Julian Rudd argues that the time is now ripe for British street arts to come of age.
The extraordinary success of Royal de Luxes Sultans Elephant, staged by Artichoke, has created a tipping point in how the sector is perceived by the wider arts community in the UK. Gone is the old stereotype of the juggler and human statue; in its place is a new image of large-scale, transformational, high quality celebrations which at their best can bewitch a city. This radical change in perception, married with the opportunities in the form of celebrations required for the Liverpool Capital of Culture and Cultural Olympiad to name two, does much to inspire our ambition and vision.
Realising potential
In reality of course, Royal de Luxe is a French company, not a British one, and its success on the streets of London says as much about what is wrong with the world of street arts in the UK, as what is right. The street arts sector relies on many outsiders, who make this type of work because ultimately they are attracted to the concept of theatre without walls, of uniquely anarchic, democratic artistic endeavour. There are no limits in the great outdoors; there is no threshold barrier to walk through for our audiences. Its not widely known that some of the inspiration for Royal de Luxes work came originally from the UK, from the work of Welfare State International and their like. In France the work was nurtured and supported. In the UK it was the age of Thatcherism and our artists were ignored. Now, at last, perhaps we are on the brink of seeing British street arts fulfil its potential if real sustained investment comes to the sector.
A new optimism
The mood in the street arts community currently is one of optimism and ambition tempered with the grinding daily reality of too few resources, of long days and nights at work in order to achieve a vision larger than is possible with the level of investment that is currently available. Recently the Independent Street Arts Network (ISAN) and our partners, the National Association of Street Artists, had a meeting with Peter Hewitt, Chief Executive of Arts Council England (ACE). That we met at all illustrates that there is a genuine desire for ACE to invest seriously in the sector, or at least be seen to be doing so. Much depends on the levels of investment it can find within its diminishing pot, and on an Outdoor Performance Strategy with clear, measurable goals and sharp teeth.
In our meeting we made the point that street arts have, at their best, the capacity to unite people of all ages and backgrounds, in a spirit of shared experience and enjoyment; that theatre without walls is potentially the most inspiring artistic venue of them all. We stated that we believe street arts practitioners in this country are well placed to capitalise on the unprecedented level of interest and support for the sector which exists at the present time, and that we need to build capacity towards major national events, such as the 2012 London Olympics. We highlighted a number of shortcomings, including the lack of companies and organisations with a secure financial base; no permanent spaces to make work; the lack of a healthy touring circuit to provide a platform for new work; the vulnerability of our street arts festivals; and the pressing need to address professional development opportunities for street arts practitioners. Work also needs to be done to record the diversity and scale of audiences for street arts events: it is lamentable that these audiences are currently excluded from audience targets set by the government. Finally, we stated that the sector needs a threefold increase in financial support, and that must be deployed effectively to create the infrastructure needed.
A British vision
It is a huge concern that the 35% cut in Grants for the Arts funding, which supports the street arts sector to a larger extent than other more established artforms, should fall at this moment in time. It would be a disaster if the Arts Council were to flatter to deceive and fail to deliver the resources the sector needs. There will need to be real vision and leadership from the top, as there will be hard, portfolio-wide decisions to be taken if the resources needed are to be found.
If the nettle is grasped, the prize is great, as there exists extraordinary talent of a uniquely British nature in the sector in this country: the eccentric humour of Dot Comedy, Whalley Range All Stars and the Strangelings, the stunning spectacle of Improbables and the World Famouss Sticky; the scale and breadth of the celebratory theatre and spectacle of Walk the Plank; work that reflects this nations proud tolerance and diversity by Upswing and Kinetika. If a moment is taken to consider what has been achieved with so little, let us consider what might be achieved with investment comparable to the dance sector or even half of the investment made by France? Dont we owe it to ourselves to live up to the promise that London made in Singapore: that the difference between the London or Paris Olympics will not be how we run the sporting events, but how we reflect the diversity of London in 2012? Jude Kelly said at an ISAN event last summer that the Olympic Carnival, a 2012 bid project, was all about street arts. Give us the tools and resources, and the centrepieces of that event will be companies from Britain, not France.
Julian Rudd is the founder of Remarkable Productions, who act as Co-ordinators and Administrators of the Independent Street Arts Network. The biennial ISAN Conference will take place from 2122 November.
t: 020 8469 1300;
w: http://www.streetartsnetwork.org.uk