Arts and Culture in London

Every day in London is like a major international festival – we are spoilt for choice with excellent and affordable cultural experiences.

The GLA has done some worthwhile things to help promote the public spaces and culture in London. Even though the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square has made life hell for drivers, it has (along with the removal of the pigeons) made it a much nicer space, opening up the front of the National Gallery in a way it rightfully deserves. The GLA’s programme of outdoor events and the redevelopment of street areas in the city has also helped enliven a number of public spaces.

However, the GLA could do much more to support cultural experiences in London. The first is to push harder for cultural education services, particularly for young people. The provision of music instrument teaching remains very patchy in the Greater London area, particularly in state schools. Could the GLA work with local authorities to support the expansion of peripatetic music teaching? Could the LDA give funds to arts and music organisations that deliver high quality educational programmes to young people (and not just D-J workshops either!).

Also, it’s worth remembering that much of London’s cultural wealth is concentrated in Zone 1, which means that whilst our city is a goldmine for tourists its cultural offer is less accessible for the majority of city residents. This is why there should be an effort to support the galleries, libraries, archives and museums in the outer boroughs. The cuts to the William Morris Gallery in Waltham Forest, the Battersea Arts Centre and Wandsworth Museum were all indicative of a general slide in funds for the arts in less sexy parts of the city – could the GLA intervene and voice greater support for these valuable institutions?

The GLA has also spent a lot of money on weak cultural projects which have yet to prove their worth (e.g. Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Rich Mix). The motivation seems to be political, in that they appeal to ‘ethnic communities’. In truth, I doubt that they appeal much to any community at the moment. The quality of output is poor and local residents are resentful that big capital projects land on their doorstep from nowhere. The LDA/GLA should demand that these projects raise their game and put quality of provision as the top priority - above labels, targets and policy rhetoric. The Mayor has been too keen to fund Soviet style propaganda art which promotes his agenda (anti-racism, citizenship, green issues, disability rights etc), but it would be much better to just support good art and let artists work out politics themselves. The audience will be thankful for it.

Which brings me to the final point: the Cultural Olympiad. Learn the lessons from the Millennium Dome and get some decent content rather than focusing relentlessly on social inclusion, regeneration and ‘empowerment’. The public hates to be patronised and treated like children. Even children hate to be treated like children. Forget the emphasis on ‘yoof’ and let’s go for something grown up. Let’s also ditch the faux ‘diversity’ which really just means ‘black’. Let’s go for genuine diversity which is really about stretching people beyond the familiar so that they experience something fresh. Our greatest cultural institutions have proven that is entirely possible to programme entertaining events along with intellectually challenging and difficult works, or to commission innovative experiments in form, whilst supporting high quality cultural experiences that are more traditional. Kick politics out of the Cultural Olympiad and put some culture in.

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