Dear arts organisations

Amongst everything else, the last several months have been a crash course for boards, leaders and organisations in risk and reputation management, crisis communications and duty of care from the pointy intersection of arts and human rights advocacy.

Inspired by my recent vlog series on why boards need to talk about Palestine (but applicable more broadly), here’s my attempt at framing the sorts of conversations going on amidst the hurt and panic, best and battered intentions, solidarity and silences right now.

Dear [insert any number of arts* organisations here],

* and everybody else

[This situation] may or may not be of your making. You may be reeling, reacting, staying silent or taking a stand. Fairly or unfairly, you may be more or less impacted or involved. Nonetheless, this is about you, and requires your response. 

Does it matter how you got here?

Maybe you made decisions in the past about which circumstances have changed to make them problematic or meant they’ve caused harm. You don’t need to apologise for those decisions. You no doubt did your best with the information you had at the time. But your responsibilities around risk management, reputation management and duty of care require you to think and talk about how you could and should respond given this new information. These are opportunities to acknowledge what’s happened and its impact, to show how we put our values into practice, to make spaces safe, to reduce, remove or remediate harm (ideally, in as many and as specific ways as possible). 

Maybe you made decisions in the past (knowingly or unknowingly) that were not ideal or genuinely problematic that have now come to light. Receiving critique is always difficult – particularly within for-purpose industries that rely on us to give, work and care so much for so little reward. But ours are still positions of privilege and power. And reflexiveness will always be more effective than defensiveness – not only in resolving these situations but improving how our organisations work long-term. These are opportunities to listen and learn. These are things we can – and should – apologise for. To acknowledge where we’ve fallen short of our organisation’s values and ambitions, to apologise for doing so and own any harm we’ve caused, to commit to doing better (ideally with details and a timeframe for what, when how). 

Maybe your organisation’s values, policies and procedures have never been tested or needed to be demonstrated in such a visible way, and are suddenly unclear, unhelpful or not fit for purpose. It’s OK to admit to being unprepared. It’s OK to say we’re taking it seriously, listening, learning and working it through (as long as we let people know when to expect an outcome too). These are opportunities to make sure our decisions and policies are informed by our purpose and the communities we serve. To ask and listen. To bring in experts and members of the communities closest to the issue, trauma or grief (and thank and/or pay them appropriately for their cultural labour and time). To implement their advice. To evolve our practice.

Maybe you made a statement in haste, shared a policy or attempted to express your values or solidarity in a way that backfired, created or compounded harm. It’s OK to walk something back, to acknowledge the clumsiness that comes when responding to crisis, to apologise and re-set if needs be. These are opportunities for openness, humility and flexibility.

Maybe you’ve yet to make a statement, been critiqued for your institutional silence or ‘business as usual’ communication or social media feeds. It’s not too late to step up. These are opportunities to make space for complexity, plurality and empathy. To clarify why our organisations exist, who for, and what that means. To reassure and re-secure our relationships and futures.

Maybe you simply made plans before the world changed. This is not something anyone can be expected to control. But neither can we carry on as usual when the context we work within requires us to acknowledge or respond to that change in some way. These are opportunities for making and holding space, for offering a different frame, for thoughtfulness and innovation – things that artists and arts organisations are uniquely equipped to provide.

But also, this isn’t just about you – not specifically and not entirely. 

This is a moment in time. In post-referendum ‘Australia’. In the midst of some of the most visible global atrocities and human rights abuses most of us have ever known. In a decimated sector impacted by an ongoing pandemic, cost of living, climate and mental health crises. A time of low and lost trust. A time when none of us are our best selves. And when many already-underrepresented communities have become more deeply triggered, traumatised and marginalised.

All of which have raised awareness of and reduced tolerance for things we’ve always known. Things we’ve articulated in endless research papers, consultations and planning days. Things we have even been trying to change – if incrementally.

That – in the main – our organisations and sector are not accessible, equitable, representative or culturally safe. That these issues and systems are deeply embedded and reinforced by governance, business and funding models that rely on us to do too much on too little in ways that compromise people and outcomes. That make us necessarily more focused on keeping-going than doing-better. And that burn out generation after generation. Particularly the people who care the most, those closest to these issues, their allies, and those on the front lines – often cogs in a bigger machine, often unable to make change from within, even when the will is there to do so. 

All of which means change is slow, inequities persist, and we are often unready and ill equipped to respond when things happen – particularly when they happen fast, on multiple fronts, and in areas outside of our expertise.

All of which is an explanation, not an excuse. 

I too have learned these lessons the hard way, made imperfect decisions within imperfect systems, tried and failed, unwittingly caused harm. I too am still culpable, still learning. We all are.

But we can hear and be hurt by hard truths AND acknowledge they come from hurt we have contributed to. Articulate our values, hopes and best intentions AND analyse where we haven’t realised them as well as we’d hoped. Listen when people speak back to the power our organisations represent EVEN WHEN we don’t feel powerful within them. 

We can acknowledge effort and pride in our organisations, people and programs AND culpability, regret and understanding when things go wrong. Support those organisations AND hold them and ourselves accountable. Acknowledge systemic causes AND demand faster and more meaningful change.

We can criticise the actions of our organisations AND acknowledge the care, work and intentions of the humans within them. Call out failures and fuck ups AND give people space to learn and try again. Still find value in what we’ve done well WHILE we commit to improve where we’ve stumbled or failed.

We can be supportive and gentle AND critical and accountable to each other AND not expect or require gentleness from people who have been marginalised, silenced or hurt – whether or not we did the hurting. We can be impassioned AND compassionate.

We have to.

Regardless of the issue, crisis or moment in time, what our organisations say or don’t say has an impact on our ambitions, strategies and even our financial bottom lines, as well as (most importantly) the people we work with and the people and art forms we serve.

Our organisations and decision-making structures aren’t set up for speed. But in times of crisis, it’s vital for us to find ways to respond in good time – not wait for things to improve or blow over. Choosing not to act is still a choice. Choosing not to anticipate or remediate harm is a failure of duty of care.

We can learn and change and get better. We can acknowledge mistakes and that intentions count less than how something is received. We can be accountable when things go wrong. We can apologise and ask those we’ve hurt how best to move on.

We can be in community with the communities we service or serve. Remake the systems of the past – conversation by conversation, action after action. And we can do so while being human and kind – to each other as well as to ourselves. We can get through this together – if we try.

And another thing…

You can also check out a 6-minute summary of this article in my latest ‘and another thing’ vlog (also available on TikTok). 

Read more

This letter was combined with my pleas for Board members to think about Palestine and to stop weaponising the language of cultural safety and are now available on The Commons Social Change Library.

Further reading: Palestine as a governance issue

You can check out all of the articles and resources in this series, which include:

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Author: katelarsenkeys

Writer. Rabble-rouser. Arts, Cultural and Non-Profit Consultant.