase "culture as capital,” for instance, can be misleading: I don't mean anything like the sociological conception of culture as a means for achieving personal advantage or for maintaining “bourgeois hegemony”.
What I'm aiming towards is thinking of culture as civic capital. Humans, in all times and all places, have applied skills and imagination to embellishing their surroundings and adding meaning, beauty, wonder and joy to their daily lives. “Culture” is our shared inheritance as human beings of the products of human creativity throughout the ages, and culture makers around the world are adding to that store of riches day after day. It is treasure that is available to all, a kind of wealth that, as each of us draws from the wellspring, is neither depleted nor is the value of what it provides diminished in any way.
I'm not suggesting everything cultural has to be openly available, free of charge, for anything anyone wants to do with it. What I mean is that it belongs to everyone like words and languages do, or like numbers, formulas and equations do.
I’ve described this treasure as “working capital -- social, economic, civic and even moral capital” -- a kind of wealth that is “better than gold, which reflects the light in a special way but is itself inert: It just sits there for everyone to covet and squabble over, while the arts enrich, enlighten and enliven the hours, days, weeks, months and years of our very lives. "
What I'm proposing is turning the idea of a city being the cultural capital of Canada for a year on its head. Instead of a community being awarded the distinction of being a centre for a certain kind of excellence for a time, the purpose becomes stepping forward (since there's no federal funding program to apply for, it would be like volunteering for the role) to lead the province and the nation in demonstrating how arts, culture, and heritage belong to everyone.
We’d be dedicating a year to experimenting with ways to demonstrate how these kinds of pursuits can enrich lives in any town or city, without taking anything away from people living anywhere else. Being the capital of culture suggests a kind of dominance, or at least a competitive advantage. The kinds of advantages that this updated version of the program will showcase would be available to any community that is inspired to follow suit.
These imaginings draw on the experience of having been directly involved with putting together two bids for a Cultural Capital of Canada designation, first for 2009, working for the Waterloo Regional Arts Council under contract with the City of Kitchener but with a region-wide focus. Trois-Rivières won the honour that year, when they were celebrating their 375th anniversary. We were told our bid would have been stronger if it had been connected to a historical milestone of this kind.
We were well on our way to trying again for 2016 to mark the 200th anniversary of Waterloo as the name of a nascent settlement in Upper Canada, which happens to have coincided with the founding of Galt. But we had to abandon the effort when the program was abruptly canceled. If it hadn't been, I'm close to certain that we would have succeeded. We were ready.
The "homecoming" component was inspired by the Hespeler Old Boys Reunion phenomenon. Planning for the next iteration of this tradition in 2016 was well underway at the time when we were preparing our bid. We saw this as an opportunity to make something of the fact that the reason for coming here cited most often in tourist surveys is to visit friends and relatives. Given that the #1 tourist attraction in Waterloo Country is us, we decided to make personal invitations a primary method for marketing and promotion.
I started using the term “ManiFest” after Record reporter Terry Pender described my imaginings as a “festival” in the article mentioned in Culture as Capital Part 1. A manifest is more like a demonstration or exposition than a big ticket extravaganza. The intention, however, is to make it as joyful and celebratory as possible, so there is certainly a festive element.
I don't blame the Harper administration for dropping the Culture Capital of Canada program, which had limitations. It was based on the prestigious and highly influential European Capital of Culture program, but there are only a few Canadian cities, and none that can match places like Florence, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Glasgow, Dublin, Madrid or Lisbon (the Europeans capitals of culture 1986-1994).
There is no doubt, though, that the designation, and the investment that came with it, would have been a great boost for the arts in Waterloo Country at a time when, as it turned out, things started to fall apart.
Since that time, the KW business leadership appears to have abandoned all interest in arts, culture and heritage, with the local political leadership feebly following suit. That includes a general disregard even for what are called "cultural industries," as well as the more general idea of "creative enterprise" that was the subject of so much attention between 2003, when the "Prosperity Council" (an alliance of all the major business organizations) was formed, and 2015, when the people entrusted with stewarding the ill-fated "Creative Enterprise Initiative" decided to give up and walk away, much like the KWSO board did last September.
This was an unfortunate turn of events. Morale, and, more important, confidence within regional arts circles has never recovered. Close to a decade of neglect has left the region so weak in terms of cultural development that we're no longer in a position to credibly propose anything ambitious here in the Tri-City area.
