GFTU BGCM Report 2019

CULTURAL WORK

Celebrating the work of our members in the cultural industries has been important to us industrially. But the place of culture in our Movement has required attention and support also.

1 Once vibrant networks of artists and cultural workers in all of the art forms sought to reflect and support the work for social justice and unions in particular. 2 As austerity budget cuts bit, these networks were torn to pieces and arts groups fragmented in constant competition for dwindling funding. Pay rates for some of the most skilled cultural workers are terrible and in direct inverse relation to the excellence of their art and the value it has for society. 3 The consciousness and commitments of workers to unions and our progressive causes will not be developed by union meetings alone. We need imagination and the humour, poignancy, insights and power of artistic expression. 4 Over this period we made a major effort to bring some of the most progressive artists together with trade unionists and a new audience of younger people to showcase their work, talk about the role of art and show how it augments and deepens our campaigns and organising agenda. 5 This came together in a major arts festival organised in conjunction with Exeter University and produced on our behalf by Equity and WGGB member Chris Jury. Chris produced a very thorough report from which the following extracts are taken as a permanent record of some of the important thinking that took place: 6 “Liberating Arts took place on 5th November 2017 at Exeter University. 7 It was organised by the GFTU its aim was to promote the idea that a vibrant counter-culture is vital to trade union organising and to provide a networking space for artists, academics and trade unionists to interact and learn from each other.

8 Over 50 creative activists, academics and professional political artists presented performances, workshops and discussions to an appreciative audience of over 200. 9 The feedback from the festival has been universally positive and thereputation and visibility of the GFTU has been enhanced. History 10 In 2014 GFTU General Secretary, Doug Nicholls initiated a meeting with several creative activists and academics to discuss the possibilities for a GFTU cultural programme. This group included representatives from Banner Theatre, Townsend Productions and Reel News and academics including Jan Woolf, Joyce Canaan and Rebecca Hillman (The Organising Group). 11 From these meetings the central argument emerged that the arts and culture must not be regarded as entirely separate activities from trade union and political activism; on the contrary that informing and inspiring activists and members through arts and culture is as important to successful organising as making speeches, writing reports and gathering statistics. 12 Liberating Arts was not instigated in order to try and persuade trade unions to support the arts as simply another benefit to members along with insurance and legal advice. Liberating Arts is part of an on going project to help trade unions recognise that a vibrant counter-culture is central to their primary organising objectives. 13 By expressing political ideas with beauty and emotion the arts can be the most profoundly transformative campaigning tools available to activists, trade unionists and political campaigners. 14 From these ideas the Organising Group defined the following objectives: 14.1 Develop and expand cultural workers/

A new version by Doug Nicholls

Lugalbanda Lover of the seed

Itbrings to the attentionofmodern readers apoemwritten5,000years agobut stillwith incredible relevance tous today.

Beautifully designed, printed and written with some stimulating discussion notes, this book is a fund-raiser for the Free Ocalan campaign.

The imprisonedpolitical leaderAbdullahOcalan draws attention to thefirstSumerian civilisation builtbetween theTigris andEuphrates, in the troubled lands todaycoveredby Iraq andSyria. This civilisationwas forgotten forover 2,000years,buriedunder sands,butwhen itwas rediscovered itwas realised that theSumerianshadbrought tohumanity agriculture, architecture, thefirstwriting, thefirst schools, thefirstwrittenpoetry, thefirst laws andmanyothernotable inventions.

Lugalbanda Lover of the seed

Thisdelightful and surprising storyof the exploitsofLugalbanda andwhatpowers he chooses as a reward for looking after the chickofamonstrousbird in the mountains, is a joy to read, sodistantyet sonear, and also compelsus to think about someprofound truths inourown world.

A fantastic read foryoung andold and whetheryouhave readpoetrybefore ornot.The author’snoteson the poemwill surprise and challengeyou as theyextract layersofmeaning from thepoem.

Anew version by

DougNicholls

Cultural Work | Page 28