This morning, Boris Johnson was at the Victoria & Albert Museum with representatives from the arts, business and public sector to “warn against cuts in spending on arts and culture”.
We have to rise to the challenge brought about by the downturn. Arts and culture are not a luxury, they are part of this city’s DNA, its USP. It is why people want to live and work here and seven out of ten tourists say it is a reason for their visit. At a time of recession it is more important than ever to invest in the arts. We need to support new talent and those creative individuals whose innovation will ensure London remains dynamic and successful.
All well and good; the Top Ten tourist attractions in London, based on 2008 figures, include 5 museums and 2 art galleries, all of which offer free entry. However, this hasn’t always been the case. The last Tory government introduced admission charges for the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum, which were only removed in the early years of the current Labour government.
Under Boris Johnson’s administration, free entry for Freedom Pass holders to the London Transport Museum has been withdrawn, meaning Senior Citizens now face an entry fee of £8.
Today’s press release from the Mayor states:
Last week an end to admission charges was announced for schools at the Museum of London.
A curious statement, given that admission to the Museum Of London is free to everybody. Maybe it refers to the Museum Of London Docklands, which has an adult admission fee? No, that’s already free for children and pre-booked school parties.
So, what else is Boris so very generously giving us, that was already there?
Events like the Story of London and TfL’s Art on the Underground offer different ways to promote cultural organisations and bring new work to the public.
Art On The Underground, an admirable initiative that’s been running since 2000, eight years before Boris Johnson was elected as Mayor. How about Story Of London, brainchild of Boris’s Director Of Culture Cultural Adviser, Munira Mirza? As I’ve detailed here, here and here, it was an attempt to cobble together a “festival” on the back of Historic Royal Palaces’ celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII, using funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s 15th birthday grants for selected events. Many of the events were already happening and insufficent notice for local boroughs’ heritage departments and an abysmal lack of publicity by the Mayor’s office meant that public awareness (and, indeed, awareness by London Tourist Information Centres, as I found out) was minimal.
No mention of Rhythm Of London, the supposed replacement for the now-defunct RISE festival? A minority of boroughs had events in their schools (not open to the public and not at a convenient time of year for schools when the school year is almost over and the staff exhausted), Street Pianos and Pluck! (existing events of the City Of London Festival) and a series of Bandstand events (cancelled at the last minute) which, again, were poorly-publicised.
The GLA is also working to make activities more accessible, including initiatives like the Londoner’s Culture Card.
Londoner’s Cultural Card? Last mentioned in November last year. Many of London’s best museums and art galleries are already free and free or discounted entry to leisure centres would require co-operation from the London boroughs, whom Boris is reluctant to order to do anything at all.
Of course, we could see the London “brand” re-badged as LondonDisney in the forthcoming £600,000 PR beano. As Boris said, at a time of recession it’s more important than ever to invest in the arts – just don’t expect future GLA events to be funded by the GLA and don’t be surprised if the Mayor turns up dressed as Scrooge McDuck.
UPDATE:
“Boris Johnson calls for voluntary museum charges”
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Interesting update – the argument being that its in young people’s best interests if they have to pay more to go to museums (rather than – as any businessman knows – if you raise the price of something, less people will use it and those people are more likely to be among the poor).
“The effect of free admission was that “cynical young people think they’re seeing something that isn’t prized”, the Mayor said. “A voluntary fee might help them to value the experience”
Could you – perhaps – apply the same logic to roads in West London, swapping “young people” with “motorists and van drivers”.
Is this going to be the “fare increase” argument (people will be happier if they are forced to pay more for public transport as they will learn to appreciate it more)?