towards 2000 – models for multi-cultural arts education || the possibilities for collaboration...

The Possibilities for Collaboration Between Policy Makers and Art PractitionersAuthor(s): CARL BROWNSource: Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 2/3, TOWARDS 2000 – MODELS FOR MULTI-CULTURAL ARTS EDUCATION (June-Sept. 1999), pp. 114-120Published by: University of the West Indies and Caribbean QuarterlyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40654089 .

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The Possibilities for Collaboration Between Policy Makers and Art Practitioners

by

CARL BROWN

If one of the broad objectives of Caribbean Governments for the people of the region is to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number, then one of the best ways to attempt this is through education which will equip them to participate fully in the process of development. Any education system which does not facilitate the fullest development of the creative potential of the populace would have fallen far short of the mark because it is this resource which will enable people to make the best use of all circumstances and opportunities which present themselves. This is so because the creative process does not depend so much on traditional resources as it does on the challenge of bringing new resources, processes and ultimately experiences into being. Plantation slavery and colonialism are two of the worst tools with which to foster self-confidence among any people. Both systems tended to foster an over dependence on some kind overlord who will think and act for the subject peoples since they are thought to be incapable of thinking for themselves. A second factor which has delayed our development is the myth that the start of our emancipation in 1838 came as a gift from above and not as the result of our struggles below. As a consequence of this myth we spend quality time searching for other liberators instead of getting on with the task of our own deliverance. While the nineteenth century witnessed the dismantling of the legal structures of plantation slavery the process of emancipation has been a gradual one spanning the entire time period between 1838 and now and to some observers the task is still incomplete. While the formal education system has been seen as the principal vehicle through which to effect this development the deficiencies within it have greatly curtailed its effectiveness. One of the major weakness of the system has been its failure to recognize the tremendous potential of human creativity and the central place that it ought to occupy in any well structured curriculum. The last few decades have seen a slight shift of emphasis from capital to human resources as the cornerstone of economic development but a severe limitation has been set on these human resources because they have been forced Jto work in environments requiring strict conformity rather than creativity.

Over the past three centuries of Caribbean history the education system has mirrored quite closely the prejudices found within the society. The interpreta-



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tion and application of the concept of education to the society has been a process with a specific socio-economic objective. During the eighteenth century the ruling class sought quality education for their children through private tutors at the primary level and British public schools at the secondary level. For parents who made the effort to school their children in this way the objective was not merely academic. By having them steeped in the culture of the metropolis they hoped to secure ready access to metropolitan society and continued dominance of West Indian society. For the less well off who could not afford schooling in Europe, local high schools were created primarily through private bequests in order to facilitate the purpose of education.

Codrington College in Barbados and Mannings High School in Jamaica were two examples of schools created in this way. Both were gifts of the planter class to the poorer members of their race. They were founded in part on the person and toil of blacks and were intended to consolidate and perpetuate the dominance of the ruling class. Refinement [breeding] was pursued through exposure to cultural expressions originating in the metropolis. Alongside this healthy interpre- tation of education for their own class and colour was a hostile attitude to the notion of quality education for the vast majority of the people. Three elements which characterized this hostility are worthy of note. One was the denial of the innate capacity of blacks to master even the rudiments of the academic and aesthetic process. Two Jamaican planter historians, Edward Long and Bryan Edwards have expressed attitudes characteristic of their class and time. Long argued that the blacks were as hopeful as the ape of being civilized while Edwards contended that he had not met a black man who could be considered a fine performer on a musical instrument. Both argued that this was due to lack of innate capacity rather than lack of opportunity. The second was the limiting of initiatives undertaken by the Missionaries and other agencies to achieve even basic education among the blacks in the society. Literacy was viewed as too potent a brew for the Negro and as such was stoutly resisted. The third attitude has characterized the ruling class between slave emancipation and the mid twentieth century. It is the notion that basic literacy and numeracy were adequate for the poor since their primary purpose was to equip them to maintain the status quo as the muscle and brawn within the economic system.

A common thread which is detectable throughout much of the fabric of Caribbean education is the notion that quality education ought to have a social objective of servicing a elite. This has stimulated a state of tension between different sectors each of which has looked to education as the means to achieve their particular ends.

Throughout the nineteenth and up to the middle of the twentieth century poor white and coloured children who gained access to high schools on the basis



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of academic talent were ostracized by both the children and the parents of the wealthy. At Mannings, in the eighteen thirties, for instance, wealthy white parents objected to their children attending school and mixing with "mere charities". Rev. Daniel Fiddler the headmaster at the time responded by instituting social segrega- tion whereby the seats of the poor were separated from those of the wealthy within the classroom and fraternizing between the social classes was prohibited during break time. During the first half of the present century, school boards in Jamaica were taking black and coloured parents to court because of their inability to pay school fees for their children. These two stories amply illustrate the prejudices of the time. The first relates to a young man, who excelled in the entrance examina- tion to Mannings High school during the nineteen thirties. Igol Williams the headboy at the time, was summoned by the principal who asked, "Who is this boy Adolph Thompson?"

