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 porodici je nas petoro braće, svi naučnici i inženjeri. Pre par godina, poslao sam im sledeći imejl: "Draga braćo, nadam se da ste dobro. Pišem vam da bih vas obavestio da napuštam master studije inženjerstva da bih se potpuno posvetio karijeri muzičara. Sve što želim od vas 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."
Brat broj jedan je odgovorio. Podržao me je ali je bio i sumnjičav. Rekao je: "Želim ti svu sreću. Trebaće ti."
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
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."
Brat broj dva je bio još nepoverljiviji. Rekao je: "Nemoj to da radiš! To će biti najveća greška tvog života. Nađi pravu karijeru."
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Well, the rest of my brothers were so enthusiastic about my decision, they didn't even respond.
I moja ostala braća su bila toliko oduševljena mojom odlukom, da mi nisu ni odgovorila.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
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 je sumnja kod moje braće nastala jer im je stalo do mene. Bili su zabrinuti. Mislili su da će biti teško ostvariti se kao umetnik, da će to biti izazov. I znate šta? Bili su u pravu. Veliki je izazov biti profesionalni umetnik. Imam toliko prijatelja koji moraju da imaju dodatni posao kao plan B da bi platili račune, samo što taj plan B ponekad postane njihov plan A. I ne doživljavamo ovo samo moji prijatelji i ja. Američki zavod za statistiku navodi da samo deset posto studenata umetnosti živi od te profesije. Ostalih 90%, menjaju karijere, rade u marketingu, trgovini, obrazovanju i ostalim poljima.
But this is not news, right? We almost expect the artist to be a struggling artist. But why should we expect that?
Ali ovo nije ništa novo, zar ne? Izgleda kao da se očekuje od umetnika da se muči. Ali zašto bi to bilo očekivano?
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 "Hafingtnon Postu" u kojem piše da je pre četiri godine Evropska unija započela najveću svetsku inicijativu za finansiranje umetnosti. Kreativna Evropa će dati 2,4 milijarde dolara za preko 300.000 umetnika. U poređenju, budžet Amerike odvojen za naš Nacionalni Fond za Umetnost, koji je najveći invenstitor za umetnost širom Amerike, iznosi samo 146 miliona dolara. Da napravimo poređenje, američki budžet samo za vojne bendove je gotovo duplo veći od celog NFU budžeta.
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 jednu upečatljivu sliku opisuje Brendan MekMahon za "Hafington Post", koji kaže da od bilionskog budžeta za vojne i odbrambene troškove, ako bi se samo 0,05 procenata odvojilo za umetnost, mogli bismo da platimo puno radno vreme za 20 simfonijskih orkestara po 20 miliona dolara za svaki, i da damo preko 80.000 umetnika godišnju platu od 50.000 dolara svakom. Ako je to samo 0,05 posto, zamislite šta bi uradio ceo procenat.
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.
Naravno, znam da živimo u kapitalističkom društvu, i da je profit jako bitan. Hajde da pogledamo situaciju iz finansijskog ugla. Američka neprofitna umetnička industrija proizvodi više od 166 milijardi dolara kroz ekonomsku aktivnost, zapošljava 5,7 miliona ljudi i ima povraćaj od 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 finansijski ugao, zar ne? Svi znamo da umetnost ima mnogo veću vrednost od finansijske. Umetnost donosi životu smisao. Ona je duh kulture. Ona spaja ljude i podstiče kreativnost i zajedništvo društva.
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 umetnost doprinosi ekonomiji u tolikoj meri, zašto i dalje ulažemo tako malo u umetnost i umetnike? Zašto se više od 80 posto naših škola širom zemlje i dalje suočava sa smanjivanjem budžeta za programe iz oblasti umetnosti? Šta je to u vrednosti umetnosti i umetnika što još uvek ne razumemo?
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.
Ja verujem da sistem ima mane i da uopšte nije fer, i želim da pomognem da se to promeni. Želim da živim u društvu u kojem se umetnici više cene i imaju veću kulturološku i finansijsku podršku da bi mogli da prave umetnost umesto što moraju da voze taksi ili prihvate poslove u firmama koje radije ne bi radili. Ipak, postoje i drugi izvori primanja za umetnike. Postoje privatne fondacije, stipendije i donatori koji daju novac, samo što velika većina umetnika ne zna za ove mogućnosti. Sa jedne strane tu su institucije i ljudi sa novcem. Sa druge tu su umetnici koji traže ulaganja, ali umetnici ne znaju za ljude sa novcem, a ljudi koji imaju novac ne znaju nužno za umetnike.
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?
Zbog toga sam veoma uzbuđen da podelim sa vama "Grantpa," onlajn platformu koja koristi tehnologiju i povezuje umetnike sa stipendijama i opcijama finansiranja na način koji je lak, brz i nije komplikovan. "Grantpa" je na samo korak od rešavanja egzistencijalnog problema nejednakosti finansiranja, ali moramo da delujemo zajedno na više frontova da procenimo kako vidimo umetnike u našem društvu. Da li gledamo na umetnost kao na luksuz ili potrebu? Da li razumemo šta se dešava u svakodnevici umetnika, ili i dalje verujemo da su umetnici, ma koliko se mučili, srećni samo zato što rade ono što vole?
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 da pošaljem braći sledeći imejl: "Draga braćo, nadam se da ste dobro. Pišem vam da vas obavestim da mi ide odlično i još stotini hiljada umetnika koji su cenjeniji kulturno i finansijski i imaju dovoljan budžet da bi se posvetili svojim veštinama i proizvodili više umetničkih dela. Cenim svu vašu podršku. Ne bih ovo uspeo bez vas."
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)