You stand among the crowds in a world museum like the Louvre in Paris, moving from one hall to another gazing at pieces of art such as the Mona Lisa, trying to understand the secret of that mysterious smile on the face of the Italian La Gioconda ... well, you are not alone! Many people in this world are attracted by the various types of "culture" and are joined together in appreciating its beauty. Culture is a meeting point for peoples and civilisations. It is for everyone — not just for certain groups, cities or the elite. Culture brings us together at a time when politics and economics force us apart.
If all the bread in Paris is French, the collections of the Louvre remain universal. In a joint American-Dutch study, researchers found that the secret of the mysterious half smile of the Mona Lisa lies in the happiness of the lady in the portrait at that time. Despite the many theories and arguments around that picture, five centuries after it was painted, the woman still distributes her smiles to everybody. The 30-inch -high portrait still attracts and draws together millions of people from all walks of life.
Universality of culture impacts cities, either positively or negatively. The cultural diversification experienced by some cities plays a role in the development of all areas and directly helps in establishing distinct and more stable lives, on both the intellectual and social levels.
It is almost impossible to separate culture from development. The cultural sector could play a key role in achieving sustainable development in the cities. Culture shapes the character of a city, adds a strategic dimension to it and contributes in forming its present and future identities. A city that does not preserve its local culture loses a lot of its heritage and identity. Worse, it cannot deal with the cultural diversification that exists within its borders.
At the local level, efforts in the field of culture are still limited. Despite some serious efforts, what is spent on culture hardly equals what is spent on a single residential compound in many of our modern cities.
Disappointing
What is disappointing is that those in charge of "culture" in our societies lack the necessary skills. They are either people of literature (writers, poets, artists, etc.) who are not familiar with management skills or they are executives and administrators who do not have the needed cultural background.
Neither are eligible to lead cultural institutions and they may do more harm to culture than good. The absence of a second line of leaders who possess the necessary competencies to carry on the process of cultural revival, coupled with a lack of funding, badly affect the state of culture in our local societies.
Our cultural institutions do not lack ideas. The difference lies in the degree of seriousness in carrying out the projects and bringing those ideas to light. Decision-makers at the cultural institutions are crippled by budgets and certain strategies that affect the status of culture. Cultural resolutions that help develop the cities need strategic dimensions and special abilities to elevate the cultural levels.
Some may think that the cultural field is a race course and that you have to compete to reach the finish line before the others do. The quantity of cultural projects is given precedence over quality. Many do not follow up on the many projects they have launched. Others do not even know how or why they launched those projects in the first place!
A friend tells me that attending a book fair abroad will give you a good idea about the status of local culture and how the cultural institutions here and there differ in the way they operate. Institutions abroad strongly participate in the different cultural events.
Individuality and the absence of consolidated efforts in our case lead to disrupted and incomplete results. There is a need for deep understanding of the cultural message of the cities, with unified goals in front of us. This will have positive effects on culture in general and the local cultural efforts in particular.
The cultural sector can play a pivotal role in sustaining the development of the cities. Few cities pay attention to culture, which has helped some cities become great.
Jamal Al Shehhi is an Emirati writer.
