Up and Running
The arts task force, under John Tusa’s chairmanship, was launched tonight at the Redgrave Suite (geddit?) at the Barbican. You can follow the progress of this independent inquiry into the state of the arts at www.artstaskforce.co.uk. Bear with us as we get the site up to speed.
Tonight’s launch had the theme: Why should Any Government Bother with the Arts? The one speaker whose resounding answer would have been “No”, the columnist Stephen Pollard, had to pull out with flu. Clearly the arts establishment is effective at nobbling its critics!
In the event, we had a superb debate, not least because of the quality of the speakers: laid back common sense from Alex Beard at the Tate; fiery and passionate contributions from Wasfi Kani from Grange Park Opera and Deborah Bull from the Royal Opera House; and an irritating provocative contribution from Robert Hewison (!). I think people really enjoyed it and found it stimulating. I think, in fact, it will work, and make a valuable contribution to the arts debate that is getting underway with Blair’s departure.
Luke Smith said on February 27th, 2007 at 10:36 am:
Hello Ed’s readers,
We are part of the arts establishment, but we still welcome open debate about the future of arts funding in England. A lively debate is already underway at www.artsdebate.co.uk — Arts Council England’s first ever public value enquiry. Can we look forward to lively interaction between these projects?
thanks,
Luke Smith, Project Manager, The Arts Debate