British Council responds to Devlin

The British Council “no longer seems to offer a kite-mark of quality” and its Arts Group “cannot currently boast a high level of trust and respect” among other parts of the organisation, according to a hard-hitting report by consultant Graham Devlin, whose brief from the British Council was to “refine how we select and develop content for our arts and creative economy work globally” (AP176). The organisation has responded to his findings by announcing its decision to develop new strands of work including showcasing, cultural leadership and creative economy co-operation in East Asia, Africa and India. Capacity building and creative collaboration will support the emergence of new talent and encourage international networking. Devlin’s report notes a reduction in productivity between 2003/04 and 2007/08, and raises concerns over further damage which might result if the Council is unable to spend its recently announced increase in arts funding “whilst maintaining quality and meeting its cultural relations objectives”. He points to a recent lack of effective communication with the arts sector, and recommends that the Council should “make [its] objectives very clear to the arts constituency in language that is sympathetic to artists and the artistic process”. A new four-stage product development process, recently instituted by the British Council to create consistency across all its activities, is heavily criticised as “inflexible, incompatible with artistic processes, not reactive enough… and lacking arts expertise”. He also recommends that the Council should “work closely with other appropriate bodies (e.g. the UK Arts Councils or Visiting Arts)” to establish clarity concerning their respective roles. The British Council has called the report “a very helpful contribution to the realignment of our future arts activity”. Acknowledging the need for transparency and a clear governance structure, the organisation has promised to develop “new performance indicators and quantifiable measures which demonstrate the contribution the arts make to our corporate cultural relations purpose”, and will shortly recruit the Chair of its new Arts Advisory Group.
w: http://www.britishcouncil.org/new/arts/