Only a matter of weeks ago, Prime Minister Tony Blair was boasting in a speech at Tate Modern about how the last ten years had been a ‘golden age’ for the arts. Of course, he was generous enough to acknowledge that this wasn’t all the work of his government, but the overall tone was classic Blair rhetoric; upbeat, positive, encouraging. He even “Laid to rest” rumours about the Olympics:
“First, we need to remember that the Cultural Olympiad offers a fabulous opportunity. We have on the horizon a four-year festival at which we can exhibit a modern, outward-facing Britain. The Olympic victory was a vindication of the cultural face we now present to the world. One of the main reasons we won is that we projected an idea of what Britain is now and what we will become in the future.” 1)
Those of us who have been in the arts long enough wondered why a Prime Minister who had steadfastly ignored the arts for years was suddenly making an impassioned speech in their favour. We did not have to wait long.
Days later, news broke that the Lottery funds were to be ‘diverted’ to pay for the Olympics. This was followed by the Arts Council announcement that their Grants for the Arts budget will reduce to £54m in 2007/8 from £83m in 2006/7, a reduction of 35% . 2)
Let me type that again, 35%! This is a cut to the main source of funding for arts organisations in the UK, from major companies right down to individual artists, and they are slicing 35% off to pay for Tessa Jowell’s budgeting disaster with the Olympics.
So, yet again Lottery funding has been plundered, the Arts Council grants have been slashed, and yet, as Mr Blair stated, “The Cultural Olympiad offers a fabulous opportunity.” One would hope that the cash raided from the other accounts is going towards paying for the Cultural Olympiad – with the money just sloshing around in Olympic circles (or should that be rings?).
If only. The official London 2012 website 3) has a comprehensive and impressive list of all the activities that were part of the original winning bid for London. Top of the list are the official ceremonies, second, a series of diverse festivals including World Festival of Youth Culture, Olympic Carnival, World Cultural Festival, Film and Video Nation, Artists Taking the Lead, International Music Programme and the International Shakespeare Festival. The UK Cultural Festival, “Major cultural events to create a cultural festival covering the whole of the UK” romps home in bronze medal position.
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As Bill Morris, London 2012 Culture and Events Chief says in his blog of 3rd April 2007 3):
“We won the chance to engage the whole of the UK in a celebration of culture, education and sport across the four years from 2008 to 2012. Even more than that, we can use 2012 to help drive long term benefits to our cultural life. … It’s now up to all of us in the cultural sector to rise to that challenge, and it’s our job in London 2012 to enable and support colleagues in the culture industry as best we can.”
Now, here’s the killer. There is no London 2012 cash except for the official ceremonies. None. Zilch. Zero. And who admitted as much? Bill Morris, in the same blog!
“Alas, we only have budget within London 2012 for the first of the three – the Ceremonies Programme - but we hope to create a funding guide to help all the partners and contributors we’ll be working with in the other two sections.”
A funding guide? Fat lot of good that will be when the two major sources of funding have already been plundered for cash! Unless Gordon Brown has actually been squirreling away ten years worth of stealth tax revenue to pay for the Cultural Olympiad (er, I think not…), where on earth are these other sources of funding going to be found? I have a horrible feeling I know where – and I’m not becoming Hamburger Opera for anyone…
KIRSTY YOUNG
DIRECTOR
HATSTAND OPERA
1) Cultural speech at Tate Modern, 6 March 2007. See the full transcript (if you can stomach it) at http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page11166.asp.
2) Statement by Peter Hewitt, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, issued on 11 April 2007
3) http://www.london2012.org/en/ourvision/olympism+and+culture/TheCulturalOlympiad.htm
4) http://blog.london2012.com/?p=389#more-389
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