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Cutting Edge | Brokering a new future for cultural policymaking
The impact of COVID19 has touched all segments of culture and will have repercussions for many years to come The announcement of the pandemic led to a sweeping shutdown of cultural venues and activities throughout the world Cultural events and festivities have been cancelled World Heritage sites have closed museums have shut their doors and theatres have been dark leaving the cultural workforce in a precarious position The pandemic has disrupted the contexts and channels necessary for expressing safeguarding and transmitting living heritage The entire cultural value chain has been impacted affecting the creation production distribution and access to cultural goods and services as well as their diversity Beyond providing emergency relief these measures designed to combat the impact on COVID19 have also begun to transform patterns of cultural consumption production and work which will impact the sector in the long term This is why at least in the medium term the loss of international and domestic tourism venue closures reduced purchasing power and restrictions in public and private funding for arts and culture are crucial considerations as they could amplify negative impacts even further This is a particular priority for countries faced with critical and competing development priorities such as in the Global South Over the past year responses have evolved from emergency and shortterm to mid to longterm responses depending on the countries approach and stage of opening At the outset shortterm needs such as direct financial support for cultural organizations and workers and fiscal leniency took priority whereas longterm needs including skills development tax incentives and stimulating production of domestic content were introduced later in most instances Moreover changeable regulations and the unpredictability of openings and closures have made it difficult for the cultural sector to plan and in some cases ensure its viability Continuous disruptions have made it difficult to chart the path forward The introduction and roll out of vaccines have been major turning points for policy planning and for determining mobility and openings upon which several sectors of culture depend upon While the current context still remains uncertain the timing of access to vaccines will be a major driver of determining when and to what extent the culture sector can be operational Some countries have begun to experiment with hybrid approaches and to introduce physical distancing measures for example at museums and cultural events More broadly however a shift from rescue to recovery is still pending in many areas of culture Overall the pandemic has acted as a revelator and accelerator It has exposed and deepened existing faultlines and vulnerabilities in the sector in all countries regardless of their development status and has raised concerns that the progress achieved in advancing the cultural sector within the public policy realm could be fundamentally jeopardized However the crisis has also shifted policymaking processes and priorities as well as professional practices towards more transversal collaborative processes that factor in robust sustainable perspectives This can be seen as a positive outcome of the current crisis whose impacts reach beyond the cultural sector itself and could offer a foundation upon which to build change in the sector While the prospect of openings brings some fresh hope and perspective the threat of financial insecurity and closures looms Therefore 2021 will be a decisive year as countries navigate the introduction of vaccines with sustaining financial support measures which for many are running low