Nick Lee, 16 June 2009
The National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) annual conference yesterday saw the launch of their new report, A manifesto for the arts.
The message of the conference was overwhelmingly positive and much praise was heaped on the success of the arts and creative industries in Britain over the last 15 years. Indeed, key parts of the sector (for example, the theatre and computer games) are bucking the recession and continuing to grow.
Perhaps the most important message to come out of the conference was a plea for longer-term and more strategic investment, for more (as Arts Council CEO Alan Davey put it) “money, space and intelligent engagement”. It was clear that many of those attending were as worried about the uncertainty attached to the current (relatively short-term) funding cycle as they were about anticipated cuts. Virtually everyone recognised the need for taxpayer-funded organisations to be given time and space.
Another concern, mentioned all too briefly, was that private-sector giving often relied on public funding and supportive structures such as tax breaks. Many organisations rely on public funding to leverage much larger amounts from the private sector and it is easy to forget that artists are entrepreneurs. The creative sector in particular is dominated by small and innovative businesses who punch well above their weight in economic terms.
At the core of the National Campaign for the Arts’ mission is advocacy – demonstrating the importance of the arts and creative industries and ensuring that this is recognised at all levels. Munira Mirza (cultural advisor to the London Mayor) thought that the arts should be more proactive in engaging with policymakers. This was a sentiment echoed by Joan Bakewell (NCA Chair), Tony Hall CBE (Royal Opera House) and others. This is one of the aims of the NCA and a very laudable one.
The IPT’s Cultural and Creative Industries Fellowship even got a mentioned by Conservative Shadow Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey MP, and this is just one of the ways we’re working with the creative sector to help it to better engage with legislators and policymakers.
The conference closed with a keynote speech from Lord Bragg, president of the NCA. By 2013, he estimated, the arts and creative sector would employ 1.3 million people and generate £85bn value-added for the UK economy; we are, he suggested, “at the beginning of a revolution”. Judging by what delegates had to say at the NCA conference, this revolution has already begun.
