Arts Council Exhibitions
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Arts Council OF GREAT BRITAI N A Year of Achievement Thirty-third annual report and accounts 1977178 Thirty-third Annual Report and Accounts 19 7 8 ISSN 0066-813 3 Published by the Arts Council of Great Britai n 105 Piccadilly, London WI V OA U Designed by Geoffrey Penna Printed in England by Shenval Pres s Cover picture : Ballet Master, Vassilie Trunoff, taking morning class in one of the two large studios in the London Festival Ballet's ne w headquarters, Festival Ballet House. Photo: John Dempsey. (Courtesy Londo n Evening News) Contents 6 Chairman's Introductio n 7 Secretary-General 's Report 11 Regional Developmen t 12 Drama 15 Music and Dance 18 Visual Art s 21 Literatur e 23 Touring 24 Arts Centres 25 Community Arts 26 Performance Art 26 Festivals 26 Housing the Art s 27 Training 27 Research and Informatio n 28 Marketing 29 Scotland 33 Wales 36 Membership of Council and Staff 37 Council, Committees and Panels 45 Annual Accounts , Awards, Funds and Exhibitions The objects for which the Arts Council of Great Britai n is established by Royal Charter are : 1 To develop and improve the knowledge , understanding and practice of the arts ; 2 To increase the accessibility of the arts to the publi c throughout Great Britain ; and 3 To co-operate with government departments, loca l authorities and other bodies to achieve these objects . J ! orcl 1 flrtrhl jr o , Vice-Chairnren i ya w . a X 11lf 4 0 If lolm Craft Char lr, ()0101 111 ' lark Phity ,` Musfearrel1kmceDirer!or Literature Direcio r Direr or, ,! !+mrr+r r 4 Chairman's Introductio n Looking back on my first year as Chairman my overriding impression i s of the richness, diversity and vitality of the nation's arts activities . There is some evidence, too, that the arts are reaching a steadily growing proportion of our people . On the face of it the picture looks encouragin g but below the surface there are disturbing trends . For the past two o r three years there had been at best a standstill in the amount of public funding for the arts, which in fact amounts to a cutback. Though the grant-in-aid for 19 78/9 includes a very modest growth element, this wil l not nearly suffice to make good the effects of past underfunding which i n too many instances had already begun to erode standards and affec t quality of performance . There are moreover new and exciting initiatives which the Council is anxious to take, but which cannot get off th e ground until there is a significant real increase in the grant-in-aid . I am aware that for successive governments this is an all too familiar cri de coeur from the Chairman of the Arts Council . To the Government I would however like to stress two points. First, expenditure on the arts is not more than a tiny fraction of total Government expenditure and th e impact of every extra E 1 m is greater here than in almost any other are a of expenditure. Secondly, all the socio-economic indicators seem to point, in this country as in the developed world generally, towards a steady reduction in the ratio of work to leisure time for the population as a whole. Unless this is allowed to result in permanent and steadily growing unemployment, which is unthinkable, the changed pattern o f work opportunities will need to be matched by earlier retirement, a shorter working week, extended holidays or a combination of suc h measures. If this be so then it must surely be the plain duty o f government, both national and local, to stimulate more facilities for leisure activity of all kinds which must include a wider availability of th e arts in general and easier access to them for all our people . The need to provide more arts facilities has particular relevance t o buildings, and thus to the Housing the Arts Fund for which Governmen t cash was arbitrarily slashed two years ago by more than one-half. This cut has not yet been restored and if the Arts Council is to play its part i n helping to fund new accommodation for drama, music and the visua l arts - and, in the context of providing for more leisure activity , community arts in particular-the need for more capital money is o f special urgency. Even an extra million pounds a year for the Fund woul d transform the present most unsatisfactory position and enable plannin g and design work to proceed . 6 Secretary-General's Report A Year of Achievement Accountability and one radio interviewer asked me why our'pres s Annual Reports are often boring documents which department' was not more active in correctin g languish unread . I hope this one may be an exception mistaken reports . I had to reply that we had no pres s since the detailed reports which follow indicate a year department. That lack is now remedied, for durin g of impressive achievement by our more than 1,20 0 this year we appointed as Press Officer an experience d clients and the subsequent details of every penny journalist, Mrs Susan Rose, who with a secretar y spent by the Council are our report to the nation o n constitutes our modest press department. It has the spending of f,41,72 5,000 of public money. Of already increased the flow of information about the course, the activities we subsidise are seen on stage, Council and is, I believe, appreciated by our friends in concert platform, and in galleries every day of th e the media . year, and they are increasingly seen and heard on television, radio, film and records (often withou t Not that we can'tell all ' , for we are involved i n acknowledgement to the Arts Council) . Nevertheless, delicate negotiations with hundreds of clients, and i t the Annual Report is our main response to the nee d is they (rather than the Arts Council) who woul d for accountability, and is therefore essential reading suffer from complete disclosure of all discussions an d for the taxpayer who wants to know what the Arts decisions. We do not simply distribute money ; most of Council does with his or her money, because with th e our time and that of nearly 300 voluntary advisers i s best will in the world, the media can only report a spent in evaluating the work of both new applicant s fraction of our work . Indeed, some newspapers report and existing clients . Apart from the practical problem only the very tiny controversial aspects of th e that the media could not cope with the sheer volum e subsidised arts, virtually ignoring the 99 . 9 per cent of of information that would be involved, it would be a s valuable but uncontroversial work which forms the inappropriate for us to publish this kind of detail as it bulk of our work . would be for a banker to publicise transactions wit h clients. Evaluation is a complex, delicate an d Reorganising the System controversial process; it could not be done properly in The Labour and Liberal Parties have publishe d the glare of publicity . For example, the man y proposals for radical reorganisation of the system o f confidential reports which are received from th e arts support. It will be interesting to have the Council's advisors on clients ' performance, Conservative Party's views too so that a fully organisation and efficiency could hardly be as candi d representative debate can take place . Meanwhile, w e if they were to be published, and hence would be of would only say that it would be disastrous if arts little use to us. Further, long Arts Council experienc e policy, which has hitherto been almost full y shows that to attempt to explain unfavourabl e bi-partisan, ever became a political football to be judgements (and no one raises questions about the kicked to right or left with every change o f overwhelming number of favourable ones!) leads to government. interminable discussion since no disappointed applicant can ever be persuaded that an unfavourabl e The Arts Council believes that the present system i s judgement may also be just. broadly right : it is certainly admired and often envie d by people working in the arts field abroad . However, Nevertheless, I think the Council feels that it can an d we are not complacent and realising that our must do more to increase the flow of informatio n responsibilities have expanded greatly in the pas t about its workings as much as possible . To this end we decade, we are setting up a working party consisting organised a meeting at which the selectors of a of two Arts Council members and two outsiders with controversial art exhibition faced a packed hall o f experience of large organisations to review our people questioning the wisdom of their selection . I procedures and practices . would hope to see more meetings of this kind, relate d to specific events or the work of a particula r 'Openness' department . We do publish a regular informatio n Eighteen months ago the media were showing a grea t Bulletin and plan to extend the range of our interest in a minute part of a small client's activities, publications, and have already prepared an Secretary-General's Repor t explanatory booklet on what the Arts Council does . they often wonder how we manage on such slende r resources. We spend less on arts subsidy than any Public Expenditure on the Arts other comparable Western country .