ARTS & AMUSEMENTS
Commonwealth Preference
By SHELDON WILLIAMS
PRocoNsuLs and radicals alike find difficulty in providing a neat definition of the Common-
wealth. All the old refinements of dominion status, and territories under the titular control of the Queen have had to be abandoned in the face of the logic of the times. Yet the Commonwealth remains—seemingly indestructible.
How much in diplomatic skill, booster finance and direct treaties it takes to keep the Common- wealth bolted together, few outside the profes- sionals stop to consider. The delicate, but sprawl- ing machinery of good Commonwealth relations needs continual maintenance, and only the most contrary would want to see this unique com- munity of nations fall asunder. So the Common- wealth Arts Festival, starting this September simultaneously in London, Cardiff, Liverpool and Glasgow, ought to receive the support of all people of goodwill. But will it?
'The Commonwealth has the reputation of being a bit of a bore—which is a pity . . . ' said the Guardian in its editorial on April 10. This is an uncomfortable truth which the Festival's organisers must have had to face at some stage during their forward planning. Since the sunset of Empire, it has been difficult for the majority to switch over from imperial pride to common- wealth understanding. The glamour of that other international complex, the European Economic Community, has also done its share in reducing the glitter of the more bread-and-butter Com- monwealth. Perhaps the Festival will help to supply the missing definition. Perhaps too it will restore some of the romance of 'far-away, places with strange-sounding names' that kept our grandfathers in a state of constant excitement. The Director-General, Ian Hunter,- has come up with a resounding platitude, but it is also true. He is putting the main emphasis on contrast. Of course the variety of the Commonwealth is almost boundless. But what Mr. Hunter aims at is to bring diversity together, put the lambs with the lions, mix in the water with the oil.
From its inception the Festival has been a vexed project. Finance had to be found and the cautious agreement of two Chancellors of the Exchequer (from two different parties) had to be gained on a prospectus which offered nothing more tangible than a vague hope that this inter- national undertaking would yield a bonus in Commonwealth friendship and understanding. No festival director ever touches saturation point when it comes to satisfying financial demands, but official support has dealt kindly with Mr. Hunter.. Central government has given £80,000, and further approaches may still yield more. The old LCC voted another £50,000, and about £20,000 has come from undivulged sources in the City. This £150,000 is Britain's direct contribution as host country to the Festival. Official funds from overseas are more difficult to assess, but ' the consensus of opinion suggests a figure of little short of a quarter of a million pounds, without taking into account the many private or personal contributions—Adelaide Harmony Choir, for instance, is meeting its own costs through mem- bers' contributions.
Aside from problems of finance, there have been many delays and snags to overcome before final agreement was reached with certain countries that they would take part and give their visiting artists official recognition. Only a strong faith in the concept has succeeded in bringing together participants from nearly every Com- monwealth country—only Malawi and Zambia are not going to be represented, and even these exceptions arise not because of political obstacles but through difficulties of transport and organ- isation.
Some idea of the more colourful side of Commonwealth art will appear in two exhibi- tions: 'Treasures of CoMmonwealth Art' at the Royal Academy (which is also mounting a show of paintings by the modern Australian artist Leonard French in the Diploma Galleries) and the display of Trinidad carnival costume at the Commonwealth Institute. At Burlington House, Mr. Hunter's philosophy of contrast will be in full force with a ,panoramic view of 'Common- wealth in ,Craft and Culture' culminating in a vast centre-piece (probably a sculpture by Henry Moore). Glasgow is juxtaposing Malaysian paint- ing and sculpture with Canadian David Part- ridge's 'configurations,' bas-reliefs of gleaming raised nail-heads. In Cardiff, the contrast is drawn between the art of. the • Australian aborigine and Canadian drawings and paintings. Even more elaborate plans have been laid for the Festival's music, drama and dancing. Winnipeg's Ballet already has a reputation here, but 'Les Feux Follets' folk dance group, which interprets Eskimo, Indian and French-Canadian local lore, though it should cater for a universal audience, is altogether an unknown quantity. Here, in London, nobody is quite sure what the Stilt Dancers from Tanzania are like, or what sort of. music Embu drummers play. Perhaps we should know, but few of us do. The question is how many will be prepared to find out. Dramatic works due to be seen include Amos Tutuola's Palm Wine Drinkard, well known in Britain as a novel, but now set to music as a Nigerian folk opera. There is also a straight play from Nigeria, The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka, which the Nigerian Theatre Company is putting on at the Old Vic.
The organisers emphasise that this is the first Commonwealth Arts Festival. The underlying intention is to spark off sufficient excitement to ensure that in future this will be a regular event in the international calendar. Britain was chosen as the first venue only because of convenience. The next Commonwealth Arts Festival will be based somewhere else—possibly India. A repeat performance will depend on the success of the first. Long preparation—over two years—was needed to make the venture possible. Through- out, the guiding principle .has been to create a new Commonwealth link. It is this element which has brought broad support from the British end. Nothing for the Commonwealth arts has ever been staged on this scale before. At present 15,000 artists have agreed to take' part in the Festival.
Apart from obvious difficulties of organisa- tion, liaison between the four Festival centres of London, Cardiff, Liverpool and Glasgow, and the headaches of arranging accommodation, what are the real dangers of the undertaking? For the Festival to be an international success, a number of worn-out clichés need to be exploded.
The idea of a group of colourful primitive peoples benevolently watched over and encour- aged by big brother White Dominions is out. The Festival must never be seen in terms of Zulu warriors dancing before the Queen. To appear on the international scene, Commonwealth artists need to be experts. Otherwise the Festival is an expensive waste of time and a number of friendly nations will have been needlessly insulted. Furthermore, it is all very well drawing in the• official co-operation of governments, but the mortmain of bureaucratic control needs very delicate exploitation if it is not to flatten the best in art and culture. Of course, it was neces- sary to get official blessing and economic support, but too many Lord Mayors' banquets do not guarantee artistic success.
On the credit side, the Festival dangles an opportunity outside the grasp of any international group, short of the UN itself. The challenge is to show that the arts of the Commonwealth can claim standards just as high as—and in some cases higher than—anything out of Europe or the Americas.
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