"His father works at t he parish council", replied Williams.

"What does he do?" asked the headmaster.

"He is the cartman sir", replied Williams.

At this point the headmaster proceeded to tear the boys test paper to shreds as he remarked:

11 1 want no cartman's boy in my school".

It is worthy of note that the cartrpan's boy gained acceptance into another school and went on to hold a desk at the United Nations. The second story is of a planter who on learning that the son of one of his labourers had become qualified as a lawyer remarked "another good hoeman spoiled".

Curricular practices throughout the period placed art education on the periphery of the education system. The earliest curriculum at Mannings for exam- ple included reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, Greek and mathematics. With only a single tutor to present all these subjects one can understand why the limited focus. Boys sent to public schools or finishing schools in the case of girls were expected to seek opportunities to develop their cultural awareness and creative capacities. This was loosely referred to as breeding or refinement.

The first attempt to formally include the creative arts into the education system in Jamaica came through the Education Ordinance of 1897 which made reference to drawing and music. It was within this context that sports and other extra curricular pursuits were mentioned for the first time. A century later sports has come to occupy a central place in the curriculum, several new academic disciplines have been introduced into the timetable with corresponding allocation of time and financial resources while arts education continues to reside on the



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periphery. Exposure to the arts has benefited more from volunteerism than from deliberate policy. Part of this lack is due to the fact that knowledge of and participation in the arts was often seen as the preserve of the wealthy.

Ironically though this official neglect of art in education exists side by side with the flourishing of creative activity within the popular culture. The absence of music, dance and art teachers from many of our schools when contrasted with the abundance of talent which emerges and finds expression in different arenas is nothing short of amazing. For many of our people creativity is a mere survival tool which serves as a crucial substitute for other absent resources. In other quarters art is seen as the preserve of the wealthy and as an expression of their purchasing power. Underpinning the snob value placed on art is the myth that creative capacity is acquired rather than natural.

If necessity remains the mother of invention then crisis or adversity should be seen as the father. It stands to reason that people in crisis will need to exercise their creative capacities much more often than their wealthy counterparts. When we examine the material documents left behind by our ancestors, the vast majority of the artifacts associated with the ruling class are either imported or produced locally by hands other than theirs. Of those associated with the poor the vast majority are created locally by their own hands as they respond to the need to create useful objects for everyday use. Yet another irony of Caribbean life unfolds here as the ability to consume the products of others is elevated to a higher plane than the capacity to create products of our own. In this scheme of things the patron is elevated above the practitioner or creator. Yet another dilemma which confronts us in the region is the constant search for validation from without. Part of this goal is pursued by the compulsory inclusion of elements of metropolitan culture in our cultural expressions as our passport to acceptance. The use of imported ideas and raw material forms part of the process by which we seek to produce worthwhile art. The second is to seek metropolitan endorsement as our seal of approval. Every- thing about us is in a state of becoming and is thought to find a settled place as it is endorsed by our external assessors. Our greatest achievement therefore is not that we have done something well by our own standards but rather that some foreign agency or institution has given approval to whatever it is that we have done. To the same extent that no one is surprised at the absence of Caribbean elements in metropolitan art no one should be searching for elements of metropolitan art in Caribbean culture as a prerequisite for its acceptance.

In searching for a point of collaboration between policy makers and art practitioners it becomes essential that certain important steps be undertaken. One precondition is the existence of a whciesome vision of our region in which all of its people are seen as having the need for equal access to opportunities for develop- ing their creative potential. There must be a healthy regard on the part of each for



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the talents and functions of the other within the broad social framework. While policy makers must create a somewhat solid institutional framework within which the practitioner must operate, there must be a level of pragmatism in the operation of such a policy so that it can respond to evolving needs and circumstances. Arts practitioners on the other hand must live and work within the framework that is created in the public interest, expressing the changing moods and aspirations of the community in a language which is intelligible to the community for which they choose to speak. Beyond this both parties must be committed to a revolution of sorts. Both must see the evolution of a more enlightened and egalitarian society as the desirable end towards which to direct their energies.

As an important step in the process of cultural decolonization we need to evolve a populist definition of culture which will give equal recognition to the creative expressions having their genesis in the metropolis as well as to those originating in the motherland of our transported peoples and to those indigenous forms which are the products of a local synthesis. Ballet, hussey, calypso and reggae must stand in horizontal rather than a vertical relationship in the minds of our people. Edna Manley, Henry Moore, and Picasso in the visual arts, Derek Walcott, William Shakespeare and Wole Soyinka as writers. Aesops tales and those of Brer Anancy must be common diet for our children. While we can agree with Glen Jordan and Chris Weedon that culture is contested territory and a contested concept there is enough common ground on which to build a worthwhile policy framework for the good of the people. Concepts such as empowerment and self actualization must move beyond the cliché stage to the point where they are made to influence how we do what we do in education. One is the recognition of the fact that man's creative capacity is in fact his principal resource and as such is a foundation skill to be mastered especially by those grappling with adversity. A second is that the arts must be seen as an expression of this creative capacity and as such should be fostered nmong the widest percentage of the population, not as a prelude to another career but as a basic surviva! tool. Thirdly, there needs to be the fostering of a populist approach to the creation and consumption of local works of art. Fourthly, we need to see our collective creative capacities as the bases of a whole series of industries with phenomenal income generating potential to be

