The flight to Norway

As I write this, I’m enjoying the ‘hospitality’ of Ryanair on a flight to an airport somewhere near (well, not that near) to Oslo, looking forward to two days at the Arts Council of Norway’s annual conference.

Fear not: this excursion is not costing the British tax payer (or Lottery ticket buyer) a penny.  Quite the reverse, it will make a small contribution to increasing the funds to support growing the levels of cultural engagement in the UK.

Outside some very small circles, it is a little known fact that the UK has an international reputation for understanding and developing audiences.  The Norwegian Government and Arts Council are very interested in developing new audiences, so the first country they came to learn from is the UK.  After a Ministerial visit earlier this year, I’ve been asked to speak at their annual conference and share some of the things we’ve learnt over the last few decades.

I can’t help feeling there is some irony in the timing of my talk.  What has made the UK leaders in this field is a long-term investment in research, skills development in the sector and the facilitation and support of collaborative working.  The focus on perceived ‘frontline’ arts in some parts of the UK risks disproportionate cuts not only to research budgets but also to the organisations that have facilitated collaborative working and knowledge exchange, and increased the skills within the sector.  There is a real risk that the clocks could be turned back to the time when the arts were only enjoyed by an elite minority.

In April and May when I read all the major UK political parties’ manifestos, all of them said they were committed to increasing the number and range of people engaging with culture.  Now that we’re through the first budget, will we see some positive initiatives in this key area of cultural policy? 

In Norway, they’ve dedicated the entire of their major annual conference to this issue. Wouldn’t it be great to see similar leadership here?

David Brownlee, Chief Executive, Audiences UK