中英表演艺术产业和教育论坛 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum For Industry and Education 2015 中英表演艺术论坛 上海浦西洲际酒店 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum FORUM REPORT 创建更强的协同效应 Creating Stronger Synergies 该论坛得到中国文化部、中国驻英大使馆、中国上海国际艺术节中心、英国文化、媒体和体育部、英 国文化协会的大力支持 China Shanghai International Arts Festival Supported by the Ministry of Culture P R China, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the UK, China Shanghai International Arts Festival, the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sports UK, the British Council, China 1 中英表演艺术产业和教育论坛 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum For Industry and Education 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum Report Executive Summary 1. The 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum took place on the 19 October 2015 under the auspices of the 17th China Shanghai International Arts Festival1 (CSIAF). 2. The Forum was co-organised by CSIAF (supported by the Ministry for Culture in Beijing and the Cultural Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in London), and the British Council in China (supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in London). 3. The 2015 Forum programme theme was “Creating Stronger Synergies” with a particular focus on exploring ways to strengthen Sino-UK Performing Arts Collaboration undertaken between arts organisations in both countries. 4. The one-day forum was split into two main parts: the morning looked at learning from past and existing experiences using eight Sino-UK performing arts collaboration case studies; the afternoon focused on future priorities discussed in small groups facilitated jointly by arts leaders from both countries. 5. Senior officials from the UK and the Local Shanghai Government, representing the Ministry of Culture, supported the Forum and its objectives and overall mission to create stronger synergies through their keynote address presentations. 6. Just over 70 invited performing arts leaders and managers attended the Forum. Given the Chinese Presidential State Visit to the UK, which took place at the same time, the participation of Chinese top arts leaders and government officials was excellent. 7. Key lessons and experiences were shared in the main morning session. Fourteen organisations shared their experiences of seven case studies undertaken separately. The case studies were priority self-review SWOT analyses (See Annex 3 for more on the case Study methodology). These were analysed independently2 of the organisations involved and a number of learning points fed back to the collaborating organisations. 1 http://www.artsbird.com/en/enaaf/enafjj/20120606/13530.html 2 By the UK Forum Facilitator, Jannette Cheong and another independent Consultant/Advisor Graham Marchant 2 中英表演艺术产业和教育论坛 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum For Industry and Education 8. The case studies were both an opportunity to value the tremendous range of initiatives being undertaken, as well as to share lessons from these experiences. The idea of using a high priority SWOT analyses as a self-review tool was seen as a development tool. Each case study pair shared their specific learning experiences with the Forum through short presentations. These learning experiences ranged from the positive examples of the strengths, such as: a. Choosing the right partners to match the scale of the ambition/vision b. Providing international showcasing and development opportunities and reaching out to new audiences c. Exploring new ideas for cross-cultural and cross-generational productions 9. They also shared lessons learned from issues or on-going problems, such as: a. Both parties not fully understanding, appreciating and planning for the size and scale of the collaboration undertaken b. Communication difficulties and/or the lack of a shared cultural awareness – leading to management difficulties 10. The afternoon discussions produced a number of concrete suggestions and recommendations for arts leaders in both countries to consider in their future work: a. Consider ways to develop new talent, such as establishing (more) ‘incubation centres’ b. Examine the development of Arts Education as the key to developing audiences and artists of the future c. Explore the challenges, the importance, and the differences of business and funding models. For example, marketing practice (including the use of social media – which is particularly strong in China) in engaging with potential audiences d. Ensure government, corporations and civic society recognise that art matters by demonstrating the positive social, cultural and economic benefits. e. Identify and understand the development needs of Art Centres: the wide stakeholder base that supports them, the organizational and operational structures, capacity and capabilities needed to run and manage them and the development of the artistic vision that drives and leads them f. Establish the function of technology and how it feeds into the arts: use technology to make better art, and then use technology to sell it once we have it g. Appreciate how we define and respect Classics. ‘Museumise’ or ‘Modernise’. Treat every classic piece as a new piece of work, and educate 3 中英表演艺术产业和教育论坛 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum For Industry and Education why a work is a classic by understanding the context for the work – and respect what that ‘context’ provides and means to such work. 11. The 2015 Forum provided reflection on Sino-UK Performing Arts Collaboration, but it was also an important form of Sino-UK Collaboration in itself – a forum where ideas and views on particular issues were prepared, exchanged and debated by key arts leaders and managers who carry the responsibility for nurturing, supporting, developing and delivering performing arts in the two countries. It was recognised that the value and benefit of such a Forum comes only from the quality of the contributions of those who participate and, ultimately, whether the shared lessons and experiences enhance the work undertaken in the real world of performing arts collaboration. 12. Overall, the Forum achieved its main objectives and respected the key principles: a. Discussions were able to reflect and respect the different cultural values, as well as appreciate the challenges this presented b. The Forum added value through its sharing of lessons and experience, and through this, new relationships were forged and existing ones strengthened c. The case studies reviewed enabled a sharing of good practices, which was also continued in the small group discussions d. The Forum structure allowed everyone to build on their current knowledge of each others countries and be forward-looking to support and search for more sustainable collaboration models and examples e. And finally, that both the case studies and the discussions attempted to challenge and stretch our thinking regarding the role of the performing arts in strengthening international collaboration and understanding. 13. This report covers an account of the case study experiences, and the output and outcomes from the small group discussions. 4 中英表演艺术产业和教育论坛 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum For Industry and Education The Forum Report Introduction 1. The 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum took place on the 19 October 2015 under the auspices of the 17th China Shanghai International Arts Festival3 (CSIAF). The Forum was co-organised by CSIAF (supported by the Cultural Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in London, and the Ministry for Culture in Beijing), and the British Council in China (supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in London). 2. The 2015 Forum programme theme was “Creating Stronger Synergies” with a particular focus on exploring ways to strengthen Sino-UK Performing Arts Collaboration undertaken between arts organisations in both countries and in line with its four broad objectives: a. To build on existing strong performing arts links between the UK and China b. To further improve industry and education collaboration c. To explore ways of ‘growing’ new audiences d. To consider the influence of performing arts on national and international cultural development. 3. Mr BEI Zhaojian, Deputy Director-General, Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV, and Ms Sarah HEALEY, Director-General, Department for Culture, Media and Sport gave opening addresses and provided a wider policy framework for the Forum. They emphasised the importance of 2015 as an important turning point in strengthening cultural relations and praised the concrete activities already taking place across the arts, and the value and importance of these to both countries in this first UK- China Year of Cultural Exchange4. In addition, it was emphasised that coming together to share ideas boosts our understanding of each other – so that we can base our impressions more on facts and less on out-dated assumptions. The Forum moderator thanked them for their contributions, especially Sarah Healey who travelled out to Shanghai specifically to support the Forum on behalf of the Department for Culture Media and Sport. 4. President ZHANG Zhe, CEO and President of the Shanghai Grand Theatre Arts Centre, and Sir Nicholas KENYON, Managing Director of the Barbican Centre in London gave keynote addresses setting out the challenges that we face and 3 http://www.artsbird.com/en/enaaf/enafjj/20120606/13530.html 4 See more on the first UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange at http://www.britishcouncil.cn/en/programmes/arts/2015YOCE 5 中英表演艺术产业和教育论坛 2015 Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum For Industry and Education some of the fundamental questions we would explore through the day, and the key principles that