The arts will help Britain bounce back
Public investment in our cultural life has helped us out of national crises before, and can do so again
‘The arts are essential to any complete national life. The state owes it to itself to sustain and encourage them.” Winston Churchill delivered those remarks at the Royal Academy in April 1938. Soon the nation was at war, and the coalition government did something remarkable. It decided that public investment in the arts and culture were important even as “all comfort to our spirit were at a low ebb”. One of the last acts of that wartime coalition was to establish the Arts Council.
As an 18-year-old in the 1960s, I thought I had a clear plan for the future, which would begin with studying history and economics at university. That summer, as I was leaving school, I 54-64 Painting & Sculpture of a Decade. I was bowled over by the work of artists such as David Hockney and Francis Bacon. It gave me a different view on the world, and perhaps the courage to change course. I was inspired to take the path that led me to a career in the arts, eventually returning to the Tate as director and now to my current position as chairman of the Arts Council.
In that time, I have seen public investment in the arts and culture transform our nation, too. It has enabled art which, as Churchill said, “lights the path and links the thought of one generation with another” through extraordinary imagination and endeavour. It began with a generation of post-war visionaries like Joan Littlewood and continues today with world-renowned artists such as Steve Mcqueen, working within a system that is unique in the world – of mixed funding, public, philanthropic and commercial, that allows time and space for their creativity to flourish and their ambition to be realised, shared and passed on.
Our ambition as funders continues to match our country’s appetite for art. The 14-18 Now project, to commemorate the centenary of the
First World War, saw, over its five years, a staggering 35 million people enjoy its various performances, displays and immersive art events. It included the incredible collaboration between Jeremy Deller and Rufus Norris We’re Here Because We’re Here, which saw hundreds of volunteers assembled on railway concourses across our major cities dressed in the uniforms of 100 years ago, each one representing a soldier who had died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
As the Arts Council marks its 75th anniversary year we must ensure that we continue to nurture new talent wherever it is found. In recent years we have begun to address the historic under-investment outside of London, helping to “level-up” communities in the process. Investing in landmark projects is important, as we have seen with the success of Baltic and The Sage in Gateshead, or the confidence of Birmingham and its world-class Symphony Hall. Investment from government and the Lottery also supports a whole nation’s experience of creativity and culture from music education in schools to the Royal Shakespeare Company, whose Associate School Programme is encouraging a new generation of talent.
During the past 75 years many have questioned the value of public investment in the arts, despite the evidence, recognised by successive governments of all parties, of the importance of creativity and culture to health, tourism and the economy as a whole. Covid-19 has threatened the very survival of the sector, but the Culture Recovery Fund was an enlightened decision by the Government and has provided nearly £2 billion to ensure that the arts and culture will continue to play a major role in our national life. Their action has established a foundation for recovery and mirrors the deeds of the wartime coalition at a time of national crisis.
It was an economist, John Maynard Keynes, rather than a performer or curator, who was appointed as the first chairman of the Arts Council. In speaking of artists, he believed that the task of the Arts Council was “not to teach or to censor, but to give courage, confidence and opportunity”. He saw that it was essential that the council should “decentralise and disperse the dramatic, musical and artistic life of the country … (to) every town and county.” His vision continues to be relevant today as we recover from the pandemic.