GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS: MAKING LIFE MEANINGFUL

Article by Linda Blincko

Poverty takes many forms, the most obvious and pressing being the lack of access to immediate needs such as housing, safety, nutrition.

Then there is the poverty that arises from our disconnection to everything that connects us to the ecology of the world – intensive urbanisation disconnects us from whenua, from whanau and sense of belonging. Increasingly massive bureaucracies disconnect us from decision-making about our lives; globalisation alienates us from our culture, and, combined with a developing global technocracy increasingly disconnects us from wairua inherent in humanity and this world.

In 2006, Depot Artspace hosted a meeting with Dr Ron Colman, universally recognised for his work on the GPI (genuine progress indicator), currently an adviser to the Royal Government of Bhutan on maximising the country’s Gross National Happiness. Whereas in most countries, the approach to development concentrates on increasing Gross Domestic Product to improve a country’s economy, Bhutan follows a different approach based on improving the general well-being of the people. The thesis argues that Bhutan has relegated Gross Domestic Product to the background where it can be used as a means to enhance “happiness” but not as an overall goal of development.

Depot has been advocating for a more integrated approach to wellbeing since it set up in the 90’s and Gross National Happiness just might be the ticket when it comes to envisioning the shape of a new future, especially in these times when the old economic paradigm appears even more vacuous, and in fact contrary to general wellbeing.

Gross National Happiness values the less tangible qualities in our society, and the creative sector finds a much more accommodating space in this environment.

Kuini Karanui speaks at the opening of Turangawaewae, Sense of Place at Depot Artspace, 2017

"Depot has always embraced the intangible, the wairua, sense of place/ turangawaewae, qualities that have been in the past been sadly undervalued in a largely materialistic society, where ‘everything has a price and nothing has value.’ (Oscar Wilde)"

During Covid-19 and beyond, individualism and competition took a back seat to the need for meaningful engagement, a sense of belonging, to whenua, tangata and this place, Aotearoa. Depot identified both the opportunity and necessity for diverse sectors to combine and arts, culture and community development to galvanise people and to create change for good in these areas.

As part of Depot’s response to this potential for change, we developed a concept for unified social action because it was apparent that change for good for all was unlikely to take place without shared

Opening of the Auckland City Mission exhibition, ‘I Am the Art, the Art is Me’, 2018

values and critical mass. Described as the Manifesto for Sustainability, it encompassed social, spiritual, ecological and environmental components, which together form a living community.

All of these are present in the Depot’s kaupapa, and through these uncertain and challenging times, we continued to hold firm to our values of inclusiveness and acceptance and to our belief in the arts as personally and socially transformative. Depot Artspace’ ethos and aspiration to unite people and communities, from exhibiting their work or showcasing a feature of community, collaborating on projects to bringing about significant social awareness and change is a significant cornerstone of wellbeing.

Creativity provides different entry points to a rich shared experience of community. Art is the catalyst for bringing artists and audience to the Depot; it articulates experience, offers new perspectives, educates and embraces audiences.

Our vision is to build meaningful relationships that don’t begin and end at our door.

Robert Houriet’s assertion remains meaningful as we continue to reframe our future:

"“Community is vital and unifying, self-sufficient and harmonious, an antidote to a fragmented, commercialised society that is fatally and contagiously diseased.” Robert Houriet, Getting Back Together, 1971"