The Department of Culture ... Who, What, Why...

WHO WE ARE

We are the Department of Culture, a growing community of Canadian citizens who are artists, arts professionals and cultural workers concerned about ensuring the social and cultural health and prosperity of our nation in the face of a Federal Government that is aggressively undermining the values that define Canada.

We are you: the painters, architects, dancers, writers, actors, designers, filmmakers, sculptors, performers, photographers, ceramicists, directors, curators, musicians, archivists, fashion designers, producers, weavers, choreographers, editors, librarians . . .

WHAT WE STAND FOR:

The Department of Culture was founded on the following objectives to:

• ENCOURAGE A MULTIDIMENSIONAL VISION OF CULTURE that emphasizes living interactions between the artistic, cultural, social, political and economic aspects of society.
• PROMOTE A VIEW OF CITIZENSHIP in which all Canadians are active participants in the creation of culture rather than simply as passive receivers of it.
• ENSURE THAT GOVERNMENTS, AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS ARE ACCOUNTABLE for their social and cultural agendas.
• SUPPORT THE CREATIVE AGENCY OF ARTISTS to make political change through all forms of artistic production.

WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR

This is not a fight about money. This is not a fight for the inherent value of cultural expression. This is not a fight about this or that ideology. This is not a fight about what percentage of GDP should go here or there. This is not a fight to save our national reputation. This is a fight for all of the above. It’s about how all of these things serve each other - arts, health care, sports, education, agriculture, the environment, and immigration. We are battling the false dichotomies espoused by the Conservative government and their ilk. This is a movement to fight for progressive social and cultural values through artist-initiated actions that employ the skills, experiences, collaborative methods and imagination that define artists’ work. When it comes to the current government specifically, we don’t like their priorities, we don’t like their values, we don’t like their secrecy, we don’t like the many cuts to our allies and we don’t like the cuts to the arts.