Face to face

There’s a scene in Noël Coward’s play ‘This Happy Breed’ where a young chap bids a cheery “Sleep well!” to a particularly dour and pessimistic aunt. The reply is a shake of the head and the rejoinder: “Oh, I shouldn’t think there’s much chance of that.” The news that Mike Russell, the energetic Scottish Culture Minister, is to hold a series of open meetings to engage directly with artists and arts organisations over the creation of Creative Scotland (p1) may bring a similar response from arts professionals elsewhere in the UK. Where else, indeed, do we get a chance to engage face to face with our Minister? Answers on a postcard please – AP is genuinely interested to know. While the National Campaign for the Arts works doggedly to keep the interests of the sector under the noses of our elected representatives across the UK (p3), it’s not very often that we get to breathe the same air as our ministers. Admittedly, Scotland’s current situation demands extraordinary measures. This is not only due to the creation of the new body and the dissolution of the two existing ones (Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen), but to the legacy of confusion, failure and lack of consultation which preceded the legislation. Readers will recall that the Bill to establish Creative Scotland was thrown out of the Scottish Parliament barely a year ago (AP173), and that it is mere weeks since voices were raised demanding resignations (AP192). These quarterly meetings will have to be more than window-dressing. They might also prove instructive for England’s new, fresh, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Ben Bradshaw (this page). The failure of MPs of any status or stamp to attend arts events has been increasing lamented in recent times. We gather Mr Bradshaw may be an opera and theatre fan. AP’s advice to him is to get out there and visit as many arts happenings as he can find time for, and in as many different settings as possible, too. Not just Covent Garden and the Barbican, but junk opera and fringe theatre – and meet their creators and managers as well. Only then will he have a chance of grasping what the arts sector is really all about.