In the age of austerity, how do we work out the economic benefits of the Arts? Tom Morris demonstrates why it can be hard to measure the value of the Arts.
Tom Morris is the Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic. He was previously Associate Director at the National Theatre and Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre. His projects include Coram Boy, A Matter of Life and Death and War Horse.
Think of an arts event
"I would like to ask you to do something slightly strange. In your own time, I would like to ask you to close your eyes and think for a moment about the ridiculous schedule you've had today, maybe yesterday, tomorrow, what’s ahead of you, the bustle of Edinburgh, the shows you have seen.
"Remember what it is about that event which made it valuable or special to you."
"And then I'd like to ask you to just remove all those thoughts from your mind. Let them drift away. Imagine youself to be anywhere you like, which is very very far away from here and from all that pace and bustle.
"Anywhere peaceful where you can collect your thoughts. And then I'd like to ask you to remember any encounter with any performance or art event or work of art of any kind that you like which is precious to you.
"Just choose one. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just choose any event that you really remember clearly. It might the thing that decided you to work in this industry. If you do, it might be something you just never forgotten.
"Just conjure that memory for yourself. Whatever specific things about it you can remember. Give yourself a little time for the details to come back.
"As you're thinking about it, I'd like to ask to ask yourself a question, it's a hard question."
What makes a show special?
"See if you can remember, or work out, what it is about that event which made it valuable or special to you at that time. It doesn’t have to be a concrete thing.
- Was it a sense of familiarity of some sort of what you saw?
- Was it a sense of surprise about what you saw?
- Was it sense of recognition?
- Was it the first time you’d seen something like that or experience something like that? Or was it second, or the third, or the fiftieth you can remember?
"Can you remember any change in the way you thought or the way you perceived things which resulted from that moment, whenever it was? Can you put your finger what that was?
"Can you describe it to yourself? I’d ask you to just think about the answers to those questions and whatever attempts you might be able to make now to articulate for yourself what it was that was important or valuable about that event.
"These might be things you want to talk to other people about afterwards or might be things you want to never to talk to anyone about, that’s fine. If you can keep your eyes closed. If you can't keep your eyes closed, that's fine."
How to make the case for the Arts
"And now in your own time open your eyes. Have a look around you and look around at the other people who have just been doing that exercise remembering some kind of event or other. Probably a different event from you, maybe the same one, you never know.
What we do about the pressure to be specific and objective about what’s valuable in our art forms?
"And my question is simple in relation how we make the case for the Arts. Because we know it’s very important to make that case.
"We know it’s important to raise our voices and defend our industry against the other ways in which governments might spend money, which sponsors might spend money, whatever it is.
"My question to you really is, what we do about the pressure we all feel to be specific and objective about what’s valuable in our art forms in order to defend it?
"Therefore how we can possibly defend the kinds of feelings, whatever they are, that you have just been experiencing now?"
Who’s coming to the theatre?
What does the future hold?
Challenges for the arts
