You cannot walk out the door without hearing about the cuts in UK at the moment, and it won't be long till we will all be feeling the cuts directly. One of the first cuts was to the Arts council, but to plug the gap is the ultimate form of sick-inducing-branding that is the Big Society. My opinion is not yet formed on what I think of this reliance on the private sector to plug the gap in the future for the cuts that are happening now. My one worry is that the private companies are going to be too slow at financing institutions, and particularly institutions that are not distinctly profitable.
I am a self confessed lover of the arts. Studying fashion and art up to Foundation Level, I have truly made the most of New Labours free entry to museums and galleries. So I was relieved to see that this will continue under the post-recession coalition. However the rest of the industry has not been so lucky, such as the British Film Council. I am afraid that institutions that add a great deal to our country culturally will be sent into a downward spiral, and forced abroad because their investment returns are not high enough. Art inspires creativity and innovation, it provides a reflection on every part of our psyche, and provokes question on all parts of life. Art is priceless.
There is definitely a case for the government to be in charge of protecting and developing our cultural identity. Responsibility has to be taken by someone, a countries culture cannot be out-sourced.
Philanthropy is only set to increase in the UK, and it does seem to work in countries such as the US. At the same time, do we really want our identity to develop in the same fashion as the United States of America?
http://m.independent.co.uk/;article=2/news/
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