That's part of the reason why my proposal is for all the cities of the Grand/Willow River watershed to work together. The main reason is that this would raise the stakes, and suddenly make everything much more interesting, more challenging, and more promising.
Like I said, the idea of adapting the “Capital of Culture” model to suit current circumstances began as a reaction to the news about the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra (KWSO) board of directors declaring bankruptcy. From the beginning, my view has been that a major effort to transform the orchestra can only be possible as part of a "rising tide that floats all seaworthy boats." The best way to garner or justify public support for a single performing arts institution, especially one that signals prestige, high level professionalism and artistic excellence, is by making it a public rather than a special interest.
Unfortunately, the exceptionalism of an entity like the KWSO is an obstacle that has to be overcome when making the case for its value in a civic context. That is why, regardless of whatever errors and deficiencies can be ascribed to those KWSO board members who gave up and walked away, it is better to begin by considering challenges we all face, rather than specifics to the case at hand.
The first such common concern that comes to mind is the damage caused by the pandemic in broad sections of the economy, as well as in other, more important but less readily measurable aspects of how we relate to one another.
The embarrassing backwardness of North American society in fields such as arts, culture and especially heritage is a key consideration here. But we’re backward in other matters as well. The fact that attitudes toward the arts run parallel to the ways we lag behind in fields like public transportation, livable cities, affordable housing and addressing climate change is disturbing and discouraging. But being in the same boat as engaged citizens working in other fields of civic endeavour could open the door to a convergence of causes. If this remains an isolated, special interest jockeying for position in prioritization exercises, the arts will always lose.
A good way to begin would be imagining what such a "rising tide" might look like. Besides the orchestra and the performing arts at large, what else can become buoyant and mobile? What can we imagine would lift our spirits? What else could help usher in a new kind of prosperity, suited to 21st-century realities?
The change that's going to come is not something that can be imposed, ready-made, from above or beyond. It has to be a movement, a general stirring, an awakening. There is a role for leadership, inspiration, planning and managing, but there's a point when the movers and shakers have to step aside and let the tide start rolling in.
A year-long "Culture as Capital" initiative drawing on all the strengths and energies of seven Indigenous nations, five mid-sized cities and scores of historic towns and villages can be the catalyst for such a stirring or awakening.
When we look at the situation in the broadest possible context, the plight of the orchestra and of the arts in general starts looking more manageable. In comparison to dealing with systemic problems such as inflation, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, polarization, the widening gap between the fortunate and those left behind, combined with a pervasive feeling of resentment, frustration and anger, rescuing the Our Symphony and THEMUSEUM, or stabilizing the Fashion History Museum and The Clay & Glass Gallery look readily doable.
Seen in the right light, cultural development becomes an opportunity. Grave as the situation may appear at the moment, the arts are best treated as part of the solution, not another set of problems to add to the list. We can do this. But the leadership needs to come from, and remain part of, the community. No one can do this for us.
What I have in mind is, in part, a political proposition. The original Cultural Capital of Canada program was a Liberal initiative, led by Sheila Copps when she was Minister of Canadian Heritage. An opportunity to raise spirits, hopes and fortunes in the heart of non-metropolitan Ontario with a relatively modest investment of public funds should be attractive to those who are currently in power on Parliament Hill.
Right now, they're facing a formidable challenge from an ambitious leader who appears to be having great success convincing the general public that “Canada is broken,” and that the blame for all that ails us rests squarely on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. What I’m proposing could help dispel such a gloomy view of our country. It’s hard to imagine a better way to demonstrate that the heartland of Ontario is alive and well, and that the True North is not so easily bruised, weakened or defeated.
The Federal Liberals seem the most likely prospect, but such a demonstration of resilience could also be of interest to those who are in power in Queen's Park, as well as to those who would like to replace them when we go to the polls again (which will be soon on all fronts: federal, provincial, and municipal).
It is worth noting that for the 2016 bid, my most enthusiastic and effective ally by far was Kitchener Centre's Conservative Member of Parliament Stephen Woodworth. This isn't something that falls neatly along partisan lines. It is to our advantage that no political party or movement, left, right and centre, takes much stock in arts, culture and heritage.
The arts are community-building material that the architects of Canada’s future have, for the most part, ignored or rejected. Culture can serve as the cornerstone for civil peace and a new kind of prosperity, and the communities of the Grand River watershed are uniquely positioned to lead the country in making such a transition.
Up next: Culture as Capital Part 5: A Summer of Learning and Discovery.
See also:
Culture as Capital Part 3: Radial Cities