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Being modern
does not involve surrendering your own cultural experience: Sir
John Tusa
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"Recognising
and owning your own cultural and artistic traditions is an essential
aspect of cultural identity. Equally and essentially, openness to
other cultures is a necessary part of modernity, a vital ingredient
of innovation. But setting out to fuse those cultures, being ashamed
of and undervaluing their unique characteristics, usually produces
an unconvincing and undigested mess of modish, cultural gestures.
Even if achieved, they contribute little in themselves, apart from
making some people feel good and culturally inclusive. Worse still,
globalisation of culture is a code word for domination and all too
often suppresses or destroys local cultures."
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| Sir
John Tusa, managing director of Barbican Centre, London, former
managing director of BBC World Service and acclaimed author
of several books and essays on journalism, culture and history,
presents a lecture titled 'East is East and West is West and
a Good Thing Too'. |
This was stated by Sir John
Tusa, managing director of Barbican Centre, London, former managing
director of BBC World Service and acclaimed author of several books
and essays on journalism, culture and history. Sir John Tusa made
these comments at a Special Lecture Series programme organised by
Aga Khan University (AKU), Karachi, on March 3, 2005. The Special
Lecture Series is part of AKU's multidisciplinary and broad-based
approach to education which aims to enrich students' understanding
of the humanities and social sciences. The general public also benefits
from this one-to-one interaction with scholars and other personalities
of national and international repute.
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| Eminent
members of the society as well as faculty, staff and students
of Aga Khan University attended Sir John Tusa's lecture, which
was organised by the University as part of its Special Lecture
Series programme. |
In an evocative discourse titled 'East is East and West is West and
a Good Thing Too', Sir John Tusa enthralled distinguished guests and
members of the public as well as faculty, staff and students at the
AKU Auditorium. Introducing the Barbican Centre, Sir John explained
that it is "the largest integrated arts centre in the United Kingdom,
possibly in Europe. Usually, the various performing art forms keep
to themselves. Typically, as in London, the National Theatre is one
institution in its own building and the Royal Opera performs opera
and ballet in its own building," he said. "The same can be said of
the English National Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company or the National
Film Theatre."
But the Barbican, Sir John pointed out, is different in the sense
that it "houses all these performing art forms in a single, unified
complex. With us, all the arts are under one roof. More importantly
still, all art forms are under a single, united direction. While each
art form - music, theatre, visual arts - has its own needs and priorities,
they do not plan and perform in isolation from their colleagues and
peers, still less without sympathy for them. Being aware of the latest
ideas and currents in other arts is a crucial way of keeping programmers
alert, up to date, open-minded and aware," he stressed.
Weaving a link between this encompassing-yet-distinct approach and
the topic of his lecture, Sir John Tusa maintained that the Barbican
is an international, outward-looking, curious and open-minded organisation. "When I talk about the separation of forms of eastern and western
expression, I am not talking of isolationism, indifference, superiority,
or any kind of cultural apartheid or separate development," he pointed
out. "It is possible to retain a sense of distinctness in artistic
identity while keeping the most open of minds to the way others do
things."
Admitting that his experience of contemporary Islamic culture, and
especially its Pakistani aspect, has been limited, Sir John advanced
a series of challenging questions to the audience. "I wonder how strong
Islamic engagement with modernism has been artistically? How deep
are the traditional roots in which your own modernism exists? How
strong is your own sense of artistic culture which allows you to define
a contemporary art that is yours rather than western dominated? Is
your own culture strong enough to engage with western culture on equal
terms? Is your own culture resilient enough to resist the tide of
shallowly rooted, commercially-driven, globalised so-called culture?" he asked.
"I do not see a nation, a culture, a continent retaining a worthwhile
identity without its own artistic traditions, definitions, aesthetics
and sensibilities," elaborated Sir John Tusa. "I do not see that being
modern involves surrendering your own cultural knowledge and experience
to the most commercially dominant forms of entertainment. I do not
believe that innovating within your own artistic traditions demands
a forced merging with others. Awareness of others? Of course. Surrender
to others? Where is the benefit?"
Ultimately, said Sir John, the primary question is one of equality, "the equal strength of cultures to stay as they wish, to redefine
as they wish but in their own terms, seeking their own rewards by
the process of doing so," he argued. "For we need to keep the biodiversity
of thought, expression, forms and culture as rich as possible. Nature
is impoverished by the loss of biodiversity. Culture, ideas, aesthetics
and sensibility need to be kept alive in all their variety because
the world cannot flourish on a restricted range of thoughts, propositions,
ideas and expressions. We never know which lesson from which culture
may be the lesson we need to assist - if we cannot guarantee - human
survival," he added.
"Besides, homogenised cultures are so deadly boring, so insufferably
polite, so scared of difference, so terrified of offence that they
cannot sustain the vigour, the creativity, the energy of the activities
we associate with and expect from culture. So long live the East!
Long live the West! And as the French used to say vive la difference!" concluded Sir John Tusa.
Earlier in his welcome address, Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi,
Chairman of AKU Board of Trustees, introduced Sir John Tusa as a versatile
and creative person who has helped take the BBC to new heights. "Sir
John has served that organisation for most of his life. In 1986 he
became the Managing Director of its External Services which he later
renamed BBC World Service. He is currently the Managing Director of
the prestigious Barbican Centre in London, one of Britain's most impressive
centres of artistic presentation and innovation," said Ambassador
Dehlavi. "Sir John's contribution to the world of news and culture
has received deserved recognition. In the eighties he was named the
Royal Television Society's TV Journalist of the Year and he also received
the coveted Richard Dimbleby Award, presented by the British Academy
of Film and Television Arts."
Sir John's varied interests and vast experience, added Dehlavi, are
reflected in his books and articles. "These include two volumes of
essays on broadcasting and journalism, namely Conversations with the
World and A World in your Ear. He has published a book of essays entitled
Art Matters, Reflecting on Culture," elaborated Dehlavi. "His latest
book, On Creativity, explores the process of creativity through a
collection of interviews from his BBC Radio 3 series. Sir John has
also co-authored with his wife, the historian Ann Tusa, two books
entitled The Nuremburg Trial and The Berlin Blockade."
Sir John Tusa's talk was followed by a vote of thanks by Dr Nadir
Ali Syed, Head of Neurology and Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical
Education, AKU, as well as a question-and-answer session that saw
active participation from an enthusiastic audience.
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