What is Gift Culture?
It is the environment within which we are able to give away our surplus without counting, pool our resources with respect, anticipate the needs of others, ensure that our human resources are not wasted and remember the gifts we have received even if it takes a generation to reciprocate. In gift culture we give without defining what we will receive.
If we want our community to have parents who are dedicated to the care of their children, artists who are willing to make painstaking efforts, good Samaritans who risk their lives for others, athletes who make sacrifices for their teammates and researchers who will spend a lifetime searching for answers, we need gift culture. Gift culture ensures that we have access to all our resources. It enables us to go beyond the call of duty, to surpass the ordinary and accomplish things we thought we could not do.
Artists on Elgin was started in 2004 as the first gift culture project of The Northern Artist Gallery. Here, the generosity of people who love the arts is combined with the dedication of northern artists to help raise our quality of life. We are grateful for this chance. We hope that our contributions will be worthy and that this project will help to keep gifts in motion.
How do participants in Artists on Elgin contribute to gift culture?
The artists have worked for years to develop their skills and they have made painstaking efforts to produce the work which they contribute. Creating their art is a labour of love and this is their gift to the community.
The people who make art a part of daily life are able to add meaning to objects by using them for special occasions and giving them as gifts. Such objects increase in value as they begin to symbolize important aspects of our lives. As symbols, they represent things we cannot put into words and they provide a rich heritage for future generations.
When people display these objects in public or private spaces, the objects become part of daily life, expanding our experiences beyond simple tasks and beyond words. When people explain the artist’s creative process and tell others about the symbolic value of the gifts in our lives they ensure that these gifts will be preserved.
Fundamental to all of this are those people who provide the necessary resources to ensure that gift culture can flourish in our community.
Thanks to all those who make peace and beauty a part of our daily life.