Margaret Hodge's
DCMS diary

It’s been far too long since I last put pen to paper. No body’s fault but my own, I’m afraid, although – to be fair to myself – the last few weeks have been pretty frantic. There’s been a lot to do to get the Heritage Protection Bill into shape for its Parliamentary progress in the next session. I’ve also had a number of ‘hard cases’ to decide upon in the field of listed buildings and export licence deferrals, not to mention the round of speeches, debates, ministerial visits and bread-and-butter policy meetings.

But it’s a privileged and wonderful life too, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So what have I seen, experienced and enjoyed over the last few weeks? I enjoyed The Lure of the East at Tate Britain but was bowled over by the parallel This is that Place, a collection of huge photographic tableaux by the British Iranian artist and film maker Mitra Tabrizian. These are compelling images – not quite dreamlike or ‘imaginary’ but some way, also, from realism or reportage. Heartily recommended. Meanwhile at the Hayward, Psycho Buildings has rightly been lauded from all sides. It’s one of those exhibitions (collections of installations, would probably be more accurate) that are at once utterly breathtaking, quietly moving and, frankly, often hilarious.

On stage, I saw Akram Khan’s brilliant Bahok, a collaboration with the National Ballet of China; Oxford Street, The Royal Court’s production staged in the Elephant and Castle shopping centre; Rosmersholm at The Almeida; and the amazing, incredible, heart-breaking Blackwatch at The Barbican. This last production, rightly hailed by critics from all sides, will take a hatful of awards when the juries come to judge this year’s theatre, and I only hope there is some way to keep it on the stage longer than the short run currently scheduled.

Wearing my Heritage Minister hat, I also visited Charles Darwin’s home in Downe, near Bromley. Downe House is a surprisingly little known gem which offers real insights into the life and work of Charles Darwin. I thoroughly recommend a visit, especially as this year and next we are celebrating both 200 years since Darwin’s birth, as well as 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species.

Finally, a word of praise and recommendation for the extraordinary (an over-used but – on this occasion – justified expression) Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. Originally a millennium project, it is a glorious attraction for the city, and a thing of wonder and amazement for people of all ages. A burning local issue, I discovered, is whether to have an outside glass lift providing panoramic views for visitors on the way to the observation platform at the top. If this goes ahead, I promised to go back to open it formally, which I am looking forward to.

Have a great summer.

Posted by Margaret Hodge at 12:12 PM | Permalink

I arrived at the world’s most famous film festival just as Harrison Ford was due on the red carpet for the premier of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. La Croisette was packed with thousands of fans - a surprising number of them in leather fedoras - who’d been lining the streets for hours for a glimpse of the action hero.

The atmosphere was enough to shake off any lingering fatigue from the previous night’s ‘Moonwalk’ – a fantastic annual fundraiser for breast cancer research which starts at midnight and takes you all through central London.

My first stop was a reception to celebrate the London Film Festival. It’s a crucial event in the festival season, a great showcase for British talent and a true celebration of international film. Like Greg Dyke, I have real ambition to see the LFF grow into a first choice for filmmakers and industry, and also to see audiences continue to grow.

I twice had the thrill of walking up the red carpet, attending the world premieres of Gomorrah, a challenging Italian film dealing with the difficult issue of the mafia, and the altogether more light hearted ‘Two Lovers’, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joaquin Phoenix. There are few times in life when you really get a taste of the world of the glamorous and famous and this was an experience to savour.

But aside from the glamour, Cannes is a really busy film market with a lot of business being done. This festival is not just about the parties, extravagant though they may be. It’s about selling. It doesn’t matter if you’ve made the next Citizen Kane if nobody gets to see it, so this really is an opportunity for film makers to secure the best international distribution they can.

Spending time with sales agents, producers, directors and other industry representatives, there were some common themes being discussed. There is a real confidence across the film business that the UK truly has world class talent on either side of the camera. But at the same time there are concerns about the impact of piracy on the financial future of film. I hear time and again from creative businesses that copyright theft is a major threat, which is why we put fostering and protecting intellectual property at the heart of our strategy paper, Creative Britain. In meetings with film Ministers from the other European Union countries, it was clear that it’s an issue that’s exercising minds throughout Europe.

Breakfast with the team behind Better Things, a British film attracting a lot of favourable attention after appearing in the Critics’ Week competition at Cannes was enlightening. Director Duane Hopkins is making a name for himself now, but was frank with me about the tough road it takes to get there. I want to make things easier for new talent to break through, and was interested to hear the thoughts of this successful team on what more we might do to support new and independent film makers.

I also had the great pleasure of meeting Terence Davies, an original and distinguished British talent whose film Of time and the city drew admiration from all quarters. I will be sure to see it as soon as it reaches the UK. It is especially exciting that this successful project has come out of Liverpool’s tenure as Capital of Culture, which has proved itself to be a real catalyst for high quality creativity. Terence’s film impressed the international cinephiles in Cannes, just as the Klimpt exhibition has set pulses racing across the art world.

