THE ARTS IN A CHANGING SOCIETY

THE ARTS IN A CHANGING SOCIETYAuthor(s): IAN HUNTERSource: Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 131, No. 5317 (DECEMBER 1982), pp. 25-29Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and CommerceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41373493 .

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THE ARTS IN A

CHANGING SOCIETY

I The Inaugural Address of the 229th Session by I

III IAN HUNTER, MBE I

Chairman of Council, delivered to the Society on Wednesday 10th November 1982

IN claim formers.

MY to professional arranging To be performing

'full life

houses' I can

to

quite

one for other

myself

often per- lay

is claim to arranging 'full houses' for other performers. To be performing to one myself is

truly a humbling and most gratifying experience - thank you all so much for coming! Before I start my address I thought I should

just mention that the Secretary, Christopher Lucas, and I returned just seven days ago from an overseas tour which took us to Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington and Auckland.

We went for two reasons - firstly to meet as many of our overseas Fellows as possible and secondly to investigate the market potential for the Society's examinations in Hong Kong and Singapore. T о help us with our second objective Frank Candlin, a senior member of our Examina- tions Board, and also of our Council, joined us in Hong Kong and Singapore.

It was a most heartening experience for me, from which I discovered at first hand that the Society's reputation and status is very much alive and well all over the world.

Much of this reputation - as far as the overseas membership is concerned is forged through the quality of the lectures which are published in th $ Journal - a point, incidentally, to which I am highly sensitive this evening! - and of the quality of presentation of the Journal itself. It was so encouraging to hear the praise which was generously lavished on it by our overseas members.

We held meetings with members in each one of the six centres we visited and discussed ways in which the Society in London could help to

strengthen links with overseas members. In Melbourne I was delighted to be able to declare open the Society's travelling exhibition of the work of students who won Design Bursaries in our 1980-81 Competition. The exhibition started at the Chisholm Institute of Technology and will progress to Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane before coming home again.

It was a particular pleasure to me to hear the responses of those in high places in educational circles in Hong Kong and Singapore to our in- vestigations as to what services our Examina- tions Board could offer. Again our reputation is already high - thanks largely to the proven suc- cess of the Society's Certificates in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language, towards which the British Council in Hong Kong and Singapore run excellent courses. As far as Business and Office Studies are concerned we were interested to see what gaps existed in the present local examinations provision and our proposals, particularly in the area of teacher training and computer education, were warmly received. We will of course be following up all the valuable contacts made.

I know the Secretary is writing a report on our travels for publication, as soon as possible, in the Journal ' but I should like to take this opportunity to express our most sincere thanks to the Society's representatives overseas who received us so warmly and with such hospitality.

And now to the more serious part of the evening. T owards the end of my Inaugural Address to the

Society a year ago which described some 'Aspeas of the Arts in Post-War Britain' I said that I

25



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS would hope to return to the rôle that I foresaw the Arts could play in a society changing through massive technological developments and the consequent changing patterns of life and work which might emerge.

Since then, I have been trying to create a prac- tical vision in my mind of this new society. In the course of my research I discovered that many people, institutions and organizations were concerned in looking ahead but that there had been few attempts to bring everyone together. The RSA agreed, therefore, that we might organize a conference in this House entitled 'Changing Patterns of Work and Retirement', a conference which took place on 30th September and which went a considerable way towards creating common ground. Before discussing the rôle the arts might play in this changing society, perhaps you will let me examine the forces at work from an historical point of view.

The historical picture shows a clear pattern between work and leisure. Landmarks that stand out are the introduction of Saturday as a half day free from work in the 1880s, the estab- lishment of a fifty-two hour week by 1914, the forty-eight hour week after the First War, holidays with pay in the late 1930s and the widespread enjoyment of a five-day week with four weeks paid holiday for most workers in the late 1970s.

What of retirement? In the nineteenth century old age brought about lower earnings and in- creased sickness; so workers continued at their jobs as long as they were physically able. In 1890 more than a third of the labouring population aged 60 and over were paupers.

In 1908 the Old Age Pension Act provided a pension for any citizen in the United Kingdom over 70 and in 1925 the Contributory Pension Act lowered the pensionable age to 65, whilst in 1940 the age for insured women and wives came down to 60. I wonder how soon the age for retirement in this country will come down yet again, to 60 - even to 55? In France the government of M. Mitterand has recently reduced the general age of retirement to 60 notwithstanding the prodigious cost.

Whilst in the past the forces bringing about these reductions of work and improvements in the standard of living have been social, to-day they are concerned with trying to create more work amongst those who are in desperate need of it - the young and the unemployed.

Unemployment, the lack of a gainful job, is 26

PROCEEDINGS

nothing new, but its growth is alarming. It has been brought about by local and world recession but above all by technological progress and by changing patterns of work. In the eighteenth century 80 per cent of the workforce in this country laboured on farms to feed the remainder. To-day it is less than 3 per cent. It is predicted that by the end of the century less than 10 per cent of the work force will be required to provide us with all our material needs.

