IJAM Volume 3 Number 2 (PDF)

EDITOR’S NOTE

The first World Meeting of the Arts was held from 5 to 8 October 2000 in Valencia, Spain, under the auspices of UNESCO. The meeting focused on three themes: Art and Quality of Life, Art and Education, and Economy and Arts Funding – Cultural Policy. Close to 300 people, including artists, cultural organizers, arts managers and academics, participated in the event. They were organized into six workshops, one for each artistic discipline.

A consensus emerging from the deliberations of the workshops was that arts organizations, particularly those in developing countries, are in a precarious state. Also, the workshops were unanimous in their calls for a reinforcement of the presence of the arts in education and for an increased commitment to the arts on the part of governments.

One observation emerging from the proceedings concerned the management of cultural organizations. A number of participants complained that their lack of familiarity with the rules of a market-based economy constituted an obstacle to the artistic development of their organization. Other participants stressed the importance of attracting managers who understand the realities of creative work and who are able to relieve artists of the burden of administration – a burden they do not feel competent to bear. There is a need for more managers of this type, an all too rare species trained to meet the special needs of the arts sector. Interestingly, the expectations voiced by the participants are echoed by the mission of our journal: to share cultural management knowledge and skills with arts organizations in all parts of the world. The ongoing development of new cultural management programs the world over is an important step in this direction.

It appears that these meetings will henceforth be held every two years. Moreover, it was announced that a World Council of the Arts will be formed under the sponsorship of UNESCO. Let us hope that the issues addressed by this Council will include the management of cultural organizations and that a place will be reserved for this topic on the program of the biennial meetings.

François Colbert
Editor