Synergy, the electronic newsletter
information for people who value arts and culture
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. New national museum announced
2. Declaration on the universal museum
3. Privacy update
4. Canada Council directions
5. TV funding topped up
6. Nude models vote to unionize
7. Kudos
8. Media Spin
Editor: Allison Markin
amarkin@allianceforarts.com
1. New national museum announced
Prime Minister Jean Chretien recently announced funding for the creation of the Canada History Centre, to be built in the remnants of an old Ottawa train station. The federal government will spend $90 million over the next five years to convert the station into a museum, featuring the political history of Canada from the British North America Act through Confederation to the Constitution. Renovations will take up nearly half of the funding, at $40 million. The new museum will draw on the resources of the National Library and the Public Archives of Canada, as well as other museums and collections. It will also highlight the history of aboriginals, settlers and immigrants in Canada.
Criticism of the new facility came from Canadian Alliance MP Chuck Strahl, who says the money should be ear-marked for museums across the country as they face cash crunches.
2. Declaration on the universal museum
Eighteen of the world's top museums and galleries have signed a statement supporting the idea of a universal museum. The statement, published by the British Museum, comes from the directors of an informal group of museums worldwide that meets regularly to discuss issues of common interest. One of the foremost topics between these directors is the threat to the integrity of universal collections posed by demands for the restitution of objects to their countries of origin.
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, says, "This declaration is an unprecedented statement of common value and purpose issued by the directors of some of the world's leading museums and galleries. The diminishing of collections such as these would be a great loss to the world's cultural heritage."
Among the statements in the declaration are:
- the international museum community shares the conviction that illegal traffic in archeological, artistic, and ethnic objects must be firmly discouraged (but that) objects acquired in earlier times must be viewed in the light of different sensitivities and values.
- objects acquired by purchase, gift or partage have become part of the museums that have cared for them, and by extension part of the heritage of the nations which house them...we should not lose sight of the fact that museums too provide a valid and valuable context for objects that were long ago displaced from their original source.
- the universal admiration for ancient civilizations would not be so deeply established today were it not for the influence exercised by the artifacts of these cultures, widely available to an international public in major museums.
- calls to repatriate objects that have belonged to museums collections for many years have become an important issue for museums. Although each case has to be judged individually, we should acknowledge that museums serve not just the citizens of one nation but the people of every nation.
The declaration was signed by museum directors from across the United States and Europe, including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, but no Canadian institutions.
3. Privacy Update
As organizations across BC gear up to change their procedures and policies surrounding their use of personal information (such as mailing lists), Federal Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski has raised concerns about BC's new privacy act, saying it provides weaker protection than federal law. In a letter to Sandy Santori, the BC minister responsible for the new privacy legislation, Radwanski says BC's new Personal Information Protection Act contains "grave deficiencies." Of utmost concern is the fact that the BC bill, unlike the federal privacy act, does not cover information collected in the past. Radwanski is concerned that information gathered before the BC bill takes effect could still be used or disclosed without consent.
Santori defends the legislation, saying that it makes common sense to not have to go back and get consent from people who have been an organization's client for a number of years. Santori also says that the new bill will ensure that information gathered in the past is not disclosed improperly.
The federal commissioner is also concerned that the BC bill relies on implicit (implied) consent rather than written or express consent, to disclose information.
All provinces must enact their own privacy bills before January 1, 2004. Any province that does not do so will automatically fall under federal legislation when it comes to privacy.
Read the proposed bill.
4. Canada Council directions
John Hobday, Director of the Canada Council for the Arts, recently spoke at the Chalmers Conference, organized by the Canadian Conference of the Arts. Mr. Hodbay spoke about the challenges of uncertainty in government funding and the patterns of private sector support for the arts, and he outlined the new strategic objectives of the Canada Council: fostering sustainability through a new relationship with arts organizations, improving cooperation through a new relationship with other Canadian arts funders, and developing a more effective working relationship with the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Read Mr. Hobday's remarks in full.
5. TV funding topped up
Some Canadian television shows that faced cancellation in the wake of funding cuts by the Canadian Television Fund have been spared the axe. Through a reallocation of existing revenues, several shows have been saved by having their funding topped up. The Eleventh Hour, Cold Squad and Degrassi, along with three TV movies, all received a boost, and more funds are expected for the Red Green Show and An American in Canada. A new CTV series based on the West Coast, Keys Cut Here, still only has partial funding.
Not long after this news, former TV executive Trina McQueen published a report recommending that Ottawa invest as much as $30 million annually over five years in a new fund to build audiences for Canadian drama. The fund would "support and reward audience building...with a particular emphasis on writers and writer-producers" said the report.
