Written by Alasdair Foster, Cultural Development Consulting
Honouring the Story
It’s Sunday. Children crowd around the exhibits, chattering animatedly and taking pictures on their mobile phones. They weren’t dragged here by parents or teachers; they were drawn by the magic of the place; the story it has to tell. Adults crane over their heads to view the dioramas or step back to admire the sheer spectacle of the massive installations rising two and three storeys inside the building.
This is the Museo Nacional de Antropología (MNA), the national museum of anthropology in Mexico City. It is a brilliant synthesis of conservation and creativity, for, while the museum has excellent climate control and lighting to ensure the protection of the works on show, it also brings flair and imagination to the story it unfolds of traditional Mesoamerica.
It was not always so. Less than 100 years earlier, pre-Columbian art and craft were considered of little worth by Mexicans and much was sold off, recycled as building material or simply lost to neglect. It took figures such as the famous Marxist mural painter, Diego Rivera, to turn things around. He collected many thousands of pre-Columbian artefacts and built a truly unique museum (Anahuacalli) to house 52,000 of them. He was an energetic advocate of the culture of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica just as he was of the popular and contemporary arts of latter-day Mexican people. The passion with which Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo, and their circle championed the traditional arts of the region in harmony with their own modernism fired a national (and international) interest which, seven years after his death, saw the opening of the spectacular MNA.
MNA and the other museums, galleries and sites in Mexico engender a strong sense of identity and social cohesion by affirming a story shared in common. The buildings which house these treasures and the sites of ancient temples have been developed and are maintained to a high standard. They are places of which to be proud; places whose reputation spans oceans. There is a potent fusion of traditional, modernist and contemporary arts and crafts that forms a coherent, multifaceted uniquely Mexican whole.
As a result Mexico is the eighth most visited country in the world. Tourism is one of its most important industries with over 20 million visitors a year constituting the fourth largest source of foreign exchange for the country.
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Stories are central to the human imagination. In this paper I will explore the way in which stories have been reshaped and retold to build the cultural economies of Greece, Bhutan, the Canadian province of Quebec and, of course, Mexico. While none of these stories has a neat fairy-tale ending, each demonstrates imaginative, practical and sustainable strategies from which something useful can be synthesised.
Retelling the Story Persuasively
The Lotus Eaters were, in ancient Greek mythology, island visitors who ate the fruit of the lotus tree and lost the desire to return home. In 1972 it became the title of a BBC TV series set in the Greek island of Crete. The first of four series by Michael J. Bird, it blended espionage with the beautiful locations of Aghios Nikolaos as it told a story of British ex-pats and their Greek neighbours. Later series set on Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes wove narratives intrigue, fantasy and gothic romance, and while the storylines became increasingly fanciful, it was always the Greek scenery, art and architecture that triumphed.
These TV dramas did much to boost the Greek tourist industry in the years following martial law (1967–1974). Each storyline centred on foreigners with whom British viewers could empathise. By bringing the islands into the lounges of potential visitors (in the dead of winter) they were able not only to create a desire to visit, but also begin to educate audiences on what to expect and how to respect it.
These TV series had been preceded by films such as ‘Never on Sunday’ (1960) and ‘Zorba the Greek’ (1964) and were followed by Willie Russell’s ‘Shirley Valentine’ (1989). In each case a foreign (British or American) protagonist provided a point of view with which the audience could identify.
Many of these films and series were associated with a popular theme tune. Aired extensively on radio and played in clubs, they became musical ‘memes’ that made memorable the mythos of Greek life. Several topped the popular music charts.
The story of Greece has also been imagined for foreigners by such visiting writers as Lord Byron and Lawrence Durrell. Similarly the Pacific islands’ story has been introduced through the paintings of Gaugin and Matisse, the stories of Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack London, and the musical theatre of Rodgers and Hammerstein. These artists offer alternative cultural perspectives through which to connect with potential markets.
One of the strengths of the marketing of the Greek islands was that the archipelago was promoted as a unified brand, while the sheer variety of the islands catered to a wide range of niche clientele: Mykonos is cosmopolitan and loud; Andros is rich and cultured; Crete is steeped in Minoan history; Kalamata is a quiet haven of olive groves; Santorini is stark and elemental. Greece, then, was able to market the ancient and contemporary culture of its diverse islands in a way that made the brand memorable while capitalising on the variety of histories, cultures and lifestyles each offered.
This could suggest a useful model for the promotion of cultural tourism in the Pacific Islands as a unified international brand with many niche-oriented experiences depending on the island visited.
I believe there is a strong argument for developing a film and TV support structure in the Pacific – in a similar way to that developed in New Zealand – to encourage the use of the islands as the location for films, television and particularly the new areas of netcasting. This would require investment in training, equipment and strategies for developing the location crew and intelligence networks required by visiting filmmakers: actors, character actors, extras; film and lighting technicians; production managers and runners; set construction workers; costume makers; hair styling and make-up assistants; location scouts and talent agents; mobile catering. While these services might operate out of one or more island hubs, they should be informed and able to work throughout the Pacific nations and carry local skilled workers and talent on their books. This in turn may require careful legislation to facilitate movement between sovereign states in the region.
