To save society amid corona the arts need to reopened
The role of arts and culture in our society is going through rapid change, as a result of the tectonic shifts that the world is experiencing.
By TANIA COEN-UZZIELLITHE ROLE of arts and culture is not only critical for a healthy society but it has a ripple effect on education, the tourism industry, well-being and the social ecosystem. Tania Coen-Uzzielli at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. (photo credit: RONI CNAANI/COURTESY)
Audrey Azoulay, director general of UNESCO recently noted: "there is an urgent need to strengthen policies that support the museum sector, which plays an essential role in our societies, for the dissemination of culture, education, social cohesion and support to the creative economy". The coronavirus pandemic has hit hard this sector and it seems that the cliché of the “starving artist” has gained new currency. In these times of turmoil, we need to affirm that the arts and culture are essential in a creative society and are crucial for its recovery in the aftermath of this unprecedented health and economic crisis. The role of the arts and culture is not only critical for a healthy society but has a ripple effect on the education, the economy, and the wellbeing of its members.The task of the arts and culture in our society is going through rapid change, as a result of the tectonic shifts that the world is experiencing. This crisis has accelerated the process of innovation resulting in a proliferation of digital creativity and reinvention of content, challenging the potentiality of the cultural institutions and their old traditional undertakings. The mission of local museums, to preserve and present art and culture, to stimulate the dialogue between past and present, to explore the canonical and the experimental and nurture a cultural environment that is accessible and relevant to a wide range of audiences, has not changed. Due to the current circumstances, there is an enormous demand and thirst for content and alternative ways to deliver it, and we need to be creative, attentive and responsive, to adapt our offerings with the aim to maintain our stance in the mind and conscience of the public.In recent decades, with more and more physical presences being transformed globally into digital forms, museums, theatres and music halls were the last territories that closely involved physical encounters. While the information revolution and the internet allow for a plethora of content and experiences in a virtual way, these institutions establish the necessity and the possibilities of "being there", of "being a place". The current situation caused an ad-hoc stop, an immediate disruption of these venues as real sites. In the case of the museums, it is a fascinating moment where the two elements – the physical and the virtual – are nourished by the essence and the opportunities inherent in the concept of the museum, and new-old questions about its nature are emerging. With covid 19 as catalyst, answering these questions might help overcome these difficult times and present an opportunity for institutions to come out stronger and more resilient.There is an undeniable tension between the "virtual" and the "real" but it should not be so. One does not have to come at the expense of the other. The urgent need to detach ourselves from the materiality of exhibition spaces, from the halls and theatres, forced us to envision a digital environment that offers a new way of experiencing art, a virtual realm that allowed to reach much wider, global audiences. In general, these times of corona have brought us together as a global community and have introduced a new virtual dimension to our lives, granting us unprecedented access to the world's art treasures, to leading cultural figures and once-in-a- lifetime experiences and a myriad of learning opportunities. But we need to remember and remind our public that digital content is only a limited substitute that cannot replace the physical, visceral and powerful experience of seeing an exhibition or attending a live concert.It has to be declared loud and clear that the cultural institutions are vital for nurturing future generations. The authorities have the duty to safeguard them and their important mission: to anchor us in the present and allow us to imagine the future. We urge them to reopen museums, theatres and music halls in order to reaffirm our strength, our identity and our sense of community. In a fast changing and polarized society, where dialogue seems impossible, where debate is violent, where there is no attention for the needs of the others, cultural institutions can take upon themselves the heavy responsibility of being a place where democracy and civic society are preserved. It is my hope and my wish that once all institutions will open their doors, we will find ourselves together despite our differences, "distanced" in a communal space, sharing an intense love for the arts. These cherished establishments are bastions of genuineness, delightful and fascinating in their old physical dimension. We must open them: the sooner the better!
