ABSTRACT
Cultural policy is often a looking glass, reflecting the image a country or city sees of itself. Continual review, reinvention and rejuvenation should be at the core of all cultural policy; indeed it may be the only mechanism that correctly reflects a dynamic and ever-changing global culture. The reimagining or many-faceted method of quantifying culture may seem to dilute or challenge an empirical idea of art as the prima facie definition of culture. Artistic practice that is the driving force of a cyclical model of cultural encoding offers a connectivity and accessibility while reflecting the diverse and changing nature of culture and the arts, and in doing so it enhances the possibilities for cultural policymakers. An antique or heritage-based cultural policy is, in terms of community participation, audience development and cultural diversity, inherently susceptible to stagnation. Cultural policies should reflect the local and regional cultures that they serve and it should include an inward and outward flow of cultural exchange.
