Arts Council () F ( ; R B R I TA [ N Thirty-eighth annua l report and accounts 1982/83 Thirty-eighth Annual Report and Accounts 198 3 ISSN 0066-813 3 Published by the Arts Council of Great Britai n 105 Piccadilly, London W1V OA U Designed by Duncan Firth Printed by Watmoughs Limited, Idle, Bradford ; and London The Arts Council of Great Britain, as a publicl y The objects for which the Arts Council of Great Britai n accountable body, publishes an Annual Report t o is established are : provide Parliament and the general public with a n 1 To develop and improve the knowledge , overview of the year's work and to record all grant s understanding and practice of the arts ; and guarantees offered in support of the arts . 2 To increase the accessibility of the arts to the publi c A description of the highlights of the Council's wor k throughout Great Britain ; and discussion of its policies appear in the newspape r and Arts in Action which is published in conjunction wit h this Report and can be obtained, free of charge, fro m 3 To co-operate with government departments, loca l the Arts Council Shop, 8 Long Acre, London WC2 an d authorities and other bodies to achieve thes e arts outlets throughout the country . objects . Contents 6 CHAIRMAN'S INTRODUCTIO N 7 SECRETARY-GENERAL'S PREFACE 11 REPORTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT S 16 SCOTLAN D 17 WALES 18 COUNCIL 19 MEMBERSHIP OF COUNCIL AND STAF F 20 ADVISORY PANELS AND COMMITTEE S 24 STAF F 25 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS Funds, Exhibitions, Schemes and Awards 5 Chairman's Introduction The strongest convictio n the year in the various arts . For me, the opening of the which I have gained Royal Shakespeare Company's tenure at the Barbica n during my first year a s and the completion of the new Theatre Loyal, Chairman of the Counci l Plymouth were amongst the highlights, giving us a is that the arts in Britai n new London and a new regional theatre, both of grea t are still flourishing despit e importance . Air the many financia l problems they face . The general balance between arts provision in Londo n Theatres, both in London and outside London continues to concern the Counci l and the regions, ar e and was the central question raised in the report o f staging some excellen t the Select Committee of the Hou,,e of Commons , work, and undoubtedly continue to provide th e published in October The Arts Council believes tha t greatest range of drama production in the world . Not in every country it is natural for the arts to have a only is London enjoying superb opera at the Roya l metropolitan base and so does not accept argument s Opera House and the Coliseum, but outside Londo n of precise mathematical balance . Nevertheless, th e too opera is strengthening and gaining substantia l achievement cif the present very high standards i n audiences and great critical applause . London ought now to be followed by increasin g emphasis on the highest possible standards o f Dance performances, both contemporary an d provision in the rest of the country . classical, are attracting increasing and extremel y enthusiastic: audiences . and the number and variety of An important Government decision, which the Art s orchestral concerts remains very encouraging, with Council and the individual companies welcomed . wa s the Barbican Centre, despite some problems , the establishment of the Priestley scrutiny to examin e becoming an important new concert hall as well a s the efficiency of the operations of the Royal Opera theatre. House and the Roval Shakespeare Company . Covemment funding for the arts inevitably depend s It is important that we should emphasise the genera l on public confidence in the value received for th e strength of the performing arts in Britain because th e expenditure of its money . Both the Arts Council an d commercial and financial problems of the art s its clients must expect that this will be carefull y sometimes obscure the very substantial achievement s watched, as indeed it shoold be. The Council itself i s made over the years and continuing in the present . extremely concerned to rriaintain high levels o f Credit for the creative work must go to the individua l efficiency and to keep to a minimum its ow n companies, but it is certainly true that, without public administrative overheads. funding and Arts Council provision, a great part of thi s work could not have been done . Equally important , There is no doubt in my mind that public provision fo r though, is the Council's, support for the visual arts , the arts through the Arts Council has proved a highl y including our arts films-which receive great praise-- effective system . The arts in Britain, despite man y and literature, although the structure of their funding problems, stand comparison with those of any othe r is, by the nature of things, quite different . country, and in some arts Britain i; demonstrably superior both in the range of prevision and in the However, financial problems remain and are likely t o quality . This is achieved despite proportionately lowe r remain. One of the most encouraging development s public funding than any other country in Western of this last financial year was the Government' s Europe, but it is vital that arts support should continu e decision to give an extra Lim to clear off past deficits . to be increased . The combination of this with the increase in the 19838 4 grant has allowed the Council to avoid the agonisin g decisions which became unavoidable in 1980 . It is very important that provision should continue to rise s o that we can not only go on supporting that which i s best but also encouraging the new work which i s struggling to appear . t' r 4 ' The reports of the individual departments of the '~t~ Council illustrate some of the outstanding events of Secretary-General's Preface Developing access to the art s Alh~ The role of educatio n The unexpressed major premise on which publi c . r The Chairman s subsidy is based is surely that everyone has a right t o I introduction Tightly refers culture, is specified in tke 1948 Universal Declaratio n to the high quality of th e of Human Rights : "Everyone has the right freely t o arts in Britain, which is i n participate in the cultural life of the community, t o no small measure clue t o enjoy the arts . .", However, even in our country the discriminating grant - many people arvex(luded trom full participation i n t ivrn}; of the Art 5 cultural life-as Jennie Lee's 1965 White Paper on the (ouncil . However, the arts noted, too many people have been conditioned Council is required by it s by their education and environment to consider th e Charter not only to hest of the arts as outside their reach . Neither the Art s maintain the duality of the arts, but to make them Council nor arts education can directly bring about a more genf-rally, icc'essible and to foster understanding change in the environment ; that is a job for politician s frl them . Nevertheless, after over .30 years of Arts and planners, though one in which 'the people' should Council activity, the subsidised arts are patronise d have a voice . But the conditioning by education-or only by a minority ; some put it as low as 10/6 of th e the lack of it-is certainly a challenge both t o population and no-one puts it higher than lot)/n . In education and to the Arts Council, not to mention th e this. my last report, I would like to review, in a n 4M1inister for the Arts . since: he for she) has a duty t o una,harrtedly personal way . my own response, a s promote the purposes for which the Arts Council, a s Secretary-General . to this situation . the main instrument of government subsidy for the arts, was established . Jennie Lee, the first Minister fo r in the 1950s the Council's tasks were crystallised in th e the Arts, did this, but none of her successors ha s words "raise and spread" . Then, my distinguishe d shown much inclination to face this challenge, despit e predecessor as Secretarv-General, Sir William Emry s the fact that most ministers for the arts have, hithert o Vlhlliams, argued forcibly the need to concentrate o n been brigaded under the Department of Educatio n raising standards, believing that too great an emphasi s and Science, which seems to me the right place fo r on spreading, would lead to the diffusion of mediocrity . them to be . When I became Secretary-General in 1975, the climat e of opinion had changed, and Williams' views seemed A radical objection to the use of more and bette r like 'elitism' . Moreover, although he and I bath cam e education to develop greater access to the arts ha s from a background in adult education, my ow n been expressed by Mr Kingsley Amis, who opposes the approach was different . 1 had been to school wit h whole idea of public subsidy of the arts . Observin g Matthew Arnold and while not endorsing all hi s that the public for poetry is "a tiny elite", h e attitudes, believed passionately in the rightness of a continues : famous passage in his Culture and Anarchy : Attempts to bring art to same much larger number will not The men of culture are the true apostles of equality .