In the wake of the events of 11 September 2001, Peter Hewitt, the chief executive of the Arts Council England, gave a speech at London's National Portrait Gallery calling for artists to engage vigorously in the issues that dominate national and global debate.
'I am struck by the role of art in helping us express our feelings and to shape our understanding of events like this that are otherwise presented in mainly analytical, political, military or religious terms,' he said.
Some time later, in the wake of the London Underground bombings, the author Salman Rushdie wrote an article in the Times that challenged our notions of multiculturalism and posed the question:
'How does a fractured community of multiple cultures decide what values it must share in order to cohere, and how can it insist on those values even when some citizens' traditions and beliefs differ?'
Suitably moved by this twin challenge, a group of contemporary art galleries agreed to make a project that would seek the views of artists in creating an impression of what might be a shared set of values that identifies Englishness in the multicultural society of 21st-century England.
The project, North and South, is being mounted by six galleries in two cities - the National Glass Centre, Reg Vardy Gallery and the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland; and the City Art Gallery, John Hansard Gallery and Millais Gallery in Southampton - this summer.
At the heart of the exhibition is an open competition for 15 new commissions, with the particular intention of eliciting responses from artists other than the usual suspects.
The idea was that a diverse range of artists would become involved, representing fresh voices and addressing unprecedented social challenges. The selection was made, and an exciting exhibition has been created with the new commissions selected from hundreds of professional submissions.
But the one surprise was that, while the freshness and professionalism of the submissions was excellent, the range and diversity was a disappointment.
The number of representatives of disabled, socially excluded and black and minority ethnic groups was poor, and the overwhelming approach from artists was to identify what are considered to be traditional English values and to undertake a contemporary audit of these values - to examine their worth in contemporary society.
The lesson learned from the exercise is that the great divisions between the north and the south are as strong as ever. The popular view of this division as haves and have-nots has not dwindled; and it is clear that England is as hierarchically class-conscious as it ever has been, and that this hierarchy appears to be largely geographically based.
The belief persists that the seats of power reside in the south-east of England and are still controlled by a privileged elite. There is a concern that ethnically diverse communities and marginalised groups do not engage fully in the established institutions of our society.
Nowhere can this be more clearly marked than in the cultural establishment. So it is not surprising that a recent Department for Culture, Media and Sport report found that the arts sector has failed to meet its public service agreement targets for participation from disabled, socially excluded and black and minority ethnic groups.
But while the cultural establishment continues to be dominated by an elite that, in spite of the rhetoric, perpetuates exclusion across all sectors of society, it will continue to be impossible for us to create genuine inclusion and shared values around which social cohesion can be achieved.
Stephen Foster is the director of the John Hansard Gallery in Southampton
'I am struck by the role of art in helping us express our feelings and to shape our understanding of events like this that are otherwise presented in mainly analytical, political, military or religious terms,' he said.
Some time later, in the wake of the London Underground bombings, the author Salman Rushdie wrote an article in the Times that challenged our notions of multiculturalism and posed the question:
'How does a fractured community of multiple cultures decide what values it must share in order to cohere, and how can it insist on those values even when some citizens' traditions and beliefs differ?'
Suitably moved by this twin challenge, a group of contemporary art galleries agreed to make a project that would seek the views of artists in creating an impression of what might be a shared set of values that identifies Englishness in the multicultural society of 21st-century England.
The project, North and South, is being mounted by six galleries in two cities - the National Glass Centre, Reg Vardy Gallery and the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland; and the City Art Gallery, John Hansard Gallery and Millais Gallery in Southampton - this summer.
At the heart of the exhibition is an open competition for 15 new commissions, with the particular intention of eliciting responses from artists other than the usual suspects.
The idea was that a diverse range of artists would become involved, representing fresh voices and addressing unprecedented social challenges. The selection was made, and an exciting exhibition has been created with the new commissions selected from hundreds of professional submissions.
But the one surprise was that, while the freshness and professionalism of the submissions was excellent, the range and diversity was a disappointment.
The number of representatives of disabled, socially excluded and black and minority ethnic groups was poor, and the overwhelming approach from artists was to identify what are considered to be traditional English values and to undertake a contemporary audit of these values - to examine their worth in contemporary society.
The lesson learned from the exercise is that the great divisions between the north and the south are as strong as ever. The popular view of this division as haves and have-nots has not dwindled; and it is clear that England is as hierarchically class-conscious as it ever has been, and that this hierarchy appears to be largely geographically based.
The belief persists that the seats of power reside in the south-east of England and are still controlled by a privileged elite. There is a concern that ethnically diverse communities and marginalised groups do not engage fully in the established institutions of our society.
Nowhere can this be more clearly marked than in the cultural establishment. So it is not surprising that a recent Department for Culture, Media and Sport report found that the arts sector has failed to meet its public service agreement targets for participation from disabled, socially excluded and black and minority ethnic groups.
But while the cultural establishment continues to be dominated by an elite that, in spite of the rhetoric, perpetuates exclusion across all sectors of society, it will continue to be impossible for us to create genuine inclusion and shared values around which social cohesion can be achieved.
Stephen Foster is the director of the John Hansard Gallery in Southampton