Posted by Margaret Hodge at 01:09 PM | Permalink

One of the joys of the new job is to see and experience new things which would have passed me by in the past. Dance used not to be a top priority, but now I’ve grown to love it.

This month I saw a great variety. Carlos Acosta at the Coliseum is living proof of the extraordinary power and athleticism of dancers as well as their beauty and expression. Moon Water, performed by The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan was a beautiful performance set to some lovely Bach cello compositions which fired the soul.

And ACE Dance’s performance at the Purcell Room on the South Bank was also great. The six dancers came from South Africa, Italy and the UK, and they performed two pieces, one choreographed by a Japanese choreographer, the other by an African.

I was hugely impressed by the taut control of the first half of the show which contrasted vividly with the energy and the pace of the second half. Afterwards I met the dancers, Marcia Edwards, Keisha Grant, Gwyneth Noot-Griffiths, Thoko Seganye, Luyanda Sidiya and Elena Zaino together with their artistic director Gail Parmel and her husband. It was great to see this enthusiastic and relatively young company bringing so many traditions together for the audience.

I also saw Wayne MacGregor’s rehearsals for his new show Entity. Seeing the collaborative work between the choreographer and the dancers was fascinating. He’s just the right person to be our first Youth Dance Champion, wholly committed to dance, bursting with energy and full of ideas on how to inspire our young people. I’m so pleased we’re committing an extra £5.5 million to Youth Dance England to get even more young people interested in dance. Did you know it’s the second most popular activity at school after football? Maybe we can look forward to a generation of home grown Carlos Acostas.

I never knew where the term “bluestocking” came from, but now, after popping into the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition Brilliant Women, I do. The exhibition shows the portraits, writings and possessions of a group of late 18th century female writers and artists called the Bluestocking Circle. As I’m sure you’ll know by now if you’re a regular reader, I’m a champion of women’s rights, and I think it’s really important that we recognise the often unsung achievements of women from the past. And of course the portraits and objects are beautiful to look at too.

I was also able to pop along to the first event held by the Society of Antiquaries for women at Burlington House. It was good to be able to meet women at their first networking event and great to see women archaeologists of all ages, including one in her nineties, still actively engaged in digs to discover and explain more of our past

I also attended the opening of ‘For Your Eyes Only’ at the Imperial War Museum which celebrates the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth and his artistic creation in the context of the Second World War and the cold war period in which the books were written.

I particularly enjoyed the unexpected revelations and exhibits. Augustus John had an affair with Fleming’s mother and the exhibit included a delightful drawing of their daughter Amaryllis, half sister to Ian. Other pictures include a luminous and arresting portrait of Fleming’s wife Anne by Lucien Freud and a landscape of Goldeneye, Fleming’s Jamaican island retreat by Noel Coward. James Bond’s appetite for gourmet food was apparently not shared by Ian Fleming who preferred scrambled eggs on a pre–cholesterol scale – 12 eggs and 6oz of butter!

I went to see the Millennium library in Norwich. It’s fabulous. The library’s in a light filled building in the city centre that also houses a café and restaurant. Inside it’s buzzing. The children’s section is laid out perfectly for families, the displays of adult books are enticing and the library on a Tuesday morning was full of different people, including many young people not in education, employment or training for whom the library provides a haven. The success of the library is down to the energy, commitment and skills of the people who work there, and the building itself is great.

When I asked the librarian how she thought of new ideas, she said “When I’m stuck for ideas I go down to Tesco’s and have a look at what they’re doing!” And why not? Supermarkets know how to get people through the door and buy their goods, and cultural institutions are selling an experience like any other organisation. Anything that gets people reading and enjoying books is good as far as I’m concerned.

I went on my first visit to our National Archives in Kew. The Archives hold an amazing collection of records, from state documents dating back to Henry VIII, to papers on the transportation of convicts to Australia. Apart from my family records, I saw plans for an opera house on the Embankment and the menu for a grand dinner for James I. Fascinating. It really is the record of this country’s personal and public history and well worth a trip. It was especially meaningful for me as the archivists had uncovered my family naturalisation papers when we were first granted British Citizenship.

This has been a full month, I spent a week in the USA during recess, holding meetings with everyone from Microsoft and Google to Apple and Yahoo, talking to people in the Games industry and holding meetings with the Film Studios. Many people wanted to talk about the Byron report and our creative Economy Strategy and I was working to attract more investment to the UK.

Recess also provides more opportunities to see live performances, because there is no voting, so it was great to see Richard II at the Roundhouse, (I only wish I could have seen the entire King Cycle) Metamorphoses at the Lyric Hammersmith and God of Carnage at the Gielgud; and a powerful night at Covent Garden seeing the new Harrison Birtwistle opera, The Minotaur. No wonder people say this is the best job in Government.

Posted by Margaret Hodge at 04:49 PM | Permalink