Arts Funding - Should We Worry?

The Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition’s decision to cut all, except essential services, public funding by 10%, within the first 4 weeks of their parliamentary term has caused many changes to take place across the nation’s landscape. This is very apparent in the arts and culture sector. The Find Your Talent programme was cancelled with immediate affect. Thereby cancelling the whole of all of the 10 pathfinder’s 3rd year programmes. This meant that thousands of young people would now not be able to partake in cultural activities planned for that third year. Interaction with leading arts organisations was stopped suddenly. Smaller organisations lost a large percentage of their revenue, resulting in staff being laid off and the cultural landscape in these pathfinder regions becoming a barren land that was four weeks before a hive of the future cultural leaders of our country and outstanding community examples to other young people.

With the announcement that Arts Council England will be forced to make a further 10% cut of all regularly funded organisations this will see those organisations already badly affected by the Find your Talent cancellation, going out of business. Early estimates suggest across England 20% of Arts Organisations will no longer be able to function and will go to the wall by the end of 2011. This will undoubtedly affect not just financially the country, (According to DCMS 2009 figures for every £1 spent on the arts this brings £2 back into the English economy), but also intrinsically the people of the country will be undoubtedly affected by the lack of a strong, diverse and participatory arts scene.

Is this a time to worry though? The Arts will go through a tough time in the next 4 years and we may see some of our favourite organisations cease to exist. But we have been here before. In the 1980’s the arts landscape had it’s heart ripped from it’s cultural centre and a whole generation of audience was lost to TV, video games, anti-social behaviour and drugs and drinking.


Over the last 15 years we have been investing in the next generation and the trying to convince the current generation to come and experience culture in its many different forms. One can only hop that arts organisations and those large organisations certainly, have been building for a situation like this to arise. It was inevitable that the apparent land of milk and honey funding that we have had since 1997 wouldn’t last, and it would be sad to think people were blinkered and had not planned for change.

My fear is this hasn’t happened across the board and some organisations have had the philosophy that it is a given right they should be funded by the state. Whoever that state is. But I believe it isn’t a given right. You have to have a purpose and matter to your community and your practitioners to be entitled to funding. If you are having a positive impact on them then you should be funded. If you are carrying on expecting funding and not advancing your art or work then you don’t deserve to be kept like a French mistress.

One can only hope the coalition, once it deconstructs our systems, starts to rebuild with legacy and independence, realistic independence, at its heart. Lets hope our Arts Organisations understands that change is a good thing and works positively to make our Arts Landscape carry on being one of the best in world.

Men Crying at Films

It has been talked about quite alot over the last couple of weeks about Men crying at films. Why do we shed a tear, why are we ashamed to admit it? It tends to be linked to family or loss why men cry, or the passion of losing a sports game. I think when one is a teenager coming home from school and viewing Neighbours/Biker Grove/Home and Away, when one was tired and an emotional scene appeared the occasional tear would pour down my cheek. I'm sure this was the same of many others. But of course it was not something you would discuss the next day, not even to your girlfriend.



However as I got into my 20's films discussing relationships with father and son always used to make me clear my throat and take deep breaths, just to stop an outbreak of hysterical tears. I remember watching Big Fish at my local cineplex on a first date. By the end of the film I was so upset and looking somewhat pathetic with tears and tissues my date looked somewhat appalled to be with me. We did carry on going out a few more dates but she dumped me after a month or two saying I was too sensitive, I always think that first date was the death knell in that relationship.

I went to the pictures this weekend to watch Inception and ended up in tears again, this wasn't anything to do with the film however. I tripped down the cinema steps in the dark and nearly knocked myself out, after about an hour of the film I was in so much pain I shed a few tears. Turns out I'd broken my arm. So yes men cry at movies but not always because of the subject on the big screen, Excuse me while I go and take a few more painkillers.

Why Does Football Take Over Our Lives

Today was a day of fan passion and examples of the majestic athletic performances.

While most of us were bunking off work for the afternoon to catch the England game, or as I was, watching over the net at my desk, there was a majestic game of tennis taking place at Wimbledon.

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut tore up the record books as their first-round match at Wimbledon lasted 10 hours and ended up 2 sets all and 59-59 games all in the final set. Bad light then stopped play. This is after playing the first two sets the evening before.

Now any other day, or non world cup year, this would have had a lead article on our flagship news channels, but because our stuttering national football team needed to win against a team low down the rankings to stay in the world cup. This football game took precedent over the tennis.

Now don't get me wrong, I watched the game, was caught up in all the action and at some point even cheered and shouted out. But it wasn't till I returned home at 7:30pm did I know anything about the tennis game. But surely the pure athleticism of Isner and Mahut far outweighs any of the efforts of the England team?

This brings to the fore the thought why do we become obsessed with our national football team? They constantly disappoint, they contain the players of our club teams we despise and abuse anytime outside of the World Cup or Euro championship, we can't relate to the players who traditionally are working class and now are paid so much from such an early age the working man has nothing in common with them.

No other national sport causes such a fever of attention. The only time I have seen anything similar is when the England cricket team won the Ashes 4 years ago (last years win didn't have the same effect, simply because it wasn't shown on terrestrial television but on Sky Sports).

Why is this?

I think this is clearly linked back to historical tribal tradition. We all have our local teams who we support, that support come from the community, the players used to come from that community, when you play the local town or village the fans flock out to see them hopefully beat the neighbours. So in that sense it is a tribal community proud sport. A case of getting one up on your neighbours so to speak.

But why do them tribes unite to support a national team?

In years gone by the country would be split into small baronies. When those small kingdoms were under threat they had to unite those baronies and defend their territory. Somewhere like Wessex would have up to 25 different sections within it that would unite under the King of that region. As those Kingdoms became more powerful one way to unite the regions and to prevent fighting between them was to marry into the different ruling families. This ultimately helped when the whole country or one particular region was under threat by invaders. All the regions would join up and fight together, and with relative success till that ole bastard William of Normandy set foot in Hastings.

This ethic of joining together still exists and has spread across the world. we all have our favourite club team but most of us support the national team and join together. Where this is most apparent is Spain. Because of the issues between Catalan and Spanish identity, Spain you would think it would be difficult to come together under a flag of Spain. but it doesn't and Spain is one of the most strong teams at this world cup.

So that, I believe, is where that passion for football comes from.
My only gripe is fat men should not wear football tops! They are made for athletic men on a pitch not beer guzzling jingoists.


Anyway good luck to the tennis fellas and also to England who now have Germany in their next game. we've no chance!!

How do you do a first post?

Right hello and good evening to you.
It has been a few days of scorching sun in the UK and typically in an English way we are starting to moan about it already.

I think it's something particulary english to have a good bloody rant about something at all times. That, you will find, is what i tend to do. Lots of things annoy me and hopefully when i have a right good moan about it I do it in an interesting, entertaining, passionate and funny way. (but not necessarily all of those in that particular order I have to admit).

So if you are popping back to my blog or subscribing to it let me know if you like what i'm saying, dislike what i'm saying, think you can say it better or just want to have a good bloody rant yourself.

Subjects I will tend to touch on the most are as follows:
Music
Politics
The Art World
TV
British bloody stupidness
Racism and ignorance
and general scouse stupidness.

Anyway that's my first post. Now on to my 2nd post!!!