I come from a family of five brothers, all scientists and engineers. A few years ago, I sent them the following email: "Dear brothers, I hope this message finds you well. I am emailing to let you know that I'm dropping out of my master's program in engineering to pursue a career as a full-time musician. All that I ask from you is not to worry about me."
U mojoj obitelji nas je petero braće, svi znanstvenici i inžinjeri. Prije nekoliko godina poslao sam im sljedeći mail: „Draga braćo, nadam se da ste dobro, želim vas obavijestiti da odustajem od diplomskog studija inžinjerstva kako bih se u potpunosti posvetio karijeri glazbenika. Sve što od vas tražim je da se ne brinete za mene."
Brother number one replied. He was encouraging but a bit skeptical. He said, "I wish you the best of luck. You're going to need it."
Prvi brat je odgovorio. Podržao me, ali je bio skeptičan. Rekao je, „Želim ti svu sreću. Trebat će ti."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Brother number two was a little bit more skeptical. He said, "Don't do it! This will be the worst mistake of your life. Find a real career."
Drugi brat je bio malo skeptičniji. Rekao je, "Ne radi to! To će ti biti najveća pogreška u životu. Nađi pravu karijeru."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Well, the rest of my brothers were so enthusiastic about my decision, they didn't even respond.
Moja ostala braća su bila toliko oduševljena mojom odlukom, da nisu niti odgovorila.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
I know that the skepticism coming from my brothers is out of care and concern for me. They were worried. They thought it would be difficult to make it as an artist, that it will be a challenge. And you know what? They were right. It is such a challenge to be a full-time artist. I have so many friends who need to have a second job as a plan B in order to pay for the bills, except that plan B sometimes becomes their plan A. And it's not just my friends and I who experience this. The US Census Bureau states that only 10 percent of art school graduates end up working as full-time artists. The other 90 percent, they change careers, they work in marketing, sales, education and other fields.
Znam da su moja braća bila skeptična jer im je stalo do mene. Bili su zabrinuti. Mislili su da će biti teško uspjeti kao umjetnik, da će biti izazovno. I znate što? Bili su u pravu. Veliki je izazov biti umjetnik na puno radno vrijeme. Imam mnogo prijatelja koji moraju imati drugi posao kao plan B da bi platili račune, samo što plan B ponekad postane plan A. Moji prijatelji i ja nismo jedini koji ovo doživljavaju. Američki zavod za statistiku navodi kako samo 10% diplomiranih umjetnika završi radeći taj posao na puno radno vrijeme. Ostalih 90% promijeni zanimanje, rade u marketingu, prodaji, obrazovanju i drugim poljima.
But this is not news, right? We almost expect the artist to be a struggling artist. But why should we expect that?
Ali to nije ništa novo, zar ne? Skoro pa i očekujemo da se umjetnici muče. Ali zašto bismo to trebali očekivati?
I read an article in the "Huffington Post" saying that four years ago, the European Union began the world's largest ever arts funding initiative. Creative Europe will give 2.4 billion dollars to over 300,000 artists. In contrast, the US budget for our National Endowment for the Arts, the largest single funder for the arts across the United States, is merely 146 million dollars. To put things into perspective, the US budget for the military marching bands alone is almost twice as much as the entire NEA.
Čitao sam članak u "Huffington Postu" koji kaže da je prije četiri godine Europska Unija započela najveću svjetsku inicijativu financiranja umjetnosti. Kreativna Europa će dati 2,4 milijarde dolara za preko 300,000 umjetnika. Usporedbe radi, američki budžet za Nacionalni fond za umjetnost, koji je najveći financijer umjetnosti u SAD-u, iznosi samo 146 milijuna dolara. Da napravimo usporedbu, američki budžet samo za vojne bendove skoro je duplo veći od cijelog budžeta NFU.
Another striking image comes from Brendan McMahon for the "Huffington Post," saying that out of the one trillion dollar budget for military and defense-related spending, if only 0.05 percent were allocated to the arts, we would be able to pay for 20 full-time symphony orchestras at 20 million dollars apiece, and give over 80,000 artists an annual salary of 50,000 dollars each. If that's only 0.05 percent, imagine what a full one percent could do.
Još jedan upečatljiv podatak iznosi Brendan McMahon iz "Huffington Posta," navodeći da kad bi se od trilijunskog budžeta za troškove vojske i obrane, samo 0,05% dodijelilo umjetnostima, mogli bismo platiti 20 simfonijskih orkestara zaposlenih na puno radno vrijeme po 20 milijuna svakome, i za preko 80,000 umjetnika osigurati godišnju plaću od 50,000 dolara. Ako je to samo 0,05%, zamislite što bi se moglo s cijelih 1%.
