In 1999, I was asked to write a booklet about key choices in cultural policy for the Council of Europe The idea had originally been proposed by Charles Landry and Franco Bianchini, but my text elaborated substantially on the nature and number of strategic dilemmas covered. The book was published under both our names, to reflect the origins of the idea and Charles Landry’s comments on the draft.
As I wrote, I had in mind the challenges facing new culture ministers in the post-Communist countries of Eastern Europe, developing policies in a new ideological context with very limited funds. The booklet was well received, especially in Eastern Europe where it was translated into several languages, in addition to the English and French versions that were normal for the Council of Europe. I remember this as one of the easiest texts I’ve written, so it’s pleasing that its ripples continue to spread after 25 years. It’s still available in print from the Council of Europe.
The culture minister deals with a field which is inherently changeable and often seen as marginal to the government’s central objectives. The development and management of cultural policy is therefore one of the most complex areas of modern government, a kind of a balancing act, not so much between competing priorities as in other areas of policy, but between competing visions of the role of culture in society. This Council of Europe Policy Note is intended to help with the thinking process which must underlie that balancing act. A tightrope walker is always conscious of the two ends of his balancing pole, continually making slight adjustments to preserve that elusive point of balance. In creating a dichotomy between extremes, we do not expect cultural policy-makers to make a simple choice between two options, but to consider where local policy currently lies, or should lie, on the spectrum between them.
François Matarasso 