Many of us undertake some form of creativity at one point in our lives. Indeed how many of us secretly feel there is a novel hiding away under our corporate suits? Or a ballet dancer’s body waiting to pas-de-deux lithely away – had not time, opportunity or life’s choices not interfered? So perhaps for those of us that have chosen the more customary life of salaried work and financial debt, even a peripheral connection to this magical world that is the arts is sufficient to nurture our lonely creative spirit. Yes had we but world enough, and time, and money (to paraphrase Andrew Marvell) we would not be so coy when it came to the arts.
So what do we then think about those who actively go forth to participate in the arts voluntarily? And before you become confused, no this is not referring to the local women’s committee that assists the village gallery. Nor is it those who donate thousands of wonderful pounds or dollars to the arts, after opting for the job of a lonely merchant banker over that of a lonely poet.
Rather it seems there is an increasing group of people who band together, on a global scale, as practitioners and participants of what is known as the ‘voluntary arts’. Voluntary arts, in that all they want to do is paint or sculpt or perform or write and they just want to share this pleasure with the community around them. And no – they are not looking for money, fame, notoriety nor creative success. They just want to have fun trying.
According to the Arts Council Of Northern Ireland the voluntary arts are an often-informal global movement “embracing all forms of visual and performing arts that people undertake for self improvement, social networking and leisure.” And the range of art forms included under this banner is enormous – it includes folk, dance, drama, literature, media, music, visual arts, crafts and applied arts, and festivals.
Significantly, a key factor of ‘voluntary arts’ as the name suggests, is that these activities are primarily undertaken without the wish (nor intent for that matter) for payment. For many these activities enable and empower a stronger sense of well being and mental health and importantly act as leisure activities that help self-actualize that creative potential.
Indeed, we all know the saying about all work and no play…It’s no less than a true labour of love.
The numbers of participants in the voluntary arts vary from country to country, but according to the ScottishArts Council “an estimated two million people in Scotland participate in the arts and crafts, nearly with nearly 9,400 organisations (or 18.8% per cent of the general voluntary sector) and estimated 263,400 volunteers in the voluntary cultural sector.”
When considered on a global scale, the sheer number of voluntary arts participants and the amount of labour entailed in such activities is impressive.
The social and psychological benefits of involvement in the voluntary arts on a personal level can also be enormous, and attest to the seriousness with which community organisations and arts bodies are taking their continued promotion and development.
More so, as pointed out by studies carried out by the National Campaign For The Arts(NCA) “the arts are becoming increasingly valued for the positive contribution that they can play in relation to education, health and a wide variety of social contexts.”
World renowned researcher Francois Matarasso in a forum organised in 2001 by the Voluntary Arts Network and Circlelooking at culture, civil society and volunteerism in Europe, noted that “being involved in the arts can be a powerful, enriching and, in some cases, life-changing experience, as well as an important aspect of social life”.
He also enthused that “voluntary arts activity is, for thousands if not millions of people, the only arts experience they have, other than those mediated through television, radio, print and similar sources” attesting to its true value in a social and cultural context.
Great strides have been made through participation in and promotion of the voluntary arts in areas such as mental health the elderly,intercultural diversity, education and special needs groups such as the disabled.
Voluntary Arts organisations hold firm to the belief that the activities they promote and the positive results they create are a key part of cultural diversity and as such are absolutely vital to our society’s continued health, social and economic development.
Reacting to the changes occurring to the realm of voluntary arts over the last few decades, the Dutch Platform for Amateur Arts and the Dutch Foundation for Amateur and Stage Arts staged, in 2004, the first international gathering of amateur or voluntary arts organisations at a conference named, quite appropriately, art4allBollywood in Utrecht.
Through identifying common needs and desires amongst the participating countries , the conference’s primary aim was to “compare and expand the knowledge of practices and experiences of amateur art through a concerted effort to start the first international dialogue with policy makers and people who are involved in amateur arts as well as to inform, discuss, exchange and experience amateur arts experiences.”
Lofty ambitions, true, but the mantle for continued growth and change that was started by the art4all conference has been taken up in 2005 by Voluntary Arts Network and Voluntary Arts Wales with the pending international conference on the Role Of The Voluntary Arts in Europe to be held in Wales this coming weekend.
A key aim of the conference is the desire to establish a European Network of Voluntary/Amateur Arts, (ENVAA) which, in the current social environment where funding dollars are limited and competition for them is at an all time high, is most assuredly more needed than ever before.
