Money and silence
It’s sometimes said that ‘money and silence’ are the two most important things that a culture minister can give to the arts world. Money needs no explanation, but silence? I suppose the idea is that a lively and successful cultural sector is at its best when it’s left alone to get on with doing what it does best: producing great work. And that policy papers, targets and Government directives just get in the way of this. I can see the force of this, and the more I meet and talk to practitioners in all the art forms, the more I appreciate the potential for misunderstanding and suspicion when bureaucratic imperatives rub up against creative inspiration. But on a personal level, there are two points I would make.
Firstly, if there is one lesson that we can learn from the Arts Council’s current plans to reduce or remove support from some of their regularly funded clients, it is that the old ‘I am funded, therefore I am’ mentality will never – and should never - be the same again. And secondly, that funding excellence and encouraging innovation as the Arts Council have done is bound to be controversial but that doesn’t make it any the less right. I hope that buy in may improve when we institute more peer reviews.
I was reflecting on all this as the reaction to Sir Brian McMaster’s report from earlier this month played out. The twin strands of emphasising excellence and giving more power to artists and audiences seem pretty good to me. If we can move forward on implementing McMaster and do so in the context of rising public and private investment, the result could be quite sensational.
Since I last posted here, I’ve seen Othello, Swan Lake, Nutcracker (Matthew Bourne’s exuberant production at Sadlers Wells this time), La Traviata, Much Ado about Nothing and Madam Butterfly at the ENO. Despite my very best endeavours, I have only been able to get to one of Barenboim’s concerts playing all the Beethoven piano sonatas, as voting on the long deliberation of the European Treaty has had to take precendence.
La Traviata at the ROH had opened to astonishing reviews with soprano Anna Netrebko drawing standing ovations, and further favourable comparisons with Maria Callas. But by the time I got to see the production, the Russian diva had fallen to a bronchial infection and Albanian Ermonela Jaho faced the daunting task of standing in. Mercifully, she was a triumph with a performance that grew in stature and substance as the production drew to its always-exhilirating conclusion.
Simon Russell Beale and Zoe Wanamaker were another must-see at the Olivier where Nicholas Hytner’s production of Much Ado about Nothing is that rarest of creatures: a genuinely funny Shakespearean comedy. The Olivier is a great venue for the surprising visual effect and this production (without giving the game away) is no exception. Get along there if you possibly can.
I also felt very privileged to attend an event at the Wallace Collection where we celebrated Doris Lessing’s Nobel Prize. I know I’m one of many of my generation who were deeply influenced by her ‘Golden Notebook’, as we were by Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘Second Sex’. She may be having to cope with some health problems but she remains a feisty woman, although she clearly doesn’t like to be associated with the feminist movement she did so much to engender. I’m looking forward to her new novel in the spring.
Earlier in the month, my meeting with representatives from Brighton’s tourism industry got off to a relaxed start as we sat on chaise longues in the beautiful Mayor’s parlour. Certainly an improvement on the formality of a meeting round a table, and it set the tone for a friendly discussion on Brighton and Hove’s successful tourist industry.
The city has eight million visitors a year and a thriving conference market, and is a great example of the strength of domestic tourism. The tourism industry is vitally important to the UK, and we in the government are fully committed to supporting it – there’s £350 million of public funding a year.
Brighton like so many of our seaside towns is dependent on a good transport infrastructure and more trains late at night would make a huge difference to them. I hope the regional development agency will see the benefit to the regional economy of investments in tourism. Why not look at combining public and private money in order to build the best in Europe?
We had an interesting discussion about the issue on everyone’s lips – sustainability. It’s obvious that people in the tourism industry are as convinced of the importance of sustainable tourism as I am. It’s something none of us can afford to ignore.
I had a warm welcome in Brighton and I think its image as a creative city is well deserved. This was confirmed to me when the idea of branding the city with a sponsor was suggested. I think it’s a great idea, and look forward to seeing how it develops.