MP Peter Luff praises Birmingham’s history of philanthropy and businesses funding the arts
Which British city has more miles of canal than Venice? The answer is Birmingham, whose waterways may not throng with gondoliers, but which is no cultural backwater. After all, the dapper conduits around Brindleyplace lead to The Mailbox, where the BBC records that cultural icon The Archers.
Birmingham's cultural landscape is inextricably linked to its people's financial acumen and philanthropic tendencies. We tend to forget the city was the home of industry before Manchester and Liverpool. And much of the profit made in Birmingham's prosperous jewellery and gun industry was invested in culture.
Which British city has more miles of canal than Venice? The answer is Birmingham, whose waterways may not throng with gondoliers, but which is no cultural backwater. After all, the dapper conduits around Brindleyplace lead to The Mailbox, where the BBC records that cultural icon The Archers.
Birmingham's cultural landscape is inextricably linked to its people's financial acumen and philanthropic tendencies. We tend to forget the city was the home of industry before Manchester and Liverpool. And much of the profit made in Birmingham's prosperous jewellery and gun industry was invested in culture.