Time to give artists their due – a matter of perception

Abstract

My theme is somewhat odd in this conference concerned with Mediterranean maritime heritage. We do, however, have a few meeting points, such as the question of what our recollection of history would be without the work of artists. I hardly need to convince anybody in this audience that artistic work is work, and that it has a value, independently of whether it generates money or not. Imagine how much poorer our recollection of history would be, if we did not have the work of artists – taken in the widest sense – to convey to us past times and cultures. There is one further point that unites my research perception, and that is what I want to talk about. In this gathering of historians, I will be concerned with a very contemporary matter: how we perceive our own time, and particularly how we perceive artistic work. Throughout time, most artists have had to struggle for their material survival while doing what they had to do – create. My concern is that there has not been much improvement in this regard, notwithstanding the human rights standards introduced during the past century, particularly economic, social and cultural rights. A more recent phenomenon that should induce us to consider the conditions under which artists work are governmental policies concerning art and culture. The cultural policies of Malta, the Netherlands and Finland will here serve as illustrations of the points I will reflect on.