Finance Minister John Manley responded to the report by quickly saying that the $25 million cut to the Canadian Television Fund in February's federal budget would not likely be restored.
6. Nude models vote to unionize
As reported in The Vancouver Sun earlier this month, models who pose nude at a Philadelphia art school voted in favour of joining a union to help combat low pay, poor conditions and air laden with paint fumes and charcoal dust. Models at the Moore College of Art and Design conducted the vote after the National Labour Relations Board rejected the school's argument that the models are independent contractors. Administrators at the college say they have not received any complaints from models about poor working conditions. Only 13 models at the school had worked enough hours to vote on whether to join District Council 47 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Seven of the 13 attended a recent meeting and voted unanimously to unionize. The local, which represents city workers, zoo employees and other groups, wants to organize about 200 models who pose for art classes in the Philadelphia region.
7. Kudos
Jessie Awards
The nominees for the 21st annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards were announced last week - Bard on the Beach leads the nominations in the Large Theatre category for its production of Twelfth Night, and the Ruby Slippers show The Cat Who Ate Her Husband leads in the Small Theatre category. For more information on the awards, to be handed out June 16, visit the Jessie Awards website.
New facility opens
Congratulations to Maple Ridge for the recent opening of its new Art Centre and Theatre complex, which features a 500 seat theatre, art gallery, four studios, conference room and catering kitchen. Arthur Black hosted the gala opening in mid May.
A book for Vancouver
Timothy Taylor's debut novel, Stanley Park has been chosen by the Vancouver Public Library for its One Book, One Vancouver book club. Now in its second year, the program aims to have all of Vancouver reading and talking about a given novel. Readings, discussion groups, tours of the Park and other events related to the book will be scheduled throughout the summer. Stanley Park was nominated for the Giller Prize and the BC Book Awards, and has been adapted for a radio drama to air on CBC radio this fall.
A book for the whole Commonwealth
Canadian author Austin Clarke has won the 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book for his novel, The Polished Hoe, which also won the 2002 Giller Prize and the 2003 Trillium Prize.
Contributing to dance in BC
Kathleen McDonagh, choreographer of 'O', recently seen at the EDAM Performance Space, has received an Isadora Award for her outstanding contribution to the art of dance in British Columbia. A professional dancer in Vancouver for more than a decade, McDonagh began performing as a child and is a founding member of the BC Chapter of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists.
Orders given
Both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada were recently bestowed upon a number of creative individuals. The Order of BC was awarded to publisher Roy Quock Quon Mah, to writer and poet P.K. Page, to band leader Dal Richards and to Haida carver James Hart, among others.
The Order of Canada was given to Parliamentary poet laureate George Bowering, a poet, novelist, critic and professor at Simon Fraser University; and to Stella Jo Dean, recognized for her contribution to heritage preservation and promotion of the arts, as well as to six other individuals from a wide variety of professions. Fifty past and present Order of Canada recipients have their portraits on display at the Moat Gallery of the Vancouver Public Library (to May 30) in a show called Faces of Distinction: Vancouver's Order of Canada Recipients. The exhibit is part of a project by photographer Dave Roels who is currently working on photographing all 332 British Columbians who have been given the Order of Canada and are still living.
8. Media Spin
Tired of pitching your production to media and having them drop the ball? Urban Rush, Shaw TV's (cable four in most areas of Greater Vancouver) one-hour arts and entertainment talk show, is making things much easier for you.
A new segment, called "The Pitch" has been developed in response to numerous requests by theatre companies to have their productions profiled and promoted on Urban Rush. The show has removed the middleman, so-to-speak, and will now let producers sell their own event.
Producers, their staff and casts for upcoming theatre productions are being asked to send Urban Rush their "pitch" ideas, including the play or performance, the actors, and the venue presented in an interesting way. Those chosen to present their pitch will have access to a Shaw camera crew for a morning, and the footage gathered will air at the beginning of the show on Tuesday or Thursday.
Your pitch should be no more than a one-page description of how you'd like to promote your event. Urban Rush's producer says be creative, but don't endanger yourselves or the camera crew.
Direct your pitch to the producer of Urban Rush:
Ben Eberhard,
Producer, Urban Rush
Shaw TV Vancouver
Tel. 604-629-3148
Fax 604-629-3431
ben.eberhard@sjrb.ca
Urban Rush
ENDQUOTE
"I tell you the next Liberal government will make sure British Columbia politicians, business people, the arts and the culture, are at the front and centre of every national decision."
-Liberal leadership candidate Paul Martin, speaking to BC supporters
Comments? Send a message to:
amarkin@allianceforarts.com
Last Updated: Thursday, July 22, 2004
