The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has appointed Munira Mirza as his new director of policy, arts, culture and the creative industries.
An arts consultant for the London East Research Institute and author of several reports for the thinktank Policy Exchange, Mirza has a background as a writer and broadcaster specialising in issues related to cultural identity, multiculturalism and urban regeneration.
In her introduction to Culture Vultures, a report for Policy Exchange on UK arts policy, she wrote: "The agenda of social policy usually results in a culture of mediocrity. The arts are important to society, but the current model of narrow instrumentalism is not working." The museum sector is watching anxiously to see how these views might translate into Boris Johnson's cultural policy for London.
Most museum directors contacted by Museums Journal said it was too early to judge. Some pointed to the closure of the Wandsworth and Livesey museums - both in Conservative-run boroughs - as evidence that culture, and museums in particular, might not be high on the mayor's agenda. "The Conservatives do not have a good record with small museums," said one.
Others commended Johnson's energy and enthusiasm for the arts. Paul Mainds, chief executive of the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, where Johnson is an MP, described him as a "cultured man" and remarked on his ability to communicate the merits of the museum to the younger generation.
Those looking to Johnson's six-month stint in 2004 as shadow minister for the arts for clues to the future may be disappointed. A spokeswoman at Conservative HQ said they had no record of what Johnson had done in his time as shadow arts minister.
His time in the post was overshadowed by the publication of an editorial in The Spectator, which he edited at the time, accusing the people of Liverpool of wallowing in "vicarious victimhood".
Johnson was forced into an apology by Michael Howard shortly before the Conservative leader sacked him for lying about an affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt.
An arts consultant for the London East Research Institute and author of several reports for the thinktank Policy Exchange, Mirza has a background as a writer and broadcaster specialising in issues related to cultural identity, multiculturalism and urban regeneration.
In her introduction to Culture Vultures, a report for Policy Exchange on UK arts policy, she wrote: "The agenda of social policy usually results in a culture of mediocrity. The arts are important to society, but the current model of narrow instrumentalism is not working." The museum sector is watching anxiously to see how these views might translate into Boris Johnson's cultural policy for London.
Most museum directors contacted by Museums Journal said it was too early to judge. Some pointed to the closure of the Wandsworth and Livesey museums - both in Conservative-run boroughs - as evidence that culture, and museums in particular, might not be high on the mayor's agenda. "The Conservatives do not have a good record with small museums," said one.
Others commended Johnson's energy and enthusiasm for the arts. Paul Mainds, chief executive of the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, where Johnson is an MP, described him as a "cultured man" and remarked on his ability to communicate the merits of the museum to the younger generation.
Those looking to Johnson's six-month stint in 2004 as shadow minister for the arts for clues to the future may be disappointed. A spokeswoman at Conservative HQ said they had no record of what Johnson had done in his time as shadow arts minister.
His time in the post was overshadowed by the publication of an editorial in The Spectator, which he edited at the time, accusing the people of Liverpool of wallowing in "vicarious victimhood".
Johnson was forced into an apology by Michael Howard shortly before the Conservative leader sacked him for lying about an affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt.
Boris Johnson
May 2001: MP for Henley
May 2004: shadow minister for the arts
October 2004: apologises to people of Liverpool over comments in the Spectator
November 2004: sacked from the shadow cabinet
December 2005: shadow minister for education
July 2007: resigns from ministerial position and unveils plan to run for mayor of London in 2008
May 2008: is elected mayor of London and makes Munira Mirza his culture adviser
May 2001: MP for Henley
May 2004: shadow minister for the arts
October 2004: apologises to people of Liverpool over comments in the Spectator
November 2004: sacked from the shadow cabinet
December 2005: shadow minister for education
July 2007: resigns from ministerial position and unveils plan to run for mayor of London in 2008
May 2008: is elected mayor of London and makes Munira Mirza his culture adviser
