A recent media release from Arts Council North West caught all of our attention at Arts Hub UK. ‘One of the biggest arts events in the North West of 2004 is a sell out success’ read the headline. Delving deeper the release announced that no tickets were left for the first annual conference of Arts Council North West. So where was the story hook exactly? Was it in the conference? Or was it in the fact that it was sold out? Probably both to the casual observer, but maybe the hook lies more in what is currently going on in the north of England. The winds of change are certainly blowing strong in this region, and the most wonderful, fantastic element in this forecast is that the economic sector has finally connected the dots between the arts and economic activity. Yes indeed – a burgeoning arts industry makes money.
Looking at the conference schedule in more detail, there is nothing that stands out unduly as fluff in its programme – which is always a good sign. To be held in Manchester, the fact that it lasts only a day, and looks to be a solid, active and substantial forum for works to be showcased, and artists to meet, bodes well for participants wary of non-stop sessions with never-ending speakers. There will be however the obligatory discussions and debates led by leading figures in the arts sector, including BBC1’s Alan Yentob. And finally there is the opportunity to win a hefty ten thousand pounds in the form of the Art04 Award. This will be awarded to ‘an individual artist, local authority, a school, an arts organization or anyone else involved in the arts who is viewed by their peers as having made a major contribution to the arts in the North West over the past eighteen months.’
And as Regional Chair of Arts Council England North West, Tony Bloxham MBE, concluded: ‘The North West is a hotbed of artistic talent and Arto4 will be a wonderful opportunity for our regional artists and arts organizations to showcase the brilliant work they do to other artists, arts funders and the media.’ And that’s what a healthy life in the arts has always been about – meeting those arts funders and getting good media coverage, because these two components are key stakeholders in the life of any artist or arts organization.
But there is more than just patronage going on in the north. We have all heard endlessly about the urban renaissance destined to change industrial towns like Newcastle, Liverpool and Birmingham into playgrounds for not necessarily the rich and famous, but certainly those of us interested in all things cultural. Certainly we joke about this, but the last laugh lies with these cities. Liverpool has recently been awarded European City of Culture for 2008 (a title previously awarded to Florence – where the renaissance was born no less), and all three cities were up for this honour competing against the Brideshead Revisted style culture of towns such as Oxford. Moreover, the title wins the city an estimated one million pounds in economic activity.
Perhaps when we speak of urban renaissance in England, we should instead describe it more accurately as a cultural and class renaissance. Because who would have thought that Liverpool would beat Oxford? And of course there is a certain amount of suspicion about what is exactly going on when class order as we know it is beset by a touch of anarchy. In an article in The Observer last year, it was reported that Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell had ‘recently gotten into trouble when she wrote to Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham, telling them they were all the new Bilbao (Bilbao being the Spanish industrial port town which created a new economy after building its famous Guggenheim Museum). In fact, as the article suggests, ‘there is some scepticism about the real benefits such surface changes can bring to the economy of a city. And the Capital of Culture contest has been accused of operating as a fashionable substitute for much-needed government subsidy.’
In this same article, the question is asked – ‘Why is the north of England in such apparent ascendance and how long will it last?’
Well, apart from Liverpool being awarded the Capital of Culture, there are a number of other distinctly artistic initiatives going on in the north. Firstly the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA), (who incidentally is a partner in the sold out Arto4 conference) is also working with Arts Council England, the Cultural Consortium, England’s Northwest and the RIBA to fund public art in the region. In their announcement, the NWDA explained that it strongly believed that ‘public art can contribute to the achievement of the Regional Economic Strategy objectives. In particular public art can help to renew and transform urban and rural areas – both developed and regenerated…and encourage further investment, tourism and employment.’
Whilst in the North East, it was reported that through bidding for the European Capital of Culture title, Newcastle is now working towards creating ‘new investment opportunities and jobs through world-class culture and tourism, enhancing life chances for thousands more people throughout the North East. Culture continues to be recognised as a major catalyst and generator for regional growth.’ An icnewcastle.co.uk article also highlighted how PriceWaterhouseCooper research revealed that ‘the region benefited from a huge injection of cash and jobs as a result of bidding to be European Capital of Culture.’ New income directly linked to bid was reported to exceed 400 million pounds and to have created close to 8000 jobs in three years.
The Chairman of the Newcastle Initiative, Sir Ian Wrigglesworth was also reported to have said: ‘This is the decade where the investment in culture will see its greatest return. We will continue to work in partnership with out members from all sectors to realise our vision of a world-class cultural region.’
It surely seems that the situation in the north is a far cry from what was going on in 2001 when after announcing that it would axe its ten regional arts boards, in what was reported as ‘a radical plan to clear away the bureaucracy that has choked funding’, the Arts Council was set upon by furious regional board members led by Mark Scrimshaw of the then existing Northern Arts.
Scrimshaw was reported to have said that they [the regional bodies] ‘did not have to listen to what anyone in London thinks is best for [them]. He called the decision ‘moronic’, and ‘a major mistake.’ In the end though the regions won out, because even though the Regional Boards were abolished, regional officers of the Arts Council became answerable to regional councils who have the power to decide on financial issues.
So where are we now in the north? Well in the middle of last year it was reported in The Observer that ‘there is evidence that this cultural renaissance in British cities is causing a slow reversal of the flow of people who leave the North and head to London for work.’ It was also reported that Chancellor Gordon Brown was looking at moving up to 20,000 jobs out from London into the regional areas.
A year earlier when dissecting Tessa Jowell’s ‘avalanche of creativity’ promise when announcing that an extra 75 million pounds would be spent on the arts between 2005 and 2006, The Guardian’s Charlotte Higgins may have hit the nail on the head in saying ‘It is not just about money. It is about increasing perception that the arts are utterly tangential to New Labour’s vision: or, at least, that the arts have validity for New Labour only when viewed through the prism of its social and educational policies,’
Which brings us back to the Arts Councils North West Art04 first annual conference. Are the government’s socialist policies the only thing to blame for this surge in artistic activity in the north? And does it fall into Higgins claim that ‘there is a sense that artistic excellence is no longer allowed to be an end in itself. Higgins then goes on to quote Peter Jonas (the former head of English National Opera) who said: ‘The English system of funding has fallen victim to the necessity of political justification. Everything has to have a catch-phrase – outreach, cultural diversity, accessibility.’
Maybe the renaissance of the north falls squarely into these political aspirations. But does that necessarily make it less real? The bottom line is the Art04 conference in Manchester was sold out, and Liverpool is the European Cultural Capital for 2008, and the arts and culture sector in the north is better than it has been in a long long time. And by the way what’s wrong with a bit of political justification? – politics after all is surely more transparent and surmountable than the elitist classism used to guard the arts from the masses in Regency England.
For more information on the the first annual conference of Arts England, North West visit: www.artscouncil.org.uk
