Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
To me the Olys are a cultural event and a positive way to promote Canada on the International stage, so good for the government for blowing up the spending for that.
Still not sure why the government should be in the business of arts and film work and music.
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Oh, don't get me wrong, I have no issue with the government funding the olympics, I like the Olympics both from a cultural and sportive point of view. I do have an issue with them claiming it as an "artistic" event.
The reason that the government
should be in the business of the arts is that a) they are essential, and b) no one else provides the money. I'm extremely pro-art. My education is in the fine-arts and it's my line of work. The sad truth is that if art funding is left purely to the private sector, the result is stale, boring, uninventive and unchallenging art.
I understand that a lot of people have difficulty with the notion that their tax dollars are funding bizarre performance peices, or borderline pornographic photographic works, or
Voice of Fire (which is really, really stunning if you ever get to see it). To a great many people art is totally peripheral to their way of living, and I understand that.
The thing about art is that it is absolutely central to both civilization and humanity. Civilizations are invariably judged by the art they leave behind and the degree to which their culture influenced their surroundings. If Canada as a nation is to have influence on the direction that global society takes, a
huge part of that will be through our artistic contributions.
An example: Canada is in many ways responsible for Documentary film. The earliest documentary was
Nanook of the North, the National Film Board popularized the form and around the world is held in extremely high regard for the fundamental role it played in the development of Documentary as a viable style of filmmaking. The effects of Canadian government funding can be seen in every program you watch on Discovery, History, A&E, every Micheal Moore film (or every response-to-Micheal-Moore-film), and in even in every Reality-TV show (not high praise, I know, but it's true).
Secondly and more importantly, the inherent need to produce and enjoy art is the only acceptable proof of the existence of the human soul.
If society is to have any value other than preventing us from being tiger-food, it must be in its ability to promote behaviours which advance both the empirical and moral knowledge of the species. Art is the best - and to my mind only - method which allows for both forms of knowledge to be expanded simultaneously.
This is why governments should be involved in the funding of art, whether it have obvious popular appeal or value or not.