INTERVIEWER: MAHMOUD MANSI
About Cathy Costain: Head of Programmes Arts for British Council Egypt since October 2010. She has led numerous art programmes, working in all art forms and with local partners, leading to the inspiration and guidance of hundreds of individuals in the creative economy sector. Prior to that, she ran the British Council’s Library in Agouza for 15 years. Cathy came to Egypt in 1986 with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) to work in the central library of Menufeya University. She also completed a project at Tanta University Faculty of Arts working in the library and teaching cataloguing and classification to students in the libraries department. She is also a jury member in The Forgotten Writers Foundation writing competition “A Teacher’s Tale”.
About the British Council Egypt: The British Council’s office in Egypt was established in 1938 as one of it’s first overseas offices, and it remains one of the most important operations today. It works in three key areas: Arts, English and Education and Society, with a focus on young people. The themes of ‘employability’ and ‘voice’ cut across all the work it does. The British Council’s purpose is to create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.
INTERVIEW
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Through the programmes, scholarships and grants the British Council offers to artists and young entrepreneurs you contributed greatly to the development of the society through investing in those candidates, most of which are already employees. What do you think you provide that the HR Training Departments in the organisations does not provide?
Cathy Costain: Very few artists are earning a living from their art. Often they work in organisations to pay the rent and then practice their art when they can. Some work in large organisations that have no connection to the arts – these will obviously not provide any technical or management training connected with the artist’s field. Artists working as administrators in small arts organisations may receive training in the field of cultural management, but wouldn’t receive technical training in their field. Our programmes build on the cultural management training they might have received and introduce them to like-minded people in our global network; they introduce entrepreneurial training that help artists understand how they could earn a living from their art; and they provide small grants so that artists can undertake technical training or create new pieces of work to add to their creative portfolio.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: What are the most common aspects that artists lack in the Middle-East?
Cathy Costain: For me one of the biggest issues is that most artists can’t earn a living from their art and that other people expect them to do a lot for free because ‘artist’ isn’t a ‘proper’ job. I hear lots of stories about bands being asked regularly to perform for free at events – we would never expect a doctor or an architect or a plumber to work for free, so why should artists? Our programmes for the next few years will include large element of creative entrepreneurship training so that artists – and others – can start to understand how they can build their artistic skills into income-generating activities. Also the ‘administration’ of the arts, eg. proposal writing for fund raising, report writing.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: From your life and work in Egypt, what do you think Egyptian employees suffer from the most?
Cathy Costain: I think many organisations here are still very hierarchical and driven by a culture of the-boss-knows-best, which can turn into a bit of a power trip. It’s much more productive if wider groups of people are involved in decision-making – it brings a real sense of ownership in the future of the organisation and is a more satisfying way to work.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: In the selection criteria to your scholarship and development programmes, what are the essential traits you look for in the selected candidates?
Cathy Costain: For our Grants for Artists programme we’re basically looking for people with interesting and creative ideas who demonstrate an ability to deliver what they are planning. They don’t need to have a lot of experience, just show us that they’ve thought about their idea – who will they work with, how much will it cost, the logistics of the activity etc. For our programmes in cultural leadership and creative entrepreneurship we’re looking for people with a track record of working in the field, with the drive and commitment to take things forward and who are (or who want to be) part of international networks.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: How do you think the workshops and programmes you offer help the candidates affect their society afterwards?
Cathy Costain: We hope our programmes and workshops (not just in the arts, but in our education, society and English programmes), equip participants with the practical skills they need to take forward their own activities and plans. These skills might include strategic planning, fund raising, event management, English language, marketing and communications etc. They can apply all of these skills to work in their own field and community to have an impact on the society around them.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: Among all the development programmes you organised, what was the most successful and effective one, and why?
Cathy Costain: It’s very hard to choose (without wanting to boast!), but my favourite programme is the Grants for Artists one. It’s very difficult as a young, inexperienced artist to get access to funds to produce work. Everyone has to start somewhere, but they need financial support. This programme gives small amounts of money to help artists produce new work, run training programmes, develop their own artistic skills – all of which can then go on their CV and contribute to them building a portfolio of work and body of experience, which will help them take the next steps in their careers.
HR Revolution Middle-East Magazine: If you are offered to be an HR Director in any organisation in Egypt, what would be your first and main concern?
Cathy Costain: I would probably have two main concerns: taking time to listen to people to understand what their concerns are; and making sure that best HR practices were being implemented.