| “Culture is supposed to be in our DNA”: Arts Coverage Without Precedent |
Public Culture: Public Communication |
| Press and Television Commentary , Public Culture of Wales , February 26, 2025 |
There has not been a season of the like. Arts events normally dwell within their orbit of artists-performers, audience-viewers, with reviewers leaving their small mark for afterwards. The rising attention of late last year rose to a crescendo in February. A march of protest took place on 6th February. On 23rd February another march went from Museum Avenue to Gorsedd Gardens. The newly formed Cardiff University Salvation Symphony Orchestra played the national anthem, the Hallelujah chorus, Beethoven's fifth symphony and Sir Karl Jenkins “Adiemus and Palladio”. * * * * On 10th February Will Hayward wrote an article for the Guardian headed “Wales is the land of song. Now it’s being silenced by cuts that threaten our culture.” The article included: “Successive Welsh governments have seemingly lacked the talent, drive or fiscal levers to make Wales better. If you want an example of this, look no further than the truly awful position of culture within Wales. “The numbers are stark. A recent Senedd committee report found that Wales ranks second from bottom, among selected European countries, in terms of cultural services spending for each person. “Only Greece was lower. Even from the miserly wider UK perspective, Wales’s cultural spend is pitiful. Cymru spends £69.68 a person for cultural services, compared with the UK’s £91.12. For context, Spain spends about £113, Ireland £149, Belgium £209 and France £237. Iceland tops the table at £691.60. In sport, it is just as bad: Wales spends £5 to £6 a head; by contrast, Ireland spends £27.50. “It wasn’t always this way. Welsh cultural budgets have been slashed over the last decade. Between 2014/15 and 2024/25, funding for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales has declined by 34% in real terms. Sport Wales has seen a 9% fall, the Books Council of Wales’s total income has reduced by 20% and revenue funding for the Arts Council of Wales reduced in real terms by 29%. It is heartbreaking to see how these cuts manifest themselves day to day across Cymru. “There is a wider issue here for Wales because the arts is also a vital way in which the Welsh language is promoted. Going back to that definition of what it is to be a “nation”, a key part of it is shared culture and language. These cuts are not merely tragic because they rob individuals of all the benefits that come with the arts; they are also robbing Wales of a major part of what makes it a nation. “A leaked internal report from within the “cultural division” inside the Welsh government, which surveyed the views of staff. This included condemnation of the alleged lack of “real performance management taking place” within the government, meaning that “managers who may not wish to have difficult conversations can avoid them and therefore staff who are not performing ‘get away’ with it”. “It also found that staff felt “there was no sense of strategic long term planning” and there was “a widely held view that ministers’ expectations are not being managed”. It is woeful that this is the department charged with overseeing culture in Wales. “When you erode Welsh culture you erode Wales. The arts are not a “nice to have”; they are vital. Urgent change is needed or else the land of song risks being finally silenced. * * * * Richard Morrison is a senior writer on the arts. His commitment to music is well known and extends to the personal. At the time of the Unboxed Festival the media in Cardiff adopted a common posture of advertising. Richard Morrison addressed it with a sense of duty to the arts. The Times of 14th February led an article with “How can things have gone so wrong in Wales?” The article included “culture and sport are dying – and its politicians don't care. The Labour government is in denial.” * * * * ITV's “Sharp End” addressed the state of public culture on 18th February. It led with: “A cultural crisis? With leaky roofs and cuts to performances - what can be done to halt the final curtain call? Is the Welsh government watching from the stalls as the curtain falls on Welsh culture?” Elizabeth Atherton was interviewed outside Saint David's Hall, now shut for a period that is unknown. “Welsh National Opera is being decimated. There's no other word for it. We've seen seven members of the chorus lose their jobs before Christmas. Another three will have to go by April. I am totally despondent. I don't get the inkling that anyone, with one or two exceptions, in Welsh government is listening. On the inattention to the demands of scholarship Gareth Davies said: “Cardiff museum culture in Wales should reflect all people's views and not just singular and divisive views.” Siân Gwenllian repeated her point made from the Senedd: “It's not just about the funding. This is about the lack vision, the lack of direction, absolutely chaotic according to some reports. It should not be a silo subject and that vision is currently lacking.” Mick Antoniw: “It comes down to priorities...More money needs to be put into culture.” Siân Gwenllian: “Culture is not a priority of the Welsh government and that's absolutely crystal clear.” The interviewer talked about the projection of Wales: “Wales is a small country. If we are talking about soft power culture is supposed to be in our DNA. And the world is seeing and reporting what is going on. It really does give a terrible image to brand Wales globally.” Jack Sargeant did not address that issue. His lines mirrored those given to the Culture Committee in the autumn: “I recognise there are very real challenges...I am alive to those challenges. Together we will get through them. We are working with the sector to address the challenges the sector faces...I will go on fighting every day for the sector, making the case for the sector,delivering for the sector.” The report can be watched in full at: https://www.itv.com/walesprogrammes/articles/sharp-end-february-18th-2025 A guide to this sequence can be read in the first link below. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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