You can tell I’m building up to something can’t you? This week Michael Rosen wrote an open letter to our new Culture Minister. The poet talks about how ambivalent we are as a country about ‘culture’ and quite rightly asks what someone like Sajid Javid is doing in the role. It does seem strange that an ex-banker -and one who worked somewhere that was fined for rate-fixing- should now be heading up this position.
I guess one of the simplest things you can do as a person to show art and culture matters is keep going to exhibitions, keep being counted as a bum on a seat or feet in a gallery. There is a demand and more importantly a need for non-essential services like galleries, museums and when funding for the arts has been slashed it’s important to show your participation. The richness of a country cannot just be counted economically.