CURATING TRUTH

THE WORLD CITIES FORUM AND THE COLLABORATIVE

PRODUCTION OF TRUSTWORTHY CULTURAL

EVIDENCEAlan Freeman

Montreal29 May 2014

LINKS AND REFERENCES

worldcitiescultureforum.com

nesta.org.uk/publications/dynamic-mapping-uks-creative-industries

missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/sites/default/files/23974660-Measuring-Intrinsic-Value-Hasan-Bakhshi-Alan-Freeman-Graham-Hitchen-2009_0_0.pdf

‘The Irresistible Economics of Art for All’, in The New Economy of Art, DACS, November 2014, forthcoming

'London's Creative Workforce' in Creative Work beyond the Creative Industries: Innovation, Employment, and Education, Edward Elgar, forthcoming

‘Twilight of the machinocrats: Creative industries, design, and the future of human labour’ in The International Political Economy of Production. Edward Elgar, forthcoming

SLIDESHARE.NET/ALANFREEMAN777 AFREEMAN@IWGVT.ORG

WHAT IS THE WORLD CITIES CULTURAL REPORT?

Infrastructure And Output

Demand and consumption

…and more

• LONDON IS THE CROSSROADS OF WORLD TRADE AND WORLD CULTURE. ITS FINANCIAL SUCCESS IS BUILT ON THIS FOUNDATION. LONDON’S GREATEST STRENGTH IS ITS PEOPLE.

• THESE PEOPLE, WHO COME FROM THE WORLD OVER, HAVE A CHOICE; LONDON IS PROUD THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO LIVE HERE, AND IS THE BETTER FOR IT. LONDON’S CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THEIR CHOICE, AND WE ALL HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THEY CONTINUE TO CHOOSE OUR CITY.

• LONDON IS WITNESSING AN EXPANSION OF CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC LIFE NOT SEEN FOR DECADES. FROM THE TATE MODERN AND ITS WORLD-RENOWNED SOUTH BANK, THROUGH TO INVESTMENTS IN ART EDUCATION DOWN TO ITS CUTTING-EDGE DESIGNER-MAKER STUDIOS, CULTURAL INVESTMENTS ARE EXPANDING AND RENEWING LONDON’S PRICELESS CULTURAL ASSETS.

• POLICY REQUIRES EVIDENCE. THIS AUDIT OF LONDON’S CULTURAL ASSETS, CONDUCTED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SUCH A WAY AS TO MAKE MEANINGFUL COMPARISONS WITH OTHER WORLD CITIES, HAS GATHERED DATA OF GREAT USE AND VITAL IMPORTANCE BOTH TO BUSINESS DECISION-MAKERS AND TO POLICY MAKERS.

• I INVITE ALL THOSE WHO SHARE OUR INTEREST IN SOUND EVIDENCE TO JOIN US

I SPENT THIRTY YEARS GETTING MY HANDS ON THE LEVERS OF POWER

WHEN I FINALLY GOT HOLD OF THEM,

I FOUND THEY WEREN’T CONNECTED TO ANYTHING

IAN DENHAM, INDUSTRY MINISTER, NESTA ROUND TABLE 2006

WHAT CULTURAL EVIDENCE DO WE HAVE?

Creative

productionCultural

participation

Creativity: London’s Core Business 2002

... and many others

Cultural Audit of London 2008

… and not many others

ORIGIN OF THE CULTURAL AUDIT:THE ‘INSTRUMENTALISM’ DEBATE 2006

• ‘CREATIVE INDUSTRIES’ DATA TELL US ABOUT JOBS AND MONEY (GDP, GVA)

• BUT THE PURPOSE OF ART IS NOT TO CREATE JOBS AND MONEY

• HOW SHOULD WE JUDGE IF AN ARTISTIC INSTITUTION IS ‘DOING THE RIGHT THING?’

2014 Istanbul forum 25

cities

2008 Audit 5 cities

2010 club of users –

the forum

2012 Olympics 12 cities

Next?

• Amsterdam Forum November

• Transformative Projects

• Research network

DATA CURATIONand why we need it

NO MEASURE IS ‘BEST’• CULTURAL DATA IS INTRINSICALLY CONTESTED

• IT TOOK 200 YEARS TO AGREE ON WHAT ‘GDP’ WAS (NOT DEFINED UNTIL 1945)

• MOST ECONOMIC MEASURES ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF DATE (WHAT IS ‘AGRICULTURE’?)

• A STANDARD WILL NOT FALL FROM THE SKY

• IT MUST BE CREATED BY COMMUNITIES OF USERS

NETWORK DATAPEDIA

EVIDENCE

THE KNOTTY PROBLEM OF INTERPRETATION

206,000

172,000

UK

US

Canada

Australia South Asia

Africa

English language writers

UK

US

Canada

Australia

South Asia

Africa

English Language readers

WHAT IT’S NOT

IDENTITY, NOT RANKING

THE CITY IS A CENTRE OF ENCOUNTER AND EXCHANGE

It connects the parts of the

region to each other

It connects the region to other

regions