exploited by and for the peoples of the region. In the formulation of policy governing training in the arts creative ability must be weighted alongside political power so that the result is not merely a decree formulated by the power brokers with political clout, but a healthy consensus which will stimulate participation by practitioners. Our schools, hospitals and other public institutions must become showcases of our art. This means the inclusion of the cost of works of art in the cost of construction as a matter of policy. Assuming that we rely as much on our creative capacity as we do on traditional academic content to deal with the issues and challenges of



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everyday life, then the education system needs to develop capacity rather than to major on academic content.

There are a number of factors which should be allowed to impact on the kinds of policies that are developed and pursued with regards to art. Technical factors such as the availability of space, material, technological tools to facilitate expression, promotion and dissemination such as electro-mechanical reproduction facilitates mass production, broadcasting and television can bring the artistic expressions of a people to an entire national or international audience in the twinkling of an eye. This global exposure has implications for both policy makers and practitioners which must be dealt with. First there is the possibility of greater markets but this comes with the danger of piracy, dilution and unfair exploitation. Policy makers need to respond by including in the education package issues relating to international trade and strategies for protecting intellectual property. There needs to be proper structures to facilitate copyrighting of works of art and the effective surveillance of these. Artistes need to respond intelligently to the real dangers existing in the marketplace and to educate themselves about issues relating to contracts, royalties and the pursuit of short term popularity. Both parties need to recognize the value of art as a resource and to work as a team for its enhancement. Sociological factors s^ch as urbanization, the spread of leisure and a greater sense of "rootlessness" have increased the need for more destinations for those wishing to spend leisure time. Cultural tourism, and the greater awareness of the economic potential of culture are other future trends of which we need to be aware. Socio-economic factors such as inequities in income will dictate limitations in terms of access while economic rather than cultural considerations will influence location and pricing of certain facilities. Wealthy locals, tourists visiting from abroad and foreigners at home often make up the target market for Caribbean art forms. The vast majority of our people whose energy, sacrifice and talent often go into the creation of these works are excluded by price, prejudice and proximity. This raises another thorny issue which must be addressed.

In seeking to formulate a comprehensive policy governing the arts, policy makers in this region have several models which they can look at in order to identify strengths and weaknesses. As a matter of fact it is advisable not to look at a single model but a number of models since a single model approach has a tendency to foster imitation. The Dutch Government by making the artist a salaried employee of the state took care of his basic needs and as a consequence left him free to create works of art which in turn became the property of the state. One drawback of this system was that it removed from the lives of the artists the element of uncertainty and adversity which for some creative persons was a critical ingredient which went into the shaping of their art. The Canadian government has come to view art as an industry applying to its regulation the formal tools of economic



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analysis in order to determine its economic impact. This approach has to its advantage the fact that by calculating potential income one can easily see the rationale for certain levels of investment to that sector. One drawback is the fact that cultural assets must not only respond to the profit margin since they also meet many non-economic needs within the society and as such should be made acces- sible to the vast majority of our people.

Britain has given support to a number of community projects which have helped to broaden the level of popular participation in the creative process. These projects aimed at the production and distribution of a series of working class writings and peoples history. Their drawback was that by controlling the entire process of writing, publishing and distribution they did allow scope for some undue political influence. The United States of America developed a comprehensive programme which provided government funding for a wide range of cultural projects. Because a significant amount of these projects are community based they allow for a high level of popular participation. This in turn allows the community to share the benefits of these undertakings. In all of the examples cited above one can argue that the starting point of each programme is the vision rather than the resources. I say this because there is a tendency to blame the lack of resources for what is often the lack of vision and will.

The Caribbean is still afflicted with an elitist notion of art which depends too heavily on validation from without and validation from above. Both need to give way to a definition that recognizes the innate creative ability of all individuals and classes. This process is good not only for the groups and individuals confined to the periphery but also for the society as a whole since it brings to the mainstream from the marginalized group a lot of the energy from which is essential in moving the society forward.

My challenge to us is not that we do something about art education but that we do something differently. The first step is to accept that the concept of art with which we have been working is essentially elitist and exclusive. That in our value system good artists are trained abroad, good art is found in the galleries and drawing rooms and offices of the well to do. Even public art has to face this rigid class division so that a public mural commissioned by a private firm is regarded as being of a higher quality than murals in the ghetto done free of cost by the residents. The second step has to be a rejection of this elitist model and the resolve to search for a more equitable system in the interest of everyone. If the rest of this century finds us grappling with this new resolve then the future will be brighter for the children of the region.



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