John Ralston Saul
Culture and Foreign Policy
Republished with permission

This is an area in which I am uncertain of the implications of the information I have. However, what stands out is that there seems to have been less thought about cultural music policy than in other areas. Even the basic considerations of what actions to concentrate on seem to be absent. A number of people have spoken to me of the difficulty of developing a systematic foreign policy when there was no systematic national policy. They also raised the question of whether we make full use of the Canadian performers / creators who are established abroad. The music business - whether classical or rock - is international. Their success is therefore a practical and locally established arm of Canadian culture.

Two specific areas should be mentioned:

a) CD - Tape

It seems that many of the same problems which face books also face the sale of music CDs and tapes. That is, international distribution and the sale of international rights. It may therefore be that the same sort of approach as with books - a Distribution Agency and a Rights Agency - could be appropriate.

b) Touring

This is a delicate area where we fall all too easily into the traditional "prestige" approach. It is thought that sending off symphony orchestras and large ballet companies around the world serves Canada's interests because they play in prestigious theatres, offer the ambassadors a chance to invite prestigious guests and produce reviews in newspapers.

In reality this is a doubtful approach. Touring symphony orchestras and large dance companies is extremely expensive. More often than not they fall into the equivalent of a cultural vacuum - not because they are not good, but because they are a one-off event. And because audiences in all countries react best to continuity. The embassy often ends up papering the hall. And since the orchestra or dance company plays or dances many of the things that local orchestral companies play and dance, the best a reviewer can do is compare them.

None of this does anything in particular for Canada's reputation - cultural or otherwise. Nor does it do anything concrete for the orchestras/companies. Tours are not the secret to recordings. These large organizations are bodies of "interpretation" and only rarely of "creation." Their real job is that of all symphonies and major dance companies around the world - to entertain their own public and visiting foreigners. If they are good, their reputation will make them a drawing card for visitors.

The prestige which these companies' foreign visits produce is of the short-lived variety. Everyone involved feels that something has been done. But what has been accomplished? It is also an old-fashioned approach to prestige, which is inappropriate to a country like Canada where the emphasis is on creativity and new activity. Finally, tours of such large organizations eat up large percentages of available funds.

A more appropriate concentration for touring policies would be on small modern dance companies and small music groups which are in the business of creating and playing new music. Canada is at the forefront in both of these areas. We have a remarkable quantity of companies on cutting edge of dance. They are "lighter" organizations to move around and therefore much cheaper.

In both cases their touring can be designed to fall into a cultural context, not a void, for example, concentrating on festivals. Their public will be devotees of modern music and dance - often, a younger public. And what is accomplished is that Canada's reputation as an energetic place creation is built upon.

John Ralston Saul is an essayist and novelist. He is the author of many books, including The Doubter's Companion - A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense, Voltaire's Bastards: the Dictatorship of Reason in the West, and Paradise Eater, which won the Premio Letterario Internazionale in 1990. Mr. Saul has a Ph.D. from King's College, London.