Nicola Benedetti calls for £100 million in Scots funding
UncategorizedThe violinist, who is director of the Edinburgh International Festival, has appealed to the SNP Scottish government to fulfil its pledges to fund the arts, rather than reduce them by £6.6m.
Bendetti said: ‘It is a responsibility for government, unless you begin to think that arts, culture – and by that I mean all the activities that fall into the general psychological, mental, emotional wellbeing and health of the nation, of society and individuals, everything that falls into that category I would relate to a civic pillar you can call culture – if as a nation we start to believe that that’s not one of the civic pillars that we hold ourselves to, we are essentially changing our goalposts and our identity.
‘We’re shifting what post-Second World War we believed was a society that was increasing in equality and elevating civilisation.
‘If we don’t consider it to be that then that’s a major identity shift. If we do consider it to be so then a portion of what’s raised in taxes and spent by the government should be on the fabric of the life we live and what we call culture and art.
‘We would allow that to slip away from the responsibility of the government at our peril.’
More here.
Good luck with that one Nicola.
Do you really think the incompetent and ideologically deluded SNP have left any money for the arts?
It is impossible to convince politicians about the importance and meaning of culture if the mental climate of modern society is geared towards the purely materialistic. The wellbeing of a population is much more than the material aspects.
NOT said to provoke, but in all sincerity, ‘whose culture…?’
For in today’s multicultural society, there are now so many more ‘cultural heritages’ that are, seemingly, all wanting – demanding, even – equal consideration by society at large, and, of course by extension, State hand-outs of some form or another.
For example, look up “Intangible cultural heritage” [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intangible_cultural_heritage#:~:text=Intangible%20heritage%20consists%20of%20nonphysical,on%20intangible%20aspects%20of%20culture. ].
I see ‘Performing Arts’ is 2nd on the list, but I am struggling to see how being ”protected’ by UNESCO’ or being a ‘Human Treasure’ results (positively) in funding from ACE and the like!
For if there’s only £x to go around, it follows that with more and more begging bowls being held aloft [per their UNESCO-agreed rights], each will have to receive less.
It’s an impossible square to circle, I’m afraid; for as soon as one element of society is ~seen or perceived to be~ ‘satisfied’, another cries foul, and so the former’s funding then gets ‘re-distributed’ (see, though of course not exclusive to, ENO…).
In case of any reader’s doubt, I don’t agree, but perhaps the ‘fairest’ way of all is to say no funding to anyone all. … but then there’d soon be nothing left for UNESCO to protect…. :/
We’re in the poop, in other words.
In Western society, Western culture should get priority. Multiculturalism does NOT mean that all cultures in a given society, in a Western society, are deserving equal treatment. Within the rich mixture, the original culture should remain central.
Imagine the absurd situation that Indian culture no longer would be central in India, where whould it be? Lingering in some virtual cloud, or abstract mental space, accessible to everybody but no longer located in and related to the area where it was born?
The problem is the nature of modern civilisation which is universal, which can – if misunderstood – do damage to cultures while the intention was to protect and to stimulate them.
Here it is explained clearly (warning: only for clever people):
https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/10/the-two-layers-of-western-society-view
That link is broken. This one works
https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,nicola-benedetti-arts-funding-slips-away-from-the-responsibility-of-government-at-our-peril
If she thinks that’s bad, try San Francisco.