The Hat is As Mad As
Hell. Like Peter Finch, I am going to lean out of my window shouting
I Am As Mad As Hell. Join me. Go to your window now.
It has been quite busy
inside The Hat's head recently. The usual problems – how long is
it safe to keep a tin of corned beef in the fridge; where did I leave
my glasses and how did something this bad ever get on to my
television? - have all been squeezed to one side. Even that Circle of
Hell discussion 'What are the blues' has temporarily disappeared....
Instead, two serious
issues have loomed up through the little grey cell swamp.
In a week where a
former Home Secretary has been shown to be 'unfit for purpose' (as
they say in the Home Office) and the (now ex) Chairman of the
Parliamentary Committee for Intelligence and Security is revealed as
a Dumbass Security Risk, an important discussion about the funding
and future of the arts and culture in the UK is in danger of being
totally buried by the noise of trough chomping.
First. I gather that if
you slip MPs Jack Straw or Sir Malcolm Rifkind some dosh they will be
happy to join your side as a cheerleader. For somewhere between
£5,000 and £8,000 for a half a day's work they will “make a
speech or something” or get you access to any UK Foreign
Ambassador or possibly even the Prime Minister. Hold that exciting
thought in your non-greased palm for a moment. I will come back to
it.
The Second Issue is
that last week The Warwick Commission published its phenomenal final
Report on the Future of Cultural Value in Britain. I have in
the past got marginally involved in the national discussion about the
funding of the “Arts” but I fear that this time this important report plus
the BBC's 'Get Creative' campaign and the launch of Hull as 2017 City
of Culture are all in danger of being drowned out by the front page
antics of lesser mortals. Sadly we have become accustomed to the
parlous state of both – the one wallowing in a sea of uncountable
(and unaccountable) moolah – and the other scrabbling around in the
dust for some spare change. This report is important.
The arts have never had
any political traction and as the count down to the election ticks
on, the subject will become a Dead Parrot. The idea that you give
money to a school to teach kids about music or art or dance or drama
or film takes on on a hollow doomed ring. It doesn't tick any vote
boxes so let's talk about something else, anything else. The Warwick
Report tackles that question of confused priorities head on. At a
time when the 'creative arts industry' is showing an unprecedented
growth (faster than most other areas) and is a serious force in the
economy, this is not a moment to sideline the discussion. On the
contrary, most commentators think that if the report is taken
seriously, it has the potential to transform the cultural life of the
country. They are right. A brave politician would pick that one up
and run with it. Yeah..
Nowhere is there a
suggestion that the answer is for the Nanny State to step in – and quite rightly
so. Sponsorship, patronage and private backing have been part of the
arts structure for centuries and you only have to look at the major
institutions in say New York or Milan to appreciate that and how well
it can work. There is no need to compromise as a result of commercial
investment. The real issues raised here centre around funding - on how to nurture the
talent, how to cultivate the creative arts as they come through the
schools into the community, how to maintain them and make them
blossom. The very idea of the arts helping to provide a richer and
more uplifting way of life for the individual, the community and to
the country as a whole should not be a day-dream and an election
no-go area. The evidence is out there. You don't need The Hat to
point out the extraordinary curative power of music or its
neurological benefits; the sheer delight of the local community musical or
the magic joy shown in all those random choir shows. It touches all
of us and should be dead centre.
What is clear is that
while the nation base for the arts is extraordinarily diverse with
every type of artist and audience arriving from multi-class and
multi-ethnic starting points, two things are still happening that
must be arrested. Educational cultural freefall. Just for example,
after school drama and dance classes have dropped by 50%, art classes
by 33% and higher education craft courses by 46%. Secondly, at the top
of the pyramid, including the Arts Council, Regional Arts
Organisations and major national arts organisations and boards and
management, the predominance is only representative of the top 8% of
the well educated, well heeled and least ethnically diverse group in
the country. The Warwick report spells it out and doesn't mince its words....
“DfE and Ofsted
must ensure that all children up to the age of 16 receive a cultural
education in order to ensure their life-long engagement and enjoyment
as audiences and creators.
“The goal is to ensure that those creative and cultural experiences and capabilities that are increasingly being limited to the wealthiest and least representative groups are also made available to all. Without educational intervention we are in danger of allowing a two-tier system in which the most advantaged in social and economic terms are also the most advantaged in benefitting economically, socially and personally from the full range of cultural and creative experiences. “
“The goal is to ensure that those creative and cultural experiences and capabilities that are increasingly being limited to the wealthiest and least representative groups are also made available to all. Without educational intervention we are in danger of allowing a two-tier system in which the most advantaged in social and economic terms are also the most advantaged in benefitting economically, socially and personally from the full range of cultural and creative experiences. “
On
the plus side, the advance of digital technology is providing wider
access to the creative experience and, particularly for the young, is
making inter-action and the creative process both easier and
instantly exciting, in music, art and film in particular. Yet,
despite £200 million being invested in 'Crowd Funding' mainly via the internet last year,
(no surprise) half of our arts and cultural institutions don't use
the internet to generate revenue. There is a vast area here that
should be opened up, invested in both for research and development
and the establishment of national cultural data-bases.
There
is in the UK a 'vibrant creative life at local and regional levels
across the country that reflects and enriches community expressions
of identity, creativity and culture'. The fact that it is being
slowly starved to death in our educational and community institutions
without regard to its importance and that in all probability it will
only appear as a small paragraph on page 94 of a party manifesto is a
scandal. The Warwick Report should be on the front pages instead of
that collection of pathetics currently hogging the headlines.
Ok, back to our
trough-fixated MPs. So here's a deal my porcine friends.
I have a vested interest challenge for
you, my Slithy Toves. Here is a crisp £20 note. I borrowed it from
the Swiss Branch of my Fictitious Blues Support Company. Go on, take
it. Look after it – for all you know, it is part of my childrens'
inheritance. Take my cash and go and get The Blues on your agenda.
You can start with laying your hands on some funding for school music
classes, home tuition, instrument loan, equipment, visiting artists and all
those volunteers out there who are getting on with it, spending their
own money, without having their palms crossed or their arses kissed.
Look, I'm offering you money. Hard cash. You bragged you could 'make
a speech or something'. Years ago Mary Warnock wrote a fabulous book
on the importance of Imagination which, among other things looked at
its direct connection to the creative arts. Use your imagination when
you reach the trough.
Apart from anything
else, you could put it towards getting your hearing fixed – as it
seems that you and your friends aren't listening right now.
Pip Pip!
The Blues Man in The Hat
No animals were injured in the making of this blog.
All stats from the (70page) Warwick Report available on line.
All stats from the (70page) Warwick Report available on line.