Striking a Balance

Culture is not a luxury. It is infrastructure.

I recently read the UCL report on The Public Value of Arts and Culture, which resonates with ongoing debates in Caribbean cultural policy.

As Suzanne Burke (2014) notes in The Evolution of the Cultural Policy Regime in the Anglophone Caribbean, cultural policy has shifted from promoting the intrinsic value of culture to emphasising the instrumental value of the cultural industries. This mirrors broader global trends where cultural identity and meaning risk being overshadowed by economic imperatives.

The task is not to reject either value but to strike a balance, and that can only be achieved through inclusive policymaking. A bottom-up approach that engages artists, entrepreneurs, educators, and communities is essential if we are to preserve culture’s dual role as a source of identity and as an economic driver.

And this idea is not new. Academics and practitioners alike have long called for more balanced policy development and implementation.

In this light, public value is not only about measurable outcomes but also about the processes of participation, co-creation, and equity.