Funding the Arts

Checking upon my list of prophets of doom from  the aftermath of the last election, I came across this particularly dire warning from Sir Nicholas Serota, writing in the Times on 16 July 2010.  "Cutting arts funding - it would be devastating - theatres will go dark, orchestras will disband, museums will shut - a whole generation of young people will be denied access to the fruits of everything that has been built up in the past ten years."

Over 3 years on and there does not appear to be much evidence of Serota's new dark age.  Indeed, looking at the 2 theatres nearest to me, should they be starved of funding I, for one, would not lament their passing too much.  I am fed up with the offering of politically correct clap-trap (I exempt the current touring version of She Stoops to Conquer which is excellent) and ceased to find anything that I was comfortable watching long ago.  It seems that in return for funding, arts institutions are obliged to do something in return for their public grants in the way of “modern,” “inclusive,” and “relevant” interpretations, pandering to the liberalist cult of repudiation.  Unfortunately, all this silliness merely achieves the very opposite of their intended purpose by turning people off the  artistic channel the generous dispensers of our taxes are seeking to promote!

I think our policy for the arts should be more concerned with the protection and promotion of value rather than sneering and desecration which denies young people the fruits of everything that has been built up over centuries!