Now, I know we live in a capitalist society, and profits matter a lot. So let's look at it from a financial angle, shall we? The US nonprofit arts industry generates more than 166 billion dollars in economic activity, it employs 5.7 million people and it returns 12.6 billion dollars in tax revenue.
Sada, znam da živimo u kapitalističkom društvu i da je profit jako važan. Pa pogledajmo ovo s financijskog aspekta, hoćemo li? Američka neprofitna industrija umjetnosti stvara više od 166 milijardi dolara kroz ekonomsku aktivnost, zapošljava 5,7 milijuna ljudi i vraća 12,6 milijardi dolara kroz porez.
But this is only a financial angle, right? We all know that the arts is way more than just an economic value. The arts brings meaning to life. It's the spirit of our culture. It brings people together and it supports creativity and social cohesion.
Ali ovo je samo s financijske strane, točno? Svi znamo da umjetnost nema samo financijsku vrijednost. Umjetnost donosi smisao životu. Ona je duh naše kulture. Ona spaja ljude i potiče kreativnost te društvenu povezanost.
But if the arts contributes this much to our economy, why then do we still invest so little in arts and artists? Why do more than 80 percent of our schools nationwide still experience budget cuts in arts education programs? What is it about the value of arts and artists that we still don't understand?
Ali ako umjetnost toliko doprinosi našoj ekonomiji, zašto u nju još uvijek ulažemo tako malo? Zašto se u više od 80% škola diljem zemlje smanjuju budžeti za programe umjetnosti? Što to točno o vrijednosti umjetnosti i umjetnika još uvijek ne razumijemo?
I believe the system is flawed and far from being fair, and I want to help change that. I want to live in a society where artists are more valued and have more cultural and financial support so they can focus on creating arts instead of being forced to drive Ubers or take corporate jobs they'd rather not have. There are other sources of income for artists, however. There are private foundations, grants and patrons who give money, except a vast majority of artists don't know about these opportunities. On one side you have institutions and people with money. On the other side you have artists seeking funding, but the artists don't know about the people with the money, and the people with the money don't necessarily know about the artists out there.
Mislim da sustav ima mana i daleko je od pravednog, stoga želim to pomoći promijeniti. Želim živjeti u društvu koje više cijeni umjetnike te im pruža kulturološku i financijsku potporu, da se oni mogu fokusirati na stvaranje umjetnosti umjesto da moraju voziti Uber ili prihvatiti korporativne poslove koje radije ne bi radili. Međutim, postoje drugi izvori prihoda za umjetnike. Postoje privatne zaklade, stipendije i pokrovitelji koji daju novac, samo što većina umjetnika nije upoznata s tim prilikama. S jedne strane su institucije i ljudi koji imaju novac. S druge strane su umjetnici koji trebaju financiranje, ali umjetnici ne znaju ljude koji imaju novac, a ljudi koji imaju novac ne znaju nužno umjetnike.
This is why I am very excited to share "Grantpa," an online platform that uses technology to match artists with grants and funding opportunities in a way that is easy, fast and less intimidating. Grantpa is only one step towards solving an existing problem of funding inequality, but we need to work collectively on multiple fronts to reevaluate how we view the artists in our society. Do we think of arts as a luxury or a necessity? Do we understand what goes on in the day-to-day life of an artist, or do we still believe that artists, no matter how struggling they are, are happy simply because they're following their passion?
Zato sam vrlo uzbuđen podijeliti s vama "Grantpa," online platformu koja koristi tehnologiju kako bi spojila umjetnike sa stipendijama i prilikama za financiranje na jednostavan, brz i manje zastrašujuć način. Grantpa je samo jedan korak prema rješavanju postojećeg problema nejednakosti financiranja, ali moramo zajednički raditi na više aspekata kako bismo promijenili način gledanja na umjetnike u našem društvu. Smatramo li umjetnost luksuzom ili potrebom? Razumijemo li što se događa u svakodnevnom životu umjetnika, ili još uvijek vjerujemo da su umjetnici, bez obzira koliko se muče, sretni samo zato jer slijede svoju strast?
In a few years, I plan to send my brothers the following email: "Dear brothers, I hope this message finds you well. I am emailing to let you know that I am doing great and so are hundreds of thousands of artists who are being valued more culturally and financially and getting enough funding to focus on their crafts and create more art. I appreciate all of your support. Couldn't have done it without you."
Za nekoliko godina planiram poslati braći sljedeći mail: „Draga braćo, nadam se da ste dobro. Pišem vam da vas obavijestim da mi ide odlično, kao i stotinama tisuća umjetnika koje se cijeni više, kulturološki i financijski, i financira ih se dovoljno da se mogu posvetiti svojem zanatu i stvarati umjetnost. Cijenim vašu podršku. Ne bih mogao uspjeti bez vas."
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)