31st Jan 2008
Arts and Business
Arts & Business an organisation we are members of here in Weber Shandwick published the results of an annual survey of business investment in the arts yesterday.
The headline figures across the UK are impressive enough with business investment in the arts up 11%. The situation in NI is disappointing and it is the only region showing investment down by nearly 10%. This depressing statistic is not all that surprising. Despite our huge cultural heritage on this island we are showing very little commitment to our new and emerging artists. The first draft of this year’s Executive budget was very disappointing and only improved after a major public campaign by the Arts Council. Even at that levels of investment here still lag well behind the rest of the UK and the rest of this island.
The FT had a good piece highlighting the survey findings. Colin Tweedy, Chief Executive of Arts & Business, commented: “Private investment is now growing faster than public income. This is good news at a difficult time for some in the arts. These record figures are recognition of the work of countless individuals and companies whose energy and imagination have connected the UK’s cultural and commercial worlds and made our cultural life genuinely the envy of the world.”
Economic growth in Northern Ireland has handsomely outstripped the rest of the UK in the past five years and you would think there is more moeny to invest than ever before. They could well follow the example of our landlord, Ewart Properties, which has invested heavily in art for our wonderful building on Linenhall Street or even James Nicholson Wine Merchant who has incorporated modern Irish art into his new premises in Crossgar.
Until then in a UK context London will remain the epicentre of the growth accounting for 64% of all private investment. Other parts of the UK will continue to embarass NI with strong growth such as that experienced in the West Midlands (61%), Scotland (49.7%) and North West (48.1%) .
By art form, theatre (up to £68 million), museums (up to £86 million) and festivals (up to £25 million) saw the biggest increases, though dance (down to under £8 million), opera (down to £13 million) and libraries (down to £3 million) all fell. Visual arts, music and literature all saw slight decreases.
Arts and Business is a great organisation, but of course art isn’t just the stuff you hang on a wall. And the creative industries are about more that ‘high’ culture. Though I really hate that term. When ‘art’ gets snobby we undermine its very purpose. Same theory can be applied to wine
As you know I am involved in the very cool Oh Yeah Music Centre. It’s an exciting project and we have big big plans. Maybe we could have a conversation about some kind of link?