Slashed Budgets Risk Making U.K. a Backwater, Say Arts Chiefs
George Osborne
Rupert Hartley/Bloomberg
George Osborne, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer. Osborne has received letters from major British museums and galleries requesting continued government support.
George Osborne, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer. Osborne has received letters from major British museums and galleries requesting continued government support. Photographer: Rupert Hartley/Bloomberg
The Serpentine Pavillion 2007, outside the Serpentine Gallery in London. The Serpentine Gallery, like many other British institutions, is concerned that the government may cut its funding. Photographer: Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg
The Tate Modern in London. The museum, along with other British institutions, is worried that the government may cut its funding. Source: Tate Press Office via Bloomberg
Nicholas Serota
Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg
Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Britain in London. Serota is concerned that there will be cuts to government art funding that can't be replaced by philanthropic donations.
Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Britain in London. Serota is concerned that there will be cuts to government art funding that can't be replaced by philanthropic donations. Photographer: Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg
The heads of U.K. arts bodies begged the government to “cut us but don’t kill us,” warning that if belt-tightening was drastic and immediate, museums would cancel blockbuster shows, theaters would go dark, and 200 of 850 state-funded bodies would lose their subsidy.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who took over in May, plans spending cuts and tax rises totaling 113 billion pounds ($174 billion) to rein in a deficit that has widened to 11 percent of economic output. In May, the arts got a 61 million pound trim. Bigger scalebacks will be announced in October, with most departments facing inflation-adjusted cuts of 25 percent by 2015.
“Our concern is not that there will be cuts,” said Tate Director Nicholas Serota, one of six speakers making the appeal today at Tate Britain in London. “It’s to do with the scale and impact of those cuts.”
“One can maintain the character of what we do, albeit in reduced form, if cuts are not frontloaded and of a reasonable size,” he said. Pressed for specifics, Serota warned that his museum could no longer afford major traveling shows, such as one being planned with New York’s Museum of Modern Art for 2013-14. “They will simply pass London by,” he said.
Cultural Manifesto
Serota was flanked at a boardroom table by managers of the Southbank Centre, the Serpentine Gallery, the National Theatre, Sadler’s Wells Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. On behalf of the nation’s art bodies, they put out a manifesto titled: “You can cut us but don’t kill us, say the U.K.’s cultural leaders.”
Total cultural spending represents 1 percent of the National Health Service budget, according to the manifesto. Eight of the country’s top 10 visitor attractions are museums, and creative and cultural industries accounted for 2 million jobs in 2007, it said.
Speakers at the morning briefing gave indications of the damage that would come if cuts were hefty and sudden.
“We would be mounting fewer productions,” said the RSC’s executive director Vikki Heywood, who also evoked ticket-price increases and limited touring. At smaller organizations, “things will go dark,” she warned.
Sadler’s Wells Chief Executive Alistair Spalding said programming would change at the cutting-edge London dance venue: “We would do more commercial productions.” There would be no money for new work at the theater, which already raises 89 percent of its income from non-government sources, and private donors would be tapped even more, as they are in the U.S., he said.
Taking Risks
“Subsidy helps to take chances,” said Spalding. “When was the last time you saw new work from America on the Sadler’s Wells stage?”
Present at the briefing, though not a panelist, was Alan Davey, chief executive of Arts Council England, which distributes government grants to 850 groups. With a 25 percent cut, “we would have 200 less organizations in our portfolio,” he said -- meaning regular subsidy recipients.
Earlier this month, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt wrote to the Arts Council and to national museums asking them to illustrate, via models, what cuts of 25 percent and 30 percent would mean, according to several recipients of the letter.
Hunt has said the government wants philanthropy to give more to the arts, and seeks to loosen tax rules so people are encouraged to give in their lifetime and not just after death.
‘A Gift’
Today’s panelists said philanthropists were no substitute. “Their contribution cannot be relied on, because it is a gift,” said Director Julia Peyton-Jones. “A gift can be given freely, but it can also be taken away.”
“To remove a significant percentage of funding and then expect philanthropy to take up the battle seems unrealistic,” she said.
Her view was supported by a group of donors who, between them, have given tens of millions of pounds to the arts. In a letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, signatories including British Land Co. Honorary President John Ritblat and former art dealer Anthony d’Offay said philanthropy could not replace government funding. They said they would welcome improved tax incentives. The contents of the letter were made public at the briefing by publicist Erica Bolton of Bolton & Quinn.
To contact the writer on the story: Farah Nayeri in London at Farahn@bloomberg.net.
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page