There is a pivotal role here for AusAID in providing funds to establish such a facility and training and mentoring programs with the film industry in Australia and by seconding experienced film workers to the Pacific to deliver training programs. This will have the added benefit of exposing Australian filmmakers to the Pacific islands as a potential location for future productions.
In the longer term these facilities should be promoted not only to the established markets in Australia, New Zealand and USA, but in China and other rapidly developing East Asian countries. Chinese tourism is growing exponentially as is its entertainment industry. The Pacific islands offer a new landscape with a people and culture that, like the Chinese, value tradition and the extended family.
Advocacy: the Story Abroad
Quebec is the poorest of the larger provinces in Canada (ranked by GDP per capita) and uses the minority language, French. However, it places culture high in its international identity.
Quebec has undertaken a highly successful cultural branding program over the past quarter century. My experience of this is through the UK provincial trade office in London. The branding process was not constrictive and has been successfully applied to a wide range of contemporary and classical forms, both high-brow and popular (stand-up comedy, classical and popular music, theatre, circus, film and visual arts). The approach did not demand large amounts of government funding but involved lateral thought through relationship building by the cultural attaché and careful selection of local partner vehicles such as festivals.
The result was that by the late 90s the addition of the term ‘Quebecois’ to an event suggested it would be that bit edgier and must-see than if it was simply labelled Canadian or North American. (Even the fact that I use Quebecois and not the Anglophone form of Quebecer speaks to the effectiveness of the campaign – I use the French form.)
While this approach focused on non-traditional arts (classical and contemporary), the method may well be worth further study. The key is having a clear strategy and the right person on the ground in the relevant market regions.
This requires a sophisticated coordinator or animateur, but it would also benefit from high-profile patrons who can be the public face and voice of the message. There are, for example, more than 20 well known NFL and AFL footballers with Pacific island heritage playing in Australia. Such men could make attractive patrons with a strong youth following, not only to develop tourism but also to build awareness and respect for Pacific island culture within Australia.
Sustainability: the Story without End
Landlocked and isolated, the kingdom of Bhutan only began to open up to tourism in 1974. In order to preserve its environment and its traditional Buddhist culture Bhutan has resisted modernisation and has limited tourism. The country is also known for its focus on Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than simply GDP and has developed reasonably sophisticated metrics for its measurement.
So far the approach to tourism has been conservative, with all tourists visiting Bhutan required to obtain a visa. To qualify applicants must first purchase a pre-paid package (accommodation, food, ground transport and guide) at a minimum of $200US per day. Of this $130US passes to the tour operator and $70US is retained by the government as tax. Tourists may not explore the country alone and must travel with a licensed Bhutanese guide.
Until recently the emphasis has been on low-volume high-yield tourism. Even so, while (contrary to popular belief) Bhutan has never operated a quota system for tourism, the numbers have been falling. In 2009 the total number of tourists visiting Bhutan fell by 15% on the year before. The government is now, for the first time, actively seeking to increase the number of tourists while ensuring environmental and cultural sustainability. The shift is from low-volume high-yield to low-impact high-yield. So the nature of the tourist and their engagement with the country is increasingly important.
There are things to learn here for the development of Pacific island tourism. The first is to focus on the quality and sustainable economic benefit of the tourists attracted, not just the numbers or short-term profit. Targeting people who share the values and respect the culture is core to successful cultural tourism. Visitors should arrive with a sense that they are here to value the cultural and environmental experience they will have and not simply to exploit a cheaper economy. This requires:
- Care in the creation of promotional messages
- Education overseas to help shape expectation and behaviour prior to arrival including the work of advocates and patrons discussed earlier in the context of Quebec, but also through the establishing of Pacific island cultural centres in key markets
- Well maintained cultural institutions and attractions that show national respect for the traditional and contemporary artefacts on display
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The best way to understand a culture is as a story.
All human beings have a highly evolved affinity for narrative. Stories do more than impart information they encourage identification and empathy. This is a good place to begin developing a cultural economy both at home and abroad. An economy of value and not simply money. Real value is found in human happiness and the ability to sustain and grow that sense of wellbeing in the future. As the nations of the west continue to pursue unsustainable lifestyles, it will become increasingly important to find new stories, new ways of being that do not (as the US model currently does) require the resources of four entire planets to be sustainable. Culture will increasingly be the way forward in shaping happy, productive, engaged lives now and for the future.
Because the Pacific island nations have so far avoided the kind of excesses found in the so-called developed world; because they have values built around human connection and environmental respect; because they have rich cultures and creative practitioners, they are well placed to be advocates for a humane, culturally engaged and sustainable future. To turn the page of an old story and make it new.
