Opera and Money: the Relationship between Sponsors and Artists
There is a trend in the opera world at the moment that needs discussion. Recently an Australian opera company, West Australian Opera had banned, for two years, any productions of Bizet’s Carmen. It’s more than a little strange for a major opera house to refuse to perform an opera which has existed in repertory for over 140 years. Well, it turns out one of West Australian Opera’s major sponsors is Healthway, the government health promotion agency, and Healthway isn’t too happy about the iconic setting of Carmen, a french cigarette factory. As part of the deal for their $355,000 sponsorship, the company agreed not to perform Carmen during the two years the funding would be used.
How does this make us feel as artists and administrators? Should artistic directors and administrators be slaves to the companies and individuals that provide the funding necessary to operate? Is this trend stifling the freedom to program the season they wish? Instead of artistic license, and community engagement, will administrators now be more concerned with political correctness and avoiding offense to sponsor’s ideals?
It’s wonderful that there is such a diverse base of organizations and individuals inspired to sponsor the art that we all enjoy, but it begs the question of motivations. There are two ways a sponsor can approach their relationship with an artistic entity. The first, and preferred, is when that sponsor believes in the work an entity is doing, and feels their monies will do good work for the community and their artistic culture, while receiving some advertising space and notoriety, of course. The second is a sponsor who wishes to use their money and influence as a way to strong-arm an artistic entity into promoting their agenda. Sometimes this is just through demands for advertising and visibility, but other times, as in the case of West Australian Opera, this can mean a direct influence on artistic decisions.
As an artist and administrator, I hope the work I do and the decisions I make will inspire the public, organizations, and corporate sponsors to fund the work they see because they believe in a project or the mission of the organization. The products of all of our hard work should be the catalyst for philanthropy, rather than any political or personal agendas. I hope that will continue to be the case here at NVO. Of course, there is also the view, that, yes there is an artistic restriction, but that considerable amount of money can now be used to produce other amazing productions.
It is cause for concern that these types of deals are being struck simply for what it represents, but also because it hints at a lack of support from other sources that would have avoided such a restriction. So, it is up to us as artists to continue to provide a product in which the public and artistic community as a whole will find value. The moment we bend to the will of those that sign the checks is the moment that true art and inspiration will begin to wither. That being said, we must remember that we have a responsibility to remain connected to the pulse of the community and current trends in our respective art forms. This conversation is not new, and certainly isn’t over, but hopefully by opening a dialogue, we can allow more creative solutions to float to the surface.
Benjamin Smith
Executive Director
New Voices Opera
