Arts think-tank told: make culture pay

By VERNON SMALL and GILBERT WONG

The Government is setting up a "Heart of the Nation" panel of cultural high priests to come up with a plan to support arts and culture - and make them more able to boost the economy.

The H.O.T. Nation campaign is New Zealand's equivalent to the "Cool Britannia" scheme conceived for Britain by Tony Blair's Government.

Arts consultant Hamish Keith will convene the panel, which will include writer Witi Ihimaera, journalist Gordon McLauchlan, Auckland University economics professor Tim Hazledine and actor Miranda Harcourt.

It has two months to prepare a report on strategies that will drive cultural policy over the next 10 years and make the most of the economic potential in arts and culture.

The underlying aim is to redefine culture so it is not an "optional extra" but a vital part of society, Mr Keith said.

"One major part of the brief is jobs and the need to foster the cultural economy."

The 1996 census put the number of cultural-related job at 88,000. That had since risen to more than 100,000.

He said cultural activities were worth between $4.5 billion and $5 billion a year, about 5 per cent of GDP.

The Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Judith Tizard, said the parallel between the name H.O.T. Nation and "Cool Britannia" - created to push UK arts and cultural heritage - was a coincidence, but the New Zealand campaign had a similar purpose.

Other members of the panel are former NZ Film Commission director and former Arts Council executive chairman David Gascoigne, Royal NZ Ballet chief executive Susan Patterson, Otago Polytechnic Arts school head Rob Garrett and former Christchurch Arts Centre chief executive Dr Paddy Austin.

Ms Tizard said she, Mr Keith and Prime Minister Helen Clark selected the panel members.

Her aim was to see a strategic plan that would look at present financing and what could be done with more support.

"What we don't want to happen is for everyone to trundle up and say, 'Give me a lot of money and I could do a lot better.' We assume that."

She said the committee was not supposed to be representative of the country or the cultural sector, but it contained good strategic thinkers. "We are looking at people who are out there trying to do it."

Mr Keith said the panel hoped to develop prototypes that would drive a cultural economy.

It would consult leading arts bodies and would question whether organisations such as the Film Commission and Creative NZ were still appropriate.

It would try to deal with issues such as how to avoid conflict between invention and added value.

"That is, if Scarfies receives Film Commission money, should Xena?"

The panel would also look at how to market culture globally and whether it was possible to mount a united front.

It would produce a report for the Prime Minister that would be made public.