So I’m at a thing, talking to a guy who most of you would probably know. I mention we’ll probably meet again at this Biting Back thing and he’s all like, yeah, that’s nice of the council. We’re cutting you’re funding, please come to our event about how we’re cutting your funding!
As he says this I think I detect, buried behind the usual strong, opinionated, pro-active face, the look of an abused puppy who knows he needs to please his abusive owner in order to get more food. And it’s not nice. I fear this is going to be one of the legacies of these arts cuts – that people with great talent, knowledge and experience will just turn around and say, enough is enough I’m out of here, and go and work in advertising or some awful shit like that.
Mike Whitby and Paul Tilsley celebrate the budget cuts. via Bham Post.
This event was always going to be a bit of a hard sell. The hardest part of all is the bit of blurb that says “Biting Back is a one day event from Birmingham City Council, mac and Sampad…” The latter two are okay, but the former are the enemy, right? After all Birmingham councillors have just voted through a mindboggling £212m of cuts. If it was up to me I’d keep their logo as far away from this as possible.
But it’s not Mike Whitby who initiated this conference. It’s not even Martin Mullaney who I’m not sure is even attending. As far as I know it’s a few members of the Arts team who have had to live with the uncertainty of decisions made by councillors and directors where they have no control.
To be honest, this is just a job for me. I’m being paid to build the website on the cheap and do whatever “social media marketing” involves and once the event is over my work is done. At first it just seemed like a rent-paying gig, but then I had a longer think about it.
Yes, you may think it’s yet another bloody talking shop event where the usual suspects come together to say stuff. Yes it smells like every other event we’ve seen over the last few years pushing people into digital or whatever the latest source of money/interest is branded as.
But things are a bit different now. Whoever is to blame, be it Labour incompetence, Tory ideology or LibDem spinelessness; whether it’s our