Arts Council England: We are not philistine (oh, yes you are)
NewsThe ACE chair Sir Nicholas Serota has put his name to an official rebuttal of an accusation this week by a senior judge that its conduct and policies are philistine.
Serota writes: ‘It is far from Philistine… to believe that change and reimagining are part of the capital’s story. Nor is it Philistine to believe the rest of the country deserves ambitious, substantial cultural investment too.
‘London has long received a greater proportion of cultural funding per head than anywhere else in England — £19 compared to £5 on average in our last round of national portfolio funding. Last year, guided by the Government’s Levelling Up policy, the Culture Secretary instructed the Arts Council to invest £24 million less a year in London and move that funding to other parts of the country. As a result, the Arts Council faced invidious choices and some good organisations in London lost funding…
‘Opera is one of the art forms that receives the most Arts Council investment (more than £40 million this year). We will always be committed to supporting world-class work in London and across the country, though the way we do this may change over time.’
What Serota fails to grasp that it is not just the cuts but the heartless and thoughtless ways they were imposed that has led the ACE to be branded rightly as Philistine.
The attitude of many ACE officials is all wrong.
ENO has over time put on less and less performances whilst continuing to demanding large amounts of subsidy. Every attempt to radicalise the situation as for example by amalgamating the orchestra with one of the main London orchestras to make better use of the pool of players thus created, has met with a completely hostile reaction from ENO. The once permanent company of great singers was disbanded long ago. Now down to 65 performances of 9 productions next season, it’s a shadow of what it once was. ACE have handled things appallingly badly but ENO’s board over years have never grappled properly with the issues.
Dear Nick: Are you another of the many who were knighted for just doing their job – in your case, at the Tate? There are so many of you posh, entitled butterflies fluttering about, it’s no wonder Republicanism is growing in popularity. Nick, if you have to go public claiming NOT to be a philistine, you probably ARE. Ask Mike Bloomberg about what it means to defend and engage for the arts and NOT be a philistine. Speak to the Austrian, German and French officials shepherding culture, the arts and humanities through stormy seas about how to SHOW MUSCLE for the arts, and **DEMONSTRATE** leadership. Words and helpless tut-tutting from on high just don’t cut it.
Like it or not, London is the capital of the UK. There is a reason for concentrating cultural activities in the capital: it’s the most efficient and cost-effective way of maintaining the critical mass. The same applies to commercial and financial activities. Disperse them around the country, and in no time they will implode.
And cultural funding per head should be considered alongside cultural funding per attendance. Different story.
It rarely is, of course, because it is less likely to stir up controversy and resentment.
The problems facing the arts in the UK are deeper and wider than just dance, opera and classical music. ACE has abrogated its responsibility for the arts in favour of a flawed funding system and operational plan. Audiences are ignored and the strategic plan Let’s Create appears to overlook the arts completely, with an emphasis on filling the chasm left by the government’s erosion of arts education in schools
ACE has no art form policies that inform funding decisions. It is crucial that art form policies and an action plan are devised. The treatment of English National Opera is a case in point. ACE withdraws ENO’s national portfolio funding and then agrees to fund ENO for three years with £35.5m of lottery funding. This, they say, is part of levelling up – another oxymoron with no discernible policy or costed action plan.
A freedom of information inquiry revealed that lottery expenditure was £448.53m in 2022-23, committed to paying out grants to national portfolio organisations for the next three years. It is scandalous that lottery monies should be used in this way instead of funding touring, artistic projects and supporting the work of artists.
It is time for a rigorous examination of ACE by the National Audit Office in terms of its business plan, use of lottery funds and disbursement of its government grants. Heads should roll at ACE.
Well they can send some decent singers up north, any road. Last time I went to ‘t Messiah in Huddersfield they only had about two hundred in’t choir, and you need five times that to do the job properly, Ash’d reckon. Sir Malcolm must be turning in his grave. Same wi’ ‘t band. There were no brass except for’t trumpit an’ that looked as if it had come from a museum somewhere. They kept on doing bits that weren’t in the original, and they were that rushed they only took two hours to get through it, cos they couldn’t afford to pay overtime, sithee. Blooming disgrace.
Yes, it’s a lovely ideal to say all areas deserve funding, but when there are not enough funds to go around all, cutting the funds from established artists is barbaric. It makes sense for London to be a hub, as our capital it’s transport links make it accessible to all reasonably easily, whereas I can’t say the same for the north. Forcing ENO to move is not only uprooting the lives of the many artists and people that work for the company, but it’s cutting people like me, an under 35 who lives in the east of England and relies on the U35 scheme to attend opera affordably, from access to the art.
ACE deserves to suffer the same fate as Goliath (a Philistine) did at the hands of David, for their abject behaviour regarding so many different aspects of their so-called stewardship of the Arts in this country. The latest in a string of failures is their ‘decision’ to withhold financial aid for ENO, in order to force the organisation to relocate to somewhere else (as yet undetermined) in the country. No thought or research (as far as most people are aware) has gone into the whys and wherefores of this projected relocation – and that organisation (ACE) claims NOT to be philistine!! I’ll bet Sir Nicholas will not be relocating with the rest of the company.
Make Jonathan Sumption head of Arts Council England instead!
I agree with Norman.
However you look at it, the British Arts industry is being allowed (enabled, rather) to disappear down the toilet pan! Heads should roll!