Another major factor in the creation of unemployment for men has been the dramatic increase in the number of women in employment. In 1911 it was boasted that the great majority of married women in this country were fortunately free at all ages to devote their attention to the care of their households and families. From 1951 to 1979 the proportion of women in paid employment rose from 35 per cent to 44 per cent. Additions to the labour force are predominantly married women, especially those returning to work after rearing families.

Before I leave statistics, let me just remind you once more that it is the young who are bearing the brunt of unemployment. As the Manpower Services Commission reported in January 1982, no less than 23 per cent of those under 18, 26 per cent of those between 18 and 19 and 22 per cent of those aged between 20 and 24 were unemployed. Lady Seear at our conference in September told us that 44 per cent of young people were leaving school without a skill or qualfication; that 44 per cent are therefore finding it almost impossible to get employment. In Switzerland the comparable figure is 6 per cent. Surely this indicates a situation in Britain which could and should be remedied?

One way and another I doubt from what I have heard and read whether we are going to see a real reduction in unemployment in the sense that we understand 'employment' to-day. The work that may be created by an upturn in the economy may well be taken away by technological development, including the microchip. We must, therefore, come to terms with the situation and consider ways of sharing the work available and directing it towards those whose need is greatest - the young and middle-aged.

I will not go into the many ideas and schemes which already exist such as job sharing, voluntary early retirement and second careers. What is important is that the meaning of employment should change; if this could happen the social



DECEMBER 1982

stigma of being unemployed could be removed. We must be educated from school to middle age to realize that the work ethic is changing and that the division between working and not working (in a career sense) will no longer exist. This of course presupposes that we can educate people to understand that to leave their jobs at 55 or 60 does not mean that their working lives are over.

From what I have said I think I can see a world in which the majority will have much greater time to devote to their own interests, interests which will have been fostered by education throughout their lives. Most people will leave full wealth-creating jobs by the time they are 55 and then take on less taxing work or work for voluntary organizations. The arts in all their facets, the crafts and sport will have a much greater part to play in this new society than at present, and I hope that successive governments will continue to increase their support.

I am impressed by what is accomplished in our schools in music, the theatre, art and design and in the crafts. When people leave school, however, they tend to put aside skills learnt in the same way that they forget scholastic subjects. This must be reversed so that alongside their main careers people can continue with other work (' hobby' doesn't seem quite right) which, when formal retirement looms, can either be continued as a leisure activity or can form the basis of a second career. The crafts are already a development area because, provided the price is right, people prefer the hand-made 'one-ofF article to the mass-produced. Without the overheads of large organizations, individuals can often compete in price and certainly in quality.

A changing society. I hope I have managed to give some broad scenario of what I see in the years leading up to the end of the century. The task ahead of us is an immensely exciting task if we believe in the possibility of a better, rather than worse, way of life. Above all, it is essential that the stigma of unemployment should be eliminated, and I am sure that much could be achieved towards this end by less work being given to more people, thus lowering the degree of employment but avoiding total unemployment.

Education towards a new work ethic is the only basic solution to these problems and to the provision of continuing adult education of a high standard for everyone. To my mind the greatest task is to imbue in young people, through

THE ARTS IN A CHANGING SOCIETY

education, confidence - the confidence to become involved, to be personally active and creative through participation, with the result that participation is the order of the day right through to old age, instead of retirement and withdrawal.

This same technology, however, which has contributed to our employment problems, can provide teaching aids never dreamt of before. Individuals will be able to summon instruction on almost any subject and to seek information which in all its forms will be available to everyone via cable, cassette or disc. If the new technology turns us all away from participation and into increasingly vicarious levels of experience, we will pay an awful price, but if we can take the other road and use the new technology as a stimulant which will help us to do things and make things - including making entertainment - for ourselves, then the rewards could be enormous.

I drew attention in my last address to the vast increase in audiences for the arts in this country since the war, first through the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts and then through the Arts Council. This increase will, I am sure, continue notwithstanding the opposition of home entertainment. There may be a levelling off due to the present recession, but generally speaking people like to go out from time to time and to take part in an occasion even though that same event may well be available on television. The professional theatre, opera, ballet and music will continue to grow and to enhance the quality of life. But what we must also see is an enormous growth in amateur activity in all forms of the arts and crafts.

Whilst I am against adding to our bureaucracy, I consider that a separate 'Council for the Encour- agement of Amateur Activities' is now neces- sary. Naturally it would work closely with the Arts Council, the Crafts Council, the Sports Council and similar bodies but it should have clear terms of reference to encourage and develop all amateur activities, other than sport. Perhaps it could be staffed voluntarily by those seeking early retirement, with a network of regional offices. The Government would have to float the Council and 'prime the pump' but I believe that the limited funds required could ultimately come from local authorities and spon- sorship. Arts Centres could play a large part in fostering amateur activities.

It is encouraging to read in the Eighth Report 27



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS from the Education, Science and Arts Committee of the House of Commons on Public and Private Funding for the Arts that amateur activities received a small mention. The Scottish Arts Council, it reports, unlike the Arts Council of Great Britain, is prepared to fund amateurs in special circum- stances, whilst the Arts Council itself recently withdrew its subsidy from the National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Theatre. Personally, I reiterate, I would prefer a separate Council for the Encouragement of Amateur Activities funded directly from the Department of Education and Science.

