Arts & Culture on the Pacific Rim : A SPECIAL REPORT : The Arts Leaders

Peter Sellars, Los Angeles Festival:

I think the Pacific will emerge as a major force in the arts over the next 200 years in the way European arts have had a tremendous period of hegemony that is just finishing. The world is shifting and the culture reflects that. Dante and Shakespeare are fine. But if you want to call them up to work on new projects they’re not available. Something is being reborn. There’s a period of transformation. Gordon Davidson, Center Theatre Group:

Economic expansion should go hand in hand with expansion in the arts, and there is certainly room for that growth in L.A. in the matter of art, culture, religion and metaphysics. The L.A. Festival (and it would be a big blow if it doesn’t happen) could be a major force in making us more aware of the diversity, beauty and artistry Pacific Rim culture brings to our city.

William H. Kobin, KCET Channel 28:

We consider ourselves a Pacific Rim station, and we have made numerous efforts over the last few years to make contacts with Pacific Rim cultural organizations and broadcasters. The bottom line is that the Pacific Rim is increasingly important to American public television in general, and to KCET in particular. Bella Lewitzky, choreographer:

I’m glad to see it happen. I think it’s a late recognition, way overdue, but for L.A. it’s been almost an inevitability. I happen to believe that the arts must help people lose their egocentricity and recognize that we of Anglo-European backgrounds are not the dominant culture in the world. We have been wonderfully influential, but it’s time we discovered that the world is more than just round--it’s round with a lot of facets.

Bill Graham, rock concert promoter:

I don’t think there will be much effect on our world from Asian music, but as media technology advances, places like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Bangkok and now Korea are becoming major stops for Western artists. But it’s going to be some time before Western artists can do in Asia what they already do in the West. The economics aren’t there.

This special report was edited by David Kishiyama, an assistant Calendar editor