Editorial
Putting inclusion back on the agenda
It felt like the stars had aligned for a brief moment last month when Sajid Javid made his first speech as the secretary of state for culture in England.
I bet there weren’t many people who expected a Tory minister to talk about cultural disenfranchisement and the fact that people from lower socio-economic classes, and from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, tend to be less engaged with culture.
And I bet there were even less people who expected him to say that this was wrong and that the sector had better do something about it.
Javid’s honesty in talking about his upbringing, which didn’t include trips to theatres, museums and classical concerts, was refreshing.
DCMS Taking Part survey figures are impressive but there’s still a large chunk of the population who don’t visit and who don’t feel comfortable in our museums, galleries and cultural institutions.
It was also good to hear a government minister discussing the Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital report in a non-defensive way, recognising that something needs to be done to address the question of funding outside London.
This could be the start of a debate about how to resolve this problem, rather than shifting blame between government departments, NDPBs and local authorities, which seems to be the current pattern.
The response from the opposition was interesting too. Shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman talked about the need for a genuine and visible widening of access and inclusion and also about greater accountability and a “focused intervention” to achieve that.
Much of what both politicians argued for in terms of access wherever you live and whatever your background, chimes with the ideas in Museums Change Lives, the Museums Association’s vision for museums and social impact.
To have two high-profile politicians engaged in the debate at this level is good – but action not just warm words is what is needed now.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/conference
I bet there weren’t many people who expected a Tory minister to talk about cultural disenfranchisement and the fact that people from lower socio-economic classes, and from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, tend to be less engaged with culture.
And I bet there were even less people who expected him to say that this was wrong and that the sector had better do something about it.
Javid’s honesty in talking about his upbringing, which didn’t include trips to theatres, museums and classical concerts, was refreshing.
DCMS Taking Part survey figures are impressive but there’s still a large chunk of the population who don’t visit and who don’t feel comfortable in our museums, galleries and cultural institutions.
It was also good to hear a government minister discussing the Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital report in a non-defensive way, recognising that something needs to be done to address the question of funding outside London.
This could be the start of a debate about how to resolve this problem, rather than shifting blame between government departments, NDPBs and local authorities, which seems to be the current pattern.
The response from the opposition was interesting too. Shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman talked about the need for a genuine and visible widening of access and inclusion and also about greater accountability and a “focused intervention” to achieve that.
Much of what both politicians argued for in terms of access wherever you live and whatever your background, chimes with the ideas in Museums Change Lives, the Museums Association’s vision for museums and social impact.
To have two high-profile politicians engaged in the debate at this level is good – but action not just warm words is what is needed now.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/conference