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Jeff Spalding is President & CEO of Calgary’s Glenbow Museum. Enbridge sponsored the Museum’s 2008 exhibit called “Honouring Tradition: Reframing Native Art.”
- Is there anyone that you particularly admire for leading the charge in the area of sustainability?
- You know, I won't bring it down to an individual. I'm very excited about the emerging generation of First Nations people, very specifically First Nations contemporary artists. They are not longing for the past; they’re not thinking that the only way to a happier life is to return to the traditional ways. Instead, they are meeting head-on the realities – some of them very harsh – of being members of First Nations in a country that is primarily urban.
- Instead of running away from the past or feeling victimized by it, they're taking positions that I think are empowering to them, and that's a pretty exciting model.
- It’s interesting that you cite artists as leaders in sustainability. In your view, how do arts and culture contribute to sustainability?
- Well, first off, I've always been a little concerned about the notion of sustainability being the end goal. If that was the ultimate goal, then we’d just be talking about retaining what we have rather than growing it.
- But to answer your question, it seems to me that arts and culture bring the world to your doorstep and teach you a little bit about the background of your neighbours. We live in a multi-dimensional, multi-cultural world. The arts bring people together to acknowledge their common needs and to celebrate their differences. And that makes people more willing to work cooperatively with one another.
- It used to be that North American cultures needed to believe that they were particularly advanced compared to other cultures. We wanted to impart our ways of thinking and living to everybody else. But the world can’t sustain that. We can’t afford to have the whole world act as North Americans act. If anything, we need to learn from other cultures.
- You see, I think that one of the reasons we have prevailed as a group of creatures on the earth is that we've been spectacularly successful at being creative. So culture has an enormously important role. It fosters creativity. And it helps establish common ground which, in turn, helps people to accommodate differences. And our differences are what will save us ultimately.
- Is there anything that you would like to add?
- I just want to say that for true sustainability we need to make world-wide equality one of our number-one goals. I think that the only way that we can retain what we have or grow what we have is to be absolutely dedicated to sharing that bounty with everyone.