Is it entirely by accident that a high proportion of features and news stories this week reveal a growing commitment to partnership and collaboration?
Local authorities and the Arts Council of England have sensibly decided to abandon their former ?subscription? arrangements in favour of funding partnerships (p3); the Regent Theatre/Staffordshire New Vic partnership is celebrating new audiences of an unprecedented scale (p3); social inclusion work, it seems, works best in partnership with a range of agencies (pp5-6); and when it comes to sharing resources, it is clear that artistic ends are well served by collaborative approaches (pp8-10 and p16). But several of our contributors hint at the pitfalls that lie in wait for starry-eyed parties preparing to tie the knot, and their advice should not go unheeded. ?Marry in haste, repent at leisure? is a saying that could be applied to any number of failed liaisons where the parties haven?t done their homework on their prospective partners. Michael Bewick?s observation (p10) that partnerships are ?like my own cherished domestic arrangement: they provide deep joy and fulfilment but also occasional irritation and a belief that it is the other one draining the joint account? is oh so close to the truth for many, and Andrew Kelly?s assertion that ?everyone involved must accept that partners have their own objectives in addition to those of the partnership as a whole? must surely be the fundamental tenet on which successful partnerships are built. Time taken to understand those objectives before leaping into bed with a potential suitor is time well spent, so good luck to ACE and the local authorities, currently thrashing out the finer points of the framework for moving towards a collaborative future. With an annual dowry of over £600m to invest in the arts, the success of these partnerships will undoubtedly have implications for us all.
Published: 21-10-2002