It is alarming how many children at school learn to paint and draw, to act or to play a musical instrument only to give up the activity on leaving school because there are not the facilities or the organizations to retain their interest. In our future society these artistic skills should be re- tained and fostered so that not only can they be practised in the greater leisure time during their working years, but they can be available after- wards either for a further teaching career or for leisure enjoyment.

To be specific, since the formation in 1948 of the National Youth Orchestra by Ruth Railton, whose first concert I was able to mount as part of the first Bath Festival that year, youth orchestras have grown up throughout the country and indeed throughout the world. The standards achieved are extraordinary and whilst a few musicians go to colleges and become professionals, the great majority give up their instruments because there are but few amateur orchestras nearing the standards to which they have become accustomed. A new amateur orchestra movement should be started with the highest standards. Here funding may be required so that professional conductors can be engaged for a weekly rehearsal, and professional soloists from time to time. Apart from teaching, which might be made available as further adult education, the costs required would not seem to be high and the advantages if carried out throughout the country could be significant. Chamber music groups could be formed and choirs would be stimulated to sing with first- class amateur orchestras. I am sure a national competition for amateurs would find a sponsor.

Whilst on the subject of competitions, I feel they are a stimulus but they should be treated with care, and I hope that in future years we will see a reduction in competitions for young professional performers. The music profession is 28

PROCEEDINGS overcrowded with would-be soloists whether they may be instrumentalists or singers, and competitions often throw up young winners who are not ready to take on the appearances offered as part of the prizes. Again, I would stress that the need in the music field is going to be for teachers, just as it is in other areas of the Arts, not only for would-be professionals but in the future mainly for amateurs or second career people.

The amateur theatre is another field which needs re-examining. Like amateur orchestras, amateur theatrical groups need to be of a very high standard if they are going to be of use to the talented young actresses and actors coming from schools. These groups have a great community use in that they bring like-minded people together, and they will by example encourage others to join in.

I read an interesting article by John Barker in the Daily Telegraph recently which I think sup- ports my case for broadening the base and raising the standard of the amateur theatre. He points out that serious theatre belongs to a verbal culture and we live in a visual and aural age. 'Our children study Macbeth in a comic strip', he writes, ť. . . the obsession of young people with pop, rock, folk and the rest of it has made noise to a beat a frightening challenge to the word'. How many who go to the theatre or who watch and hear plays on television are aware of the satisfaction of reading aloud or declaiming a rôle? People used to read the Bible aloud and read books to their children, but comparatively few do so now. Good amateur theatre would encourage the spoken word and provide some opposition to the inertia created by the mass media.

Amateur opera companies, ballet or modern dance, amateur painters, designers and craftsmen are all essential in the coming 'leisure age' Just as facilities are being provided by the Sports Council throughout the land, so should they be provided by the Council I am proposing. I understand that the Sports Council is building a number of halls in various centres for indoor sport. I hope that thought might be given to designing the halls so that they can also be used for music, dance and theatre. I have recently been in a new tennis hall built of wood in Gstaad, Switzerland, which has excellent acoustics, seating 1,500 people with space for an orchestra of 100. In the smaller centres dual purpose halls of this type could serve the needs of sport and the arts.



DECEMBER 1982 I have talked about raising the standards of

amateur performance. Raising our own standard is, quite naturally, something we all aim at. But there is another aspect of amateur performance which is, perhaps, even more important and more worthy of our encouragement. The value of performing, doing, making something ourselves, however 'badly' we do it, is often an in- finitely more satisfying experience than listening to the most brilliant professional performance or buying the most expensive professionally-made product or professional service. If we could get over our self-consciousness about not being 'good enough' and enjoy the experience of performing, doing, making for its own sake, for the personal satisfaction we can derive from it, the scope for life enhancement would be enormous. For example, if four people sit down in a room together and make music, they have no need of an audience - they are their own audience, enjoying their own performance whatever it may sound like. So I come back to the rôle of education, the responsibility for seeing that the process of educating, rather than smothering the

THE ARTS IN A CHANGING SOCIETY creative instincts of our children before they have barely reached secondary school, should instead be stimulating those instincts through life. In other words, the concept of continuing education for capability, for continuing creativity, for continuing performance, making, doing is what we should all pursue. Perhaps if we could begin to succeed in that, we would begin to solve the problem of the devastating effects of unemployment and early retirement on the per- sonality and health of our society. John Christie, the founder of Glyndebourne,

used to say: 'Keep your head in the clouds but your feet on the ground'. Much of what I have said concerns 'attitude' to work and to unemployment and the use of leisure and the rôle the arts can play. But in reality all this has to be related to the economic facts of life. Without some money in our pockets leisure is less attractive. We need materials, tuition and perhaps travel. Let us hope that the productivity of the few aided by our new technology will meet the require- ments of our fast-growing leisured society.

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