Chance for arts

Press, 4 July 1978, Page 18

Chance for arts

By

DERRICK ROONEY

Christchurch musicians, singers, actors, dancers, artists, and anyone else associated with the arts will have a rare chance soon to make their voices heard.

The occasion will be the third annual conference of the Southern Regional Arts Council, the body which advises the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council on how money should be spent in the South Island. The conference is held in a different centre each year (the previous two were in Dunedin and Timaru), and it is likely to be some years before the chance is offered again to Christchurch, this year’s host.

The theme this year is “Activating the arts from 42 degrees south,” a slogan that recalls a whisky advertisement, but actually is taken directly from the regional council’s northern boundary: it covers all the South Island except Nelson and Marlborough, in other words all the arts south from 42 degrees. The regional council’s executive officer, Graeme Gorton, who is a well known singer and is thus now active on both sides of the arts fence, hopes for a big turn-out of Christchurch people at the conference. He believes it is essential. “This is the most important annual cultural event in the South Island,” he said. “Every district will be represented, and every branch of the arts should be represented. It is a rare chance for people in the arts to talk about their problems and their aspirations.” More than that, he says, the conference is something from which “real things” emerge to help in the cultural development of the region. As an example, he cites music teaching, which was one of the subjects widely discussed at last year’s conference. The result has been a heightening of interest in solving the musicteaching problems faced by schools in areas remote from the main centres, such as the West Coast, and the Education Department is making a survey, in the hope of finding ways to attract music teachers to rural districts. TThe ' conference will have a voice, too, in determining how Government money will be spent on the arts in the South Island, because recommendations made by the regional council are considered by the Q.E. II council when it

decides how to share out its funds, and the chairman of the regional council (Mr Fergus Paterson, S.M.) is a member of the Q.E. 11. The regional council has,

in addition, some funds of its .own over which the Q.E. II has no control. Mr Gorton even envisages a day when all funding of the arts will be handled locally, and the Q.E. II council in Wellington will act merely as a clearing house. In the meantime, however, he will be content to see big attendances at the annual regional conferences, which are open to anyone interested in the arts. But there is one point that should, he feels, be made clear: although any member of the public may attend the conference and take part in its discussions, only the official delegates may vote. These delegates come from the top (or bottom, depending on h.ow you look at it) tier of the arts council structure, the community arts councils. There are 14 of these, and the newest is a Canterbury one which will be attending a conference for the first time. This is the Malvern Community Arts Council, based in Darfield. The conference will be held at Lincoln College during the university break, .on August 19 and 20, and there will be plenty of space for the delegates and the public to move about. If they tire of the discussions, there will be something besides the college’s buildings and its fine trees and shrubs for them to look at: both major Christchurch art galleries, the C.S.A. and the McDougall, will put on exhibitions, and the weavers’ group and the Canterbury Potters’ Association have been invited to exhibit, too. Dame Ngaio Marsh will open the conference. The other speakers at the opening session will be the Under-Secretary for the Arts (Mr Comber), Mr Paterson, the chairman of the Q.E. II council (Mr Hamish Keith), and Mr Malcolm Douglass, one of the forces behind the formation of the Christchurch Arts Centre, where the regional council now has its headquarters. The regional council regards Mr Douglass as its keynote speaker, and hopes that his theme — the interrelation .of the arts — will be given a practical reality on the Saturday afternoon,

when the conference will split up into a number of workshop groups. Mr Douglass will be asked to look in, briefly, on the discussions of each group. “We consider his contribution will be a very important one,” Mr Gorton said.

On Saturday evening the delegates will turn from work to play, first at a social function then at a concert, which will feature the Southern Ballet and Radio New Zealand’s “Shoestring Opera” group. Also on Saturday, the delegates will elect their four representatives on the regional council. There are nine altogether, five appointed by the Minister for the Arts.

On Sunday morning the new council will meet, before the conference is thrown open again. On Sunday afternoon the director of the Q.E. II council (Michael Volkerling) will give an address, and there will then be an open forum, at which discussion from the floor will be invited. This, says Mr Gorton, should be a grand opportunity for all groups to air their views, and he looks forward to a stimulating afternoon. But the highlight on the Sunday, if it is ready in time, will be the first screening of a film that has been produced by the University of Otago with the help of regional arts council funds. Called “Storytelling,” it is about an Invercargill librarian’s skill in captivating children by reading stories to them — an old skill that is regaining ground now that television has relaxed its griup. “I have seen this film in unedited form, and it is very exciting,” Mr Gorton said. “It shows just what you can do with a young audience if you can grab its attention.”