The New Patrons Protocol
François Hers
(p. 58-59)
The New Patrons Protocol defines the roles and
responsibilities of the actors who work together towards the
creation of works of art and their contexts.
This Protocol offers anyone in civil society who so
wishes, either alone or in partnership with others, the
means to commission a work of art and to legitimise
an investment in its creation, requested from the
community. It is therefore up to that person to
understand and to express a
raison d'être for the art.
The Protocol proposes that artists bring art into life,
and that they act with those people who so wish and
who give the forms and concepts created a use value.
It proposes that the mediators who nurture relations
between the artworks and the public, also establish a
link between the artist and the patron, and beyond
that, between all the players concerned. As
guarantors that the high standards of the demand
and the creation will be met, these mediators—with
the other players—assess the relevance and feasibility
of the project. They propose the most appropriate
medium and artist, as well as the technical, legal and
financial competencies needed for action.
An artist's initiative may also be taken into account
by such mediators if they deem it likely to meet the demands of contemporary situations. The mediators
then connect the artist to the needs of the community
which they represent and which grants them the
means to act.
The mediator proposes that the political players and
the administrators of public and private, for–profit
or not–for–profit organisations take into account the
patrons' initiative and mediate between them and
the community in which the artwork will be housed.
Should they so wish, they can, either alone or with
other individuals, be responsible for a commission.
The mediator proposes that researchers in various
disciplines promote recognition of the necessity of
art, put into perspective the action engaged in, and
base it on an understanding of the situations and
challenges which can be shared more broadly.
By engaging in the sharing of equal responsibilities,
all the players agree to use negotiation to resolve the
tensions and conflicts inherent in public life in a
democracy.
The work of art becomes the emblematic expression
no longer of a single individuality but of autonomous
people who wish to forge society by giving common
meaning to contemporary artistic creation.
