Arts are key to creating inclusive cities - Museums Association

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Arts are key to creating inclusive cities

Our institutions and collections were created to be of the world and for the people
Maria Balshaw
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The Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery are free-access museums with a strongly articulated social mission. They have collections, numbering about 100,000 objects, which are held in trust for the public. As such, our civic role is our mission.

Enshrined in the Whitworth’s foundation in 1889 was an aspiration to be “for the perpetual gratification of the people of Manchester . . . for the benefit of all social classes”. The city’s 10-year Our Manchester strategy, launched this year, declares the significance of arts and culture for making a thriving city; for making Manchester a place where people want to live and visit, and a place where they can realise their own aspirations.

In May, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation launched an inquiry to define what role art and culture could, and should, play in civic society. The philosophy of the foundation and Manchester’s galleries is clear – the arts enrich our lives, have much to contribute, and need a place in a developed civic society.

To me, it is the social and civic value of the diverse work we do that justifies the public value of taxpayers’ money being invested in supporting Manchester’s galleries. Art without social impact, or galleries that do not make a difference for the widest range of people that constitute Manchester, fail to realise the potential of 21st-century social institutions. Their potential is to be inclusive, social learning spaces that bring people together across ages, ethnicities and class backgrounds.

At the Whitworth, we aspire to be a creative laboratory for ideas and a place where strangers feel comfortable encountering one another. At both institutions, we hope a wide range of people feel the gallery is their own to enjoy, and that it is a space that welcomes and challenges them in equal measure. I believe this has to be felt throughout the organisation, across all areas of our work.

The new Whitworth building is open and porous – you can stand in the park around us and look in to see the art on display as well as seeing people enjoying it. We hope this constitutes an open institution to the community around us.

However, sometimes a more explicit invitation is needed. For example, our cultural park keeper, a unique role supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, is tasked with looking after, listening to and working with the people in the park. Her programme is developed with people, focused on supporting their wellbeing through social interaction with the outdoor setting and with art.

Likewise, at Manchester Art Gallery, our open conversational welcome to all visitors is underpinned by active introductions to what the gallery has and can offer. The English Corner, as a programme, uses arts and crafts design objects (which come from around the world) as a learning opportunity for newly arrived adults from other countries who are striving to learn English. The programme has a twofold impact. First, the rich art stimuli promotes speedy language acquisition. Second, and more important in my view, inclusion in the life of the gallery fosters a sense of welcome and civic belonging, which many newly arrived people often need.

For me, our institutions and collections were created to be of the world and for the people. We have always had a social mission. That is why I am proud to say that I am a member of the advisory panel for the Calouste Gulbenkian Inquiry into the Civic Role of Arts organisations, helping to steer our exploration of the civic role of the arts, and to discover and make known best practice in the field. In the 21st century, when the critical problems facing cities across the UK include social isolation, intolerance and social inequality, the arts have an ever-more critical role to play in creating inclusive, liveable cities where people from every social background and every part of the world can thrive.

It is exactly what the arts are for.

Maria Balshaw is the director of the Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester City Galleries


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