Creative Innovation has been touted as the key to advancing the Arts in Britain. In the last decade the Creative Industries strategy has brought with it a new wave of “specialisms”, specialist organisations, consultants and policy-makers.
In that time politicians, the media and creative industry leaders have refurnished the prevailing bureau-speak with terms such as “creative nation”, “creativity-led regeneration” and “creative economy” to name but a few. At a recent launch the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell told the audience that, “In 1997 there were less than 200 mentions of the “creative industries” in newspapers. By last year there were almost 1,500…The global market value of the creative industries increased from $831 billion in 2000 to $1.3 trillion in 2005; more than 7% of global GDP. Today the UK’s creative industries make up 8% of GVA; greater than any other country.”
The creative industries have been designated “leader-industries” and the champions of regeneration as a result of the declining UK primary and manufacturing industries. In the last fifty years industrial Britain has undergone a huge shift; from being a major producer of both manufactured and raw materials to a producer of intellectual property and its associated products. In many cities, towns and regional areas, the faltering and failure of traditional industries has come to mean high levels of poverty, unemployment and exclusion. As numerous research teams have attested (and both the Cox and Leitch reviews emphasise) the Creative Industries or CI’s, now form the very backbone of British business and prosperity.
Several years ago whilst hot on the heels of this phenomenon, the American academic Richard Florida, and author of The Rise of the Creative Classes famously claimed that, ”Without diversity, without weirdness, without difference, without tolerance, a city will die. Cities don’t need shopping malls…to be economically successful, they need eccentric and creative people.” And many governments have responded to this call for innovation, diversity and creativity as a primary means of regenerating towns and cities that have lost their socio-economic vitality.
In 1997, Prime Minister Tony Blair responded by founding the Creative Industries Task Force (CITF) in Britain. Between 1997 and 2000 the Task Force mainly advised on policy development and was led by Ministers and leaders from the Creative Industries sectors. The definition of CI’s adopted by the Creative Industries Task Force and used in the first national mapping exercise in 1998, was as follows: “Those industries that have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.” This definition encompasses industries as diverse as advertising, craft, film, architecture, visual art, design, fashion, the media, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer games as well as science and technology.
As a response to these issues the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) was set up in 1998 to support innovation in these sectors. And with the extraordinary funding capability of the National Lottery Foundation (NLF) NESTA appears to be one of the most potent catalysts for innovation in the UK.
“The unprecedented £15 billion of lottery money, together with new investment from Government has completely transformed communities all over the UK, putting culture right at the heart of change,” commented Tessa Jowell at a recent DCMS launch.
The NESTA brief is, “To facilitate innovative individuals and organisations by providing seed funding and business support for the development of new products and services.” NESTA’s unique financial position also allows it to be a genuine risk-funder and to broker ideas across widely divergent sectors that can lead to fast-tracked innovation.
Some recent examples of NESTA funded arts projects included:
1. A young artisan funded to research converting heat-treated (and unusable) old carpet into beautifully crafted designer items such as bags, purses and furniture.
2. One of the UK ’s foremost art glass designers funded to develop techniques in using glass as an artistic medium. The research will contribute to innovation in both the art and technology sectors by finding new ways to commercialise glass art.
3. Headline Pictures a boutique production house committed to creating commercial and independent UK productions were funded by NESTA.
4. Nesta funded an academy to inspire young people in Merseyside to consider a career as entrepreneurs. The aim is to give young people the tools to take hold of their lives and to create a more innovative UK.
The push to support and develop innovation within the creative industries has been identified as the key step towards making the UK the world’s creative hub.
Research recently identified seven key issues as the drivers of innovation and productivity within the creative industries: Education and skills development; Competition and intellectual property policy-making; Diversity; Technology; Business support and access to finance; Evidence and analysis and Infrastructure.
In their research both DCMS and NESTA found that the CI’s have always mattered a great deal in the UK. This also means that the UK is more vulnerable than other countries to under-performance in its creative sector. Therefore, experts in the field identified the need to rise to the increased challenges of global competition. According to their findings, Britain’s overall “…performance will depend on its capacity to create, brand and market its creative leadership, expertise and products.”
The focus on innovation and intellectual property and its management has also inevitably led to the need for widespread access to, and utilization of digital technologies for the distribution of cultural products and as a means to bypass traditional distribution channels. And a weather-eye out for emerging technologies. In addition current government policy aims to shift the focus from producing to owning and managing intellectual property.
The Regeneration Movement has been an integral part of the Creativity and Innovation Strategy. The regeneration agenda has focused squarely on the task of rescuing regional and metropolitan areas from social and economic downward spirals. The success of the culturally enhanced cities of Newcastle and Liverpool and cultural landmarks such as; Tate Modern in London, The Lowry in Salford and BALTIC in Gateshead – have been often cited. And projects such as these have been used to enhance Britain’s capacity to (as one insider put it) “change horses elegantly”.
Tate Modern has delivered an estimated economic benefit of around £100 million, created 3,000 new jobs, of which 467 are directly related to the gallery; and a 23 per cent increase in local hotels and catering businesses over four years. Similar figures have been quoted for The Eden project in Cornwall and The Lowry.
Some detractors have criticised what they term “the creative industry sell” stating (unfashionably) that all the festivals in the world cannot put “Humpty together again”. Whilst others warn that there is still an urgent need to regenerate industry on many levels – not just the “creative” ones. As simplistic as such comments may seem – there may be more than a grain of truth in it.
In a nation where many specialist and arcane skills (developed over centuries) are currently being lost on a daily basis, perhaps something does need to be said and done.
It is indeed difficult to predict outcomes and to compete in an increasingly complex global market. But at the risk of “crying like one in the wilderness” it’s just possible that there is still some value in championing the ability to make things; perhaps a shoe or a book? The skills related to sustainable agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry as well as traditional crafts and apprenticeship-based professions are no less creative or important than the arts. Our culture has fastened upon the notion of creativity not so much as a human birthright (which it is) but rather as some mysteriously distorted means by which to become rich famous. But Art, like Death comes to both the good and the bad. Not everyone has the desire, skill or determination to be an artist. Some people are incredibly creative engineers, chefs, teachers or boilermakers. Perhaps these almost “Lost World” skills need to be closely examined, revalued and championed?
Possibly it’s really about the capacity to see the creative and innovative potential of all fields of human endeavour and to support innovation across the board.
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