I write from the small and rather remote town of Nagaur that sits on the edge of the Thar desert in Rajasthan. At the historic fort that has been recently restored with great care by the Mehrangarh trust initiated by Gaj Singh, the maharaja of Jodhpur, using the fine skills of the craftspeople here, Unesco is hosting a symposium where delegates, primarily from the Asia Pacific area are discussing with much passion and concern, the emergence of the creative industries and their assimilation into the development process of the many nations of the world. This is a sensitive and tricky debate because its conclusion will require looking out of the existing box and evolving a fresh approach to human issues such as this.
One delegate referred to creative resource and, therefore, industry as the last natural resource of the developing world. It is, therefore, fragile and its future needs to be determined by the practitioners themselves and not by the overriding authority of large global institutions or overpowering governments. Increasingly, people believe the role of government in the larger area of culture, that encompasses all economic and social activity, should be that of a facilitator and clearly not of a practitioner or regulator. Creative expression is the finest definition of the freedom of expression, an intrinsic right within any and every democratic process. This has to be acknowledged, respected and given its rightful dignity, which has been corroded and eroded over the past many decades, as the world raced towards an exclusive form of economic growth. The time has come to be inclusive in attitude, stance and policy.
Therefore, decentralisation is imperative, and for that the methodology needs to be structured. In India, we have a rather robust and in some states functioning panchayat system which can be used for this exercise.
• The government?s role in the cultural field should be that of a facilitator • Principles for ?creative industries? should be laid down by the developing world |
Other countries may have to design their own area-specific models for the devolution of decision-making, as well as the other dispensations that will be required. But, the fundamental change that has happened is this paradigm shift that has taken place under our noses, one the western world and most developed countries have understood and have begun to grapple with. We in India are, once again, the last in the relay! Our representation here at Nagaur was zero. There was not a single policymaker, government servant, or senior NGO representative present, even though Intach, our equivalent of the National Trust, was a co-host. They were not able to pull in key players who needed to hear the debate to enable them to go back, comprehend the global, national and regional issues and varying positions and views to convert the relevant ideas into policy for the many diverse areas in India.
The intention here was to set out some ?principles?, universal principles that make sense in the changed global mindset, within which each country would have to strategise a fresh ?policy? as also a new sensible regulatory apparatus that would be enabling rather than suffocating. Governments would, in this changed environment, have to look at a redefinition of expenditure as investment. A radical change of the attitudinal mindset. We in India can look forward to this only because over 60% of our population is under 35 years. And, hopefully, not carrying the baggage of the command economy mindset, nor the inherent insecurity of a dominant bureaucracy, whose intrusive role is getting diluted with the energy of private participation in the public domain increasing, as also the partnership between private and public.
What we in Asia have always seen as our strengths, the rest of the world has recently begun to comprehend. Therefore, it is important that the fundamentals or principles are laid by us, the developing world, those who live by those ?creative industries?, for whom they are the economic mainstay. And not initiated with preconceived agendas by those who ?view? these areas as a new ?product? in the global marketplace! The economic ?advisors? and corporate and financial gurus in India who have dismissed this resilient and critical economic sector for decades, must be compelled to shift gears and think again. The people of India, in the last election mandate, have endorsed the view that they and their creative industries are their priority. Let?s get on with it.