The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the global creative industry. Artists around the world struggled as museums, galleries, theatres and cinemas closed, concerts were cancelled. Street entertainment and other cultural performances were suspended.
Governments have also had to grapple with tremendous revenue losses from the cultural and creative industries.
Job losses in these sectors have further compounded the situation. Even as the global economy picks up, the role and future of the creative industry is being re-evaluated.
Policymakers must realise that a creative economy is crucial for the growth, development and cultural identity of any civilised society.
In Europe, for example, the creative industry employed 7.4 million people in 2019 and accounted for 3.7 percent of all employment.
The United Nations estimates that the creative industries generate annual revenues of $2.25 trillion and account for around 30 million jobs worldwide.
National policies to revive creative industries
Culture has been a pillar of the UAE’s agenda of economic diversification. The UAE National Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries was launched in 2021 to promote the industry, placing it among the country’s top 10 economic sectors, with the aim of contributing 5 percent of the national GDP.
Elsewhere, the UK dedicated £1.57 billion (AED 7.58 bn) to support its cultural sector at the height of the pandemic.
Germany dedicated a somewhat larger budget of €50 billion (AED 203 bn), which remains Europe’s largest package of cultural support.
As the creative industries venture into a new phase, they will need government support and an innovative approach to tackle emerging challenges.
In Singapore, the government was quick to act by providing recovery grants for low and middle-income workers and facilitating funding for wage subsidies and rents to self-employed and cultural professionals.
Other countries came up with innovative schemes as well: the Netherlands adopted new measures to support micro-companies that lost more than 25 percent in turnover.
Despite these positive steps, the situation is still urgent. The Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) notes that the global music industry faces an estimated $10 billion in lost sponsorship and the publishing sector is set to contract by at least 7.5 percent.
The European Cultural Foundation has called on governments to consider social protection for its 7.3 million creative workers.
Digitalisation – a catalyst for future growth
National policies will no doubt go a long way in helping the industry get back on its feet, but it also needs a more long-term resilience mechanism for the future.
Digital transformation across numerous sectors was already propelling the creative industry to explore new ways to engage with audiences.
AI is increasingly being used in art, music and fashion, with hugely positive outcomes. Some creative sectors have a huge and unexplored potential, such as the video gaming industry which is valued at $180 billion (AED 661 bn).
Touch screens, AR, VR and QR codes are only a few technologies that are being used to engage viewers today. The pandemic was a catalyst for the adoption of technology across the creative industry.
For example, the latest edition of Art Dubai featured digital artwork, multimedia exhibitions and immersive tech-enabled experiences.
Securing a stable future
Looking ahead, the future of creative industries will lie in governments embracing their differences and unique cultures, and in empowering their individual stakeholders.
Meta-government forums like the UAE-directed World Government Summit (WGS), provide a critical space for enhancing such thinking.
As outlined in our report published in collaboration with the WGS, Encore! Reviving the post-pandemic creative and cultural industries, it will now be key for governments to work closely with other decision-makers and treat ‘cultural policy’ as holistic ‘people policy’, where success is judged by engagement and opportunities over conventional outcomes such as economic indicators.
They will need to involve creative sector stakeholders in strategy, decision making, and the development of clear and sustainable employment opportunities and leverage strengths to create new, disruptive, and unique value propositions for various creative sectors.
Adopting a burden-sharing approach to funding the sector through new partnerships and cross-sector innovation (e.g. combining economic and social with cultural budgets) will also be necessary. Finally, they must measure the qualitative impact of the sector, which represents both its attractiveness and its strength.
The cultural sector’s return to growth will not be about cryptocurrency, flagship infrastructure or investment schemes. Rather, it will be about listening to, reflecting upon, and tackling shared issues across the industry.
Mazen Houalla, Partner, Portfolio, Program and Project Management, KPMG Lower Gulf Limited.
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