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The missed opportunity of Punjab’s cultural economy: a white paper
- Chitra Iyer
- Aug 4, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 17, 2024
In 2009 UNESCO released its Framework for Cultural Statistics and defined the following six cultural domains (expressed in physical and virtual forms):
Cultural and natural heritage: including museums ; archeological and historical places; cultural landscapes; natural heritage.
Performance and celebration: including performing arts; music; festivals, fairs.
Visual arts and crafts: including fine arts; photography; crafts.
Books and press: including books; newspaper, magazine; libraries and book fairs.
Audio-visual and interactive media: including film, video, radio, podcasting etc.
Design and creative services: including product; fashion, and graphic design.
Sports and recreation, and tourism have recently been added.
A variety of supporting, transversal domains that support culture like archiving, education and physical goods and equipment are also included
Culture matters because it influences human behavior and plays a role in maintaining social cohesion and collective identity, and can also influence power dynamics and economy.
Why don’t we do more to support cultural production?
READ OUR WHITEPAPER To FIND OUT MORE
The concept of “cultural economy” suggests that culture can impact the flow and shape of the economy, and that creative power has become modern currency.
But despite its obvious benefits, culture remains hard to commoditize, standardize and scale up in the typical economic sense.
Creative cultural practices embody a fluid mix of peoples’ creative and social values, identity and need for expression. They are meant to evolve organically, without specific end goals or control systems. We hope Punjab can embody that spirit of cultural evolution and creative expression.
The Punjab Cultural Project hopes to achieve that. Join us.
Artists in Punjab need our support. PCP aims to create more spaces and platforms where artists can practice their creative and cultural expression freely.
Citizens in Punjab need more engagement with culture and creativity beyond traditionally prescribed normative notions of ‘culture’. PCP aims to create more meaningful opportunities for citizens to engage with culture and creativity across Punjab.
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