MPs back claim for fair play

A parliamentary debate has shone a spotlight on the ongoing dispute between Art Asia and Arts Council England (ACE) (AP240) in relation to plans for Southampton’s new arts complex (SNAC). John Denham MP secured the debate to ask Minister Ed Vaizey why a £724k Lottery grant earmarked for Art Asia, as a major partner in the £21m complex, has been taken away and plans for its involvement in the scheme changed without reason or explanation being given.

Art Asia secured the promise of a grant in 2001 and volunteered to integrate this into Southampton’s wider capital development plans to ensure that SNAC would “place south Asian arts in the mainstream of Southampton’s cultural life”. The grant was allocated from a £20m ACE capital programme for black, ethnic minority and Chinese arts organisations, which had been established in recognition that such groups had not received their fair share in previous funding rounds. Art Asia was to have had its own dedicated facilities and a formal role in the management of the centre.

The project was delayed when the property developer went into administration in 2008, but when plans were revived in 2010, the rug was pulled out from under both Art Asia and the Nuffield Theatre – for whom space in the complex had also been earmarked. ACE announced that it would only honour its financial support for the project if their involvement was dropped (AP223) – something the Council subsequently agreed to. But Art Asia is being refused permission to extract its grant funding from the arts complex project to develop its own facilities.

At the debate, Denham described ACE’s response to his questions about the situation as “disingenuous in the extreme”. He revealed that it took a Freedom of Information request for him to find out that ACE had told the City Council of its “grave doubts about Art Asia’s artistic quality and sustainability”, though these concerns had never been raised with the organisation, which was given no opportunity to respond to them. Mike Harris, Head of Leisure and Culture at Southampton City Council, told AP about the Council’s reasons for excluding Art Asia from SNAC – for which it is putting up £15m, compared with ACE’s £7.2m. He said that the Council agreed with ACE that the original governance structure proposed for the complex was unsustainable, and cited limited space, but made no reference to artistic quality: “A new artistic director is being appointed to lead the creative programme in the run-up to the opening of the complex in 2015 and beyond… We very much hope that Art Asia will be providing product for the complex, even though it won’t have its own headquarters there. We have had to prioritise public space, and there is not enough room for them to be based there.” In response to the evidence presented, Vaizey pledged to set up a meeting for all involved. Dahlia Jamil, Chair of the Art Asia Board, told AP: “Previous meetings have never answered our questions or offered any resolve. We hope this meeting will find a solution for all parties involved. Art Asia has always been a strong supporter of the new arts complex in Southampton, investing not only £750,000 but also staff and board time.”