Alex Poots: "Don't sleepwalk into cuts"
Argue by example rather than shouting, keynote speaker tells delegates
In the closing session of the Museums Association's Conference yesterday, Manchester International Festival director Alex Poots told delegates: “Don’t sleepwalk into these cuts without trying to find meaningful arguments.”
Poots said the arts and heritage sector should avoid the “1970s-style union way”. Instead of shouting, he called on the sector to show by example why funding for culture is not a drain on money but a good investment.
“The sector should take its fair share of cuts but not be destroyed in the process,” he added.
The cultural programmer acknowledged it would be always be difficult to win the argument for cultural investment over health or education, but stressed that Manchester International Festival was able to gain the support of the city council by making a strong case that culture was an integral part of what the city has to offer.
He said: “When you win one victory it makes you stronger.”
Delegates were advised during the session to emphasise that the cultural sector should be given breathing space to respond to the changing financial landscape and foster collaborative partnerships elsewhere.
Poots was also critical of the coalition government's haste in abolishing regional development agencies. According to him, the government initially seemed unaware that this would suck £60m out of the arts budget: “Some [government officials] seemed quite shocked when they learned this figure."
Add your comment
That doesn't mean that we should keep quiet about the financial contributions we can make but to have any chance of winning this ideological battle (and is is that, most certainly) we must frame the debate on our terms. We serve the common good, we are open to all, and we are in the right. You can't put a price tag on that, so we need to highlight our unique position with unique language; we must appeal to the better values of society and make them attractive as those who would hack away at such values appeal to the baser ones. We won't do that by glorifying profit - after all, that's what got us all into this mess.