Derby has so many claims to be City of Culture
WHAT do you make of Derby’s bid to be UK City of Culture? While I know many will be enthusiastic about it, I know Derbeians well enough to know that some will be a little sceptical or even scathing.
Let me try to persuade you of its importance by comparing it to Hull, which was City of Culture in 2017.
An official evaluation of its programme showed that it was directly responsible for at least £89.3 million of investment in the city and contributed to a 9.7% increase in tourism that year.
More than £32 million was fund-raised – double Hull City Council’s original goal – and 465 new cultural commissions far exceeded a target of 60. Most importantly, according to the evaluation, it “challenged the worst images of the city” from both those who lived in Hull and outsiders.
I would say that Derby has more right to the title of UK’s City of Culture than most.
Our Joseph Wright is so revered in the art world that a painting of his hangs in the world-famous Met gallery in New York. Wright was a member of the Enlightenment – deep thinkers and makers who transformed British society, precipitating the industrial revolution. They combined art and science in ways that had only previously been the province of the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Derby has had a long history of producing such movers and shakers. People such as John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal who catalogued 3,000 stars and made the first recorded observations of Uranus.
And, of course, it provided Rolls and Royce with a home for their first factory and remains the base for the company’s world headquarters.
Culture and industry are interwoven, which is why it is entirely correct to highlight the city’s fabulous Museum of Making, which is on the edge of the Derwent Valley Mills, World Heritage Site.
Meanwhile, Derby has shone a constant light on the performing arts. From the premiere of Dracula at the Grand Theatre in Derby in 1924 to the creation of digital heroine Lara Croft in the 1990s and the renowned Format Photography Festival, which attracts entries from across the globe in the present day.
As member of Parliament for Mid Derbyshire, I have had the great fortune to witness a huge number of cultural events in Derby and led the city’s successful bid bringing a display of the famous Tower of London poppies which attracted hundreds of thousands of people.
I am the Prime Minister’s Ambassador for Performing Arts and, for the past two years, I have been involved with the initiation of a year-long Festival of Culture which will showcase the huge wealth of talent in Derbyshire in 2023.
I have also long admired the cultural scene outside of the city with festivals in the like of Belper and Wirksworth.
I can easily recognise, therefore, that bringing the City of Culture to Derby would bring huge benefits to local communities and businesses within its boundaries and beyond.
Therefore, I would encourage the whole of Derbyshire to support a bid which could create jobs, inward tourism and sustainability and bring a huge sense of pride.
The bid will allow engagement and collaboration with a range of partners across the section and the creation of a fantastic, inspirational cultural programme that will be of huge benefit locally and attract visitors from elsewhere in the UK and beyond.
The timing of 2025 is perfect for Derby and will allow it to reach its full potential as it has so many opportunities and developments on the horizon. It will allow Derby to be a city of creativity, innovation and inclusivity.
It would be a brilliant springboard for the city to go into the century’s second quarter and I fervently hope that Derby’s bid is successful.