THE POWER OF AUTHENTIC

THE POWER OF THE AUTHENTIC

William Burlington

William Burlington is Chairman of the Chatsworth House Trust, the registered charity that looks after Chatsworth house, gardens and park for the longterm benefit and enjoyment of all.

Graduate Harvard Business School.

Am I here?” I heard someone plaintively ask the other day, to no one in particular. It wasn’t a moment of existential selfdoubt, it was a colleague trying to establish connection on a zoom call. But, given the extreme isolation many have felt over the past year - isolation from family, friends, work, from life as we know it - it’s a reasonable question.

So where does one go to reconnect? To feel once more that the world does not begin and end in the confines of a two-dimensional screen? For some, an uplifting, inspirational cultural experience is what they crave. Out of the home, into a world of wonder. For others it might be nature. For many, the venue comes second to the company – a chance to share precious time with family or friends. Or, the answer could be all three.

Millions of people across the world are sallying forth for more than just exercise or essential shopping. In many cases this will be their first such venture in many months. One thing seems pretty certain; people are looking for an antidote to the virtual and secluded world we’ve been living in. “Digital fatigue is now setting in and the complementary need for an unfiltered experience is painfully apparent” Tristram Hunt (Director, Victoria & Albert Museum, London) wrote recently in the Art Newspaper. A visit to the Victoria and Albert’s Epic Iran exhibition, scheduled to open in June 2021, promises to deliver the perfect remedy.

Elsewhere in Britain and Europe, numerous heritage organisations are preparing to reopen, albeit with an asterisk: “*subject to government regulations”. Chatsworth is a seventeenth century ‘treasure house’ located in the Peak District National Park, about 150 miles north of London. In a typical year over 600,000 paying visitors are welcomed to the house, garden and farmyard. Many more enjoy walking in the woods and park for free. In a prepandemic survey approximately 30% of respondents cited ‘a social experience’ - spending time with family and friends - as the primary reason for their outing. It is highly likely that percentage will increase this summer; we are, after all, social beings. Social beings who have been starved of the opportunity to socially interact, which only a year ago we simply took for granted.

A reaction to digital fatigue is what motivational speaker Richard Gerver has described as the “analogue bounceback”. A walk in a landscaped park, a wander through a heritage property, a shared experience with family and friends. No tech required, no screens. Will there be an even greater appreciation of the authentic? Of the physical object, the room, the building itself – in place of a digital image or a virtual tour? Time will tell, but with museums, galleries and houses across the world offering a safe and warm welcome, knowledgeable guides and authentic art and artefacts by the roomful, my guess is a strong yes.

The authentic has the power to inspire, to offer transformational visits not just transactional.

At Chatsworth, the Devonshire Educational Trust is working with local schools to inspire future generations and affect how they live in and think about the world around them. “Visits to Chatsworth enable us to bring our curriculum to life. This year, in particular, children have spent far too long sitting behind a screen, and the ability to be outdoors with their friends in a place that is so breathtakingly beautiful is an experience they will cherish and remember for the rest of their lives.” Matthew Crawford, Executive Head, Embark Federation.

Transformational experiences are not limited to school children and creating the ability to connect is a core tenet of many museums and galleries. “How do you want to understand the future without an understanding of the past!!” asks Ghislain d’Humières, Director and CEO, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida “I am a strong believer of dialogue between generations to share wisdom and avoid repeating past mistakes. Also helping older generations to stay open minded to the younger one, to be ready for new ideas, concepts, technologies, social movements

and even revolution.” As with many US museums, the Norton is already welcoming visitors and current exhibitions include a survey of María Berrío’s work, as well as an exploration of time through the medium of photography.

D'Humières is passionate about engaging with the community in which his museum is situated. His vision is to create a “hub of creativity where the whole community can feel safe to engage in conversation, art activities (visual or performing) and discover the power and the importance of creativity in our life”. However

in Venice, Italy, community engagement can come in the form of protests at the volume of tourists drawn by the authentic. While financially disastrous for so many, for others the global pandemic brought welcome relief from the crowds. Dolphins in the canals of Venice might sound like the epitome of inauthentic, and indeed there were some faked images circulating during the first lockdown, but in January 2021 they were there for real, some say because there have been no giant cruise liners in the lagoon throughout the pandemic. The latest

news is that large vessels have been banned from the city centre, a significant step towards a more sustainable tourism model for the city, but by no means the end of the overcrowding.

Sustainable tourism is a major preoccupation of World Monuments Fund’s President and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur, host of a recent online event entitled ‘When Will We Return to Venice and Should We?’. “Covid-19 has made sustainable tourism a very obvious theme” de Montlaur said recently [Art Newspaper]. “It’s not a choice between no tourism and huge crowds… we want to explore in a new way and try to innovate. Going forward, that means… partnering with [local and regional residents] to ensure that the sites benefit the community. In many cases, development associated with international tourism has, in the past, worked to the detriment of locals rather than fostering their well-being”.

A remarkable example of this form of partnering is the World Monuments Fund’s ‘Building Conservation Capacity in Syria and Jordan’ initiative in conjunction with the Petra National Trust. It is a heritage conservation training programme for Syrian refugees and Jordanians. Participants learn masonry and conservation skills and there is an emphasis on opening up career opportunities for participants within both the conservation and construction sectors.

The UK’s Landmark Trust is another charity that champions traditional conservation skills. The Trust rescues remarkable historic buildings from dereliction and revitalises them as holiday homes for short

breaks. This gives guests the opportunity not just to observe the authentic but to live it. The charity is custodian of over 200 properties including castles, cottages and even a stone pineapple – and there is not a television, radio, telephone or Wi-Fi in any of them. For heritage specialists like the Landmark Trust’s Director Dr Anna Keay, preserving the authentic is critical; “The built heritage is fragile – it is not mass produced or 3D-printable, it is finite”. Yet that does not mean the properties are mummified or locked up; all are available to rent, all are expected to earn their keep.

So how do cultural organisations generate the income they need? Despite the Landmark Trust’s carefully managed financial strategy, even in a good year the cost of repairs outweighs the income from holiday makers so the charity relies on private philanthropy as well. The same can be said for almost all heritage and cultural charities, including those mentioned above. Friends and Membership schemes, private donations, legacies and bequests, all are integral to the longterm survival of the authentic.

Volunteers play a vital role too, not just for the Landmark Trust but throughout the charity sector. And the good news is that giving, be that of time or money, has been proven to be transformationally beneficial – to the giver as well as the recipient. A 2020 report by the Cleveland Clinic (US non-profit academic medical centre) cites a study showing how giving “stimulates the mesolimbic pathway, which is the reward centre in the brain, releasing endorphins” that can make you feel happier. The same report refers to other studies that demonstrate how giving can even help you live longer.

As the world emerges from Covid-19, the extent to which businesses and charities have suffered will become more and more apparent. The generosity of individuals and communities across the world, and across all voluntary sectors, has been inspirational to behold. The value and relevance of the authentic

will have to compete for public attention and for cash. Engaging with the authentic, be that as visitor, guest, donor or volunteer, is a powerful way to be able to state not “Am I here?” but “I am here”.