1 actor in search of direction, a pipeline on a pillar, pouring soft power to amplify creativity in “the many countries that now form NZ’s multicultural society”
Yes, it’s true. At last we have it. Not a policy from Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage (something new, something divided and something colonial), but, for this “unique and intoxicating mix that is [or has been] rooted in the past but [is] constantly evolving and surprising”, what the Hon. Goldsmith calls a “draft strategy”, setting out “goals and a series of proposed actions to help us make progress towards them.” [source, here and hereafter]
That is, what, although he alleges creativity abjures “tidy strategies” (raising the possibility that his government’s is characteristically messy), he also calls, “a sense of direction”. Not, then, a roadmap, but a series of confusing mixed metaphors under the inappropriate title of Amplify, appropriated from Amazon Web Services,
just like NZ Arts, Culture and Heritage. A large Nota Bene:
Wouldn’t it be good to see our country rank among the top 25 globally for culture and heritage soft power?1
— asks the Hon. Member, before the statement:
Amplify sets out how Government will use the existing level of its funding for maximum impact, purposefully leveraging further investment from other actors.
Presumably this means advertising, using the existing level of government funding purposefully to advertise the intoxicating mix of soft power that is NZ creativity to investors.
These are he says actors. In NZ Aotearoa actors have been subsidising their creative activity for many years, but asking them now to invest. . . !? unless those referred to are what economics calls irrational actors?
Rational economic actors are those who make decisions based on calculated expected benefits. We can expect Government considers itself a rational economic actor. What are then the expected benefits, apart from the minister’s hyperbolic advertisement,
Our vision is for New Zealand to be regarded as a global creative powerhouse.
They are acknowledged soberly to be:
- founding (what are called) New Zealanders’ identity (singular), language (singular) and culture (singular);
- fulfilment (from what is called creative work and experiences and is therefore not professional)
- recreation (further evidence that professional creative work is not under consideration)
- cultural connection to people (including geological features which are considered people?2)
- the outcomes that government has an interest in sustaining: “The public benefits from participating in and experiencing creativity and culture. Preserving our unique identity and history through cultural institutions and practice provides cultural connection and social cohesion for all New Zealanders.”
It can be seen from the above that Government has no interest in sustaining grammatically correct outcomes.
Amplify is not a policy document. It is a business document, a business strategy for NZ Arts, Culture and Heritage. The targets for 2030 include Soft Power ranking, a business and trade ranking drawn from cultural (culture as a brand) recognition and reputation; and contribution to GDP, “with a focus on exports”; and the “median income for creative professionals” matching more closely the median for NZers “earning a wage or salary”. To be inferred is that creative professionals are not on a wage or salary. (Were they, it might further be inferred they work for CNZ and that funding is the focus of their creativity.)
Amplify gives a figure of $37,000 for the median total income of creative professionals in 2023.
This government’s approach to the arts marks a departure inasmuch as it is not about funding or value-for-money (over which successive governments have toiled in vain), not about internal recognition of the value of arts, culture and cultural heritage, but about external recognition, and so funding is only for reputation, for the international recognition of NZ Aotearoa’s “unique and intoxicating” brand and for its dollar-value being realised primarily in external business and trade.
. . . called away to the toilet . . . a member of the public had missed the bowl and shat all over it. Thanks, said a colleague, when, having cleaned it up, I returned.
It’s nothing, I said. I’ve been reading the government’s art policy. (It’s not, but it was too difficult to explain.) I didn’t outsource the loo-cleaning, but I did the summary of this, because it seemed like AI could’ve written it.
I like the elision of Amplify with the object of the strategy.
AI GENERATED THIS SUMMARY:
New Zealand's draft strategy, Amplify, aims to become a global creative powerhouse, focusing on ngā toi Māori and diverse traditions from Europe, the Pacific, and other countries. The strategy aims to increase New Zealanders' engagement with arts, culture, and heritage, drive economic growth, and exports. It outlines how the government will use existing funding for maximum impact, support New Zealand's creative and cultural talent pipeline, and modernize government regulation. The strategy aims to foster collaboration and complement existing strategies, aiming to encourage and support all types of creativity and culture. The government's Amplify strategy aims to enhance the creative and cultural sectors in New Zealand, including arts, museums, heritage, music, screen, gaming, fashion, architecture, and design. It acknowledges the importance of creative practitioners in shaping New Zealanders' identity, language, and culture, and preserving their unique identity and history. The strategy is informed by sector feedback and priorities, and aims to make New Zealand a global creative powerhouse. The government values the expertise and experience within these sectors and sees Amplify as an opportunity to support their ambitions.
I also asked AI:
Government’s Amplify strategy, amplification without an increase in funding, can be summarised as being to direct arts, culture and society towards attraction of business and trade, and the persuasion of investors, for no more than the $450m investment it has already allocated in the 2024 budget.
……………………….
- Global Soft Power Index 2024 – A World in Flux ↩︎
- “In 2014, New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant legal personality to a natural feature, Te Urewera – the mountainous region bordering Hawkes Bay and the Bay of Plenty. This means Te Urewera has the same legal status as an individual person.
“In 2017, legal personality was also granted to Whanganui Awa, the Whanganui river.
“Later in 2017, the government (“the Crown”) and Taranaki iwi signed a Record of Understanding to state their shared intention that legal personality will be granted to Taranaki Maunga (Mount Taranaki) as well.
“These natural features were granted legal personality following lengthy Treaty of Waitangi negotiations between the government and the different iwi that have ancestral connections with them. Te Urewera, Whanganui Awa and Taranaki Maunga are considered to be ancestors and taonga, as well as sources of food, shelter and spiritual connection for their people.” source ↩︎
