PARADOXICAL

How About Monetizing Culture and Arts?

(How culture and arts fuel products, brands, careers, professions, livelihoods, entire industries)

Innovation -- and the economic progress it brings -- are often credited to science and technology. S&T research, in particular -- and by extension, its application in engineering and other allied applied science fields -- are often cited as catalysts of progress, and rightly so. And yet the field of culture and arts is often forgotten, even dismissed, as a harbinger of good things in this regard. This omission is misguided and unfortunate.

Without a vibrant artistic and cultural scene, a community is as good as dead in terms of creativity and innovation, not to mention bereft of their unsung socioeconomic benefits.

Let us get down to brass tacks then and ask: How does a work of art -- whether it is a painting, poem, essay, dance, story, novel, sculpture, or even a concept, or any of the intangible cultural traditions and practices such as culinary creations -- bring food on the table, money in the bank, improve socio-psychological wellbeing, or stimulate economic growth? How do we even quantify the effect of something that expands visions, opens minds, gives pleasure, touches hearts, and edifies and uplifts spirits? How can we even put a price tag on such essential intangibles as beauty, artistry, skill, craftsmanship, excellence, passion, the thousands of hours put it, wholeness and healing, collective pride, and cultural identity? The very idea! It's ridiculous because impossible. But anyway, let us attempt to connect the dots; after all, in the real word, money talks and we can't eat art -- not directly anyway.

The easiest answer is probably through tourism. If something is truly excellent or unique or intriguing, travelers from all over will come and see it or have a piece of it. Hundreds, thousands, will flock to it, fork over their life's fortune, as tourists do to the Sistine Chapel to see Michaelangelo's ceiling frescoes and 'La Pieta,' to the Louvre to see Da Vinci's ‘Mona Lisa,’ down to lowly Buscalan town in faraway Kalinga to have Apo Whang-od tattoo three black dots on their arm.

Entire towns and cities, even countries, become synonymous to their food products: Parma ham, Kobe beef, Rimini ice cream, Ethiopian coffee, and at home, Malagos chocolate, Bonuan bangus, etc. Just recently in terms of local history, when somebody invented pigar-pigar in Dagupan City, and it clicked, what do you think happened? The same story happened to, say, sisig or the lowly isaw when it was popularized by Aling Lucing of Angeles City, Pampanga, or a random isawan in Diliman. The same is true for certain regional dishes that used to be totally unknown to most, from bachoy to chicken inasal.

How many families got wealthy as a direct result of an heirloom recipe? TV magazine shows routinely feature how generations of people got by and made good in life on account of a secret hopia, longanisa, barbecue, banana cue, or bread recipe that is either unique or well-executed. Many of these initial home enterprises even end up being full-blown stores and restos.

Behind the roaring success of "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," "Star Wars," etc. are writers who dared to write down an engrossing story with fascinating characters and otherworldly settings while most likely all alone and bored to death in their corner of the world.

Antoni Gaudi's peculiar architectural style and love for his hometown resulted in a unique skyline for the whole city of Barcelona. And when Art Deco and Art Nouveau became the in thing in architecture in the 1920s, the new aesthetic concepts created ripples of change in cities around the world, and the new sensibility spilled over to the fields of interior design, fashion, and manufacturing industry.

Japanese concepts such as kaizen, 5S, wabi-sabi, and more recently Marie Kondo's idea of eliminating "anything that no longer spark joy" have profoundly affected how people and organizations behave and look at how they do things. Steve Jobs' obsession with Japanese ceramics heavily influenced Apple's design aesthetic.

Every major art movement, in fact, has moved global aesthetics to another direction, from arts and crafts to industrial applications, spicing up the realm of culture and arts, engaging people in endless debates that provoke thought, shaking things up often in many unforeseen positive ways.

We haven't even mentioned how visual arts, music, theater, fashion, literature, and culinary arts enrich lives because these fields produce diverse professions: Visual arts lead to careers in graphic design, curation, and restoration. Music generates jobs for performers, producers, and sound engineers. Theater engages actors, directors, and stage technicians, creating a vibrant ecosystem. Fashion drives employment in raw material production, design, marketing, and retail. Literature supports writers, editors, and publishers. The whole showbiz and entertainment industry, as well as media, publishing, and advertising industries, are powered by artists of all kinds. Culinary arts spawn chefs, restaurateurs, and food critics, showcasing how these fields intertwine to form robust creative industries. Wherever there are skillful craftsmen and -women and artisans, there are home-based and cottage industries, or even better, when the products are manufactured for the export market. This year, the local design industry alone is reported to have contributed at least 7.1%-7.2% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The creative (entertainment) industry is reported to have contributed a staggering P1.60 trillion to the country’s GDP, a 12.1% percent increase from 2023.

I hope we Filipinos learn from how the Koreans took things seriously and 'monetized' their own culture and arts (even though it's limited to pop culture), thus offering something novel to a world hungry for novelty. I hope we learn to how to treat our extremely varied and rich artistic and cultural resources as capital for strategic large-scale tourism projects and non-tourism projects for economic purposes. I wish we could discern well which among our unique artifacts, practices, literature, music, and other such interest points to highlight from obscurity in such a way that would bring over hordes willing to part with their hard cash. I am glad that there are lawmakers out there who see this, such as Pangasinan Congressman Christopher de Venecia who has authored a version of Republic Act No. 11904 or the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, and Senator Loren Legarda's push for Republic Act (RA) 11961, or the Cultural Mapping Act, as part of an amendment to RA 10066, or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.

Seen as raw materials and capital instead of being dismissed as fluff or non-essential, culture and the arts can fuel job creation and product creation across various sectors, ultimately transforming communities and economies. By investing in culture and arts, societies ultimately cultivate innovation, enhance tourism, and stimulate local economies, making the arts an essential pillar of sustainable growth while strengthening the community's sense of pride and cultural identity.

posted by Resty Odon  # 8:12 PM