Arts at crisis, says ballet head

Press, 19 October 1976, Page 10

Arts at crisis, says ballet head

The professional arts in New Zealand are at a crisis, and only firm and positive action by the Government can ensure their survival, says the general manager of the New Zealand Ballet and Opera Trust, Graham Atkinson. Mr Atkinson was amplifying comments he had made in Christchurch last month, when he suggested that the annual grant to the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council should be increased to about $4.5M, a 150 per cent increase. “It is now time for the subsidising authorities to decide whether or not they want professional actors, musicians, dancers, singers, and artists generally to remain in New Zealand, producing work of a high standard” Mr Atkinson said. “For years professionals have been making do on a shoestring, producing work of international standard at bargain-basement prices. Inflation and an increasing awareness of the arts mean this can no longer continue.” Already, Mr Atkinson says, the arts council is being forced to play an unwelcome balancing act, reducing grants in certain areas and also reducing grants to some organisations so much that - they are unable to continue producing works. “The next stage is when the council has to close complete groups down in order to keep other groups

alive. The council must surely be unwilling to take such a step, but the alternative is for everyorie to continue on the present levei, and eventually numbers would be reduced as companies, quite possibly including the larger ones, become insolvent and give up the struggle to survive.” Mr Atkinson expects many actors, singers, musicians, and dancers to leave for the brighter lights and more secure shores across the Tasman, or even further afield. “In Europe, every major city has a symphony orchestra, and its opera, ballet, and theatre company. These are almost always virtually 100 per cent funded by the State or city, and are recognised as important sectors of the nation’s culture Bind heritage. In New Zealand we accept, almost unquestioningly, that the arts must struggle to survive. It seems to be that ‘good art comes from poverty’ is a national philosophy.” Only the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra seems to have escaped the knife. Mr Atkinson suggests that broadcasting has managed to reach a position where the symphony is subsidised on a level comparable with the best anywhere in the world. “Broadcasting probably spends more subsidising the symphony alone than the arts council has to spend over the remainder

of the arts,” he said. Even if the arts council receives the 150 per cent increase he advocates it will, still have much less to spend, per capita, than most civilised countries consider necessary, he says. “In Australia, the Federal and State Governments subsidise the arts to around S4OM a year, or roughly $2.70 for every man, woman and child compared with a mere 60c here. AU that I am advocating is an increase to around $1.50 a head, still 44 per cent less than t he level applying across the Tasman.” Where would all this money go if, and it remains a big if at this stage, the Government goes along with his call? “Certainly several large groups would eat up the lion’s share of any such increase,” Mr Atkinson says. “Regional orchestras, in line with proposals put forward in 1973, would probably get SIM alone, with the Symphonia of Auckland getting the largest single subsidy.” Next in line, according to Mr Atkinson, would be the New Zealand Ballet and a national opera company. “To serve New Zealand adequately 1 think probably another SIM would be eaten up by these two companies. Then probably another $750,000 would be needed to bring regional theatres back to the level of operations maintained a mere two years ago.” He also wants a review of the organisational structure of the arts council, at present overextended serving regional structures and with an inadequate advisory structure; and the creation of a feature film industry. He deplores the undue emphasis in New Zealand on regionalisation. “New Zealiand doesn’t have the population or resources to support regional activities, except in theatre and perhaps orchestral music,” he says. Mr Atkinson suggests that undue emphasis on financial aid at amateur, regionally based groups is counter-productive, as it leads to a false, sense of involvement that tends to hurt the professionally based companies. "The end result is that the audience base for the professional is eroded, leading to the possible eventual cutback of career opportunities."