Supporting Local Creatives
A mural on Armenian Street, Singapore. Artist: Speak Cryptic. Photo from: theoccasionaltraveller.com.
What does it mean to “support local”?
We’re asked to spend on local goods and services and you would have done your part in raising the profile of local products, businesses and entrepreneurs. We’re told, and somewhat accept, that all they need is money. If so, is it working? I’m not certain, but you have to admit that this is likely too simplistic.
I think, to an extent, it’s true: after all, cash is king. But if we zoom out, we’re bound to ask the questions of persistence/ longevity, not just profitability. How long do they stay in business? Have they grown? Are there more local businesses than before? Do customers return for more?
We should be able to confront whether our humble patronage towards the ‘supporting local’ cause edifies sustainability (again, not just economic viability).
For the creative community, in particular, we’d ask questions of impact. What problem have we solved? What solution have we improved? Who have we helped? What difference have we made? And, again, we confront whether patronage helps this.
I doubt any of these are easily answered with a resounding “Yes!”. And the paths necessary to do so are winding at best: What might though?
I’d venture that the local creative community needs more than money in order to be sustainable; that “supporting local” may have to do more with the intangible.
Simply paying for a product/ service, only on the basis that it’s ‘local’ sounds a lot like charity. (And I’d argue that’s the last thing the creative community needs in terms of perception.) The benefit of charity is as temporary as the revenue from sales. While it is a form of support (and gratefully accepted), it does little to push or direct the potential of the creative or the creative community, let alone towards the regional or global stage.
On the other hand, in addition to patronage, consider offering feedback on your purchase, preferably constructively. (Pun totally intended: Call it a “tip”.)
The minimum expected from this ideal is feedback in good faith from the consumer, and the creative’s perception of the value of such feedback. If well-received, it would suggest a path for the creative and the product to evolve into something of greater value to a consumer.
Needless to say, the more feedback one receives, the easier it’d be to identify patterns and determine a course of action.
We see the private sector practice this regularly. Restaurants offer feedback forms for their customers to rate their food, service and atmosphere. Apps ask their users to rate their experience. Employee performance assessments have an element of manager/ peer/ stakeholder feedback, with the eye and mind that a more active feedback program/ culture would nurture better (happier?) professionals.
Our local creative community should seek the same: It is bound to challenge the local creative/ the creative community on one’s/ their current state and future. It should be seen as an essential way of supporting local creatives: A form of investment (as opposed to charity) towards maturing an under-recognised/ under-appreciated sector of industry, trade and commerce. Imagine the benefits of more locally sourced art, design and innovation and what it’d do for exponential growth, profit and local identity.
Curator’s side note: While consumers of creativity can offer unique perspectives on a product, can the creative community critique itself? While “ownself check ownself” is generally regarded as a bad idea to wholly trust, I’d offer that the collaborative (as opposed to competitive) nature of creatives might give intrinsic value to an otherwise self-serving self-assessment. Perhaps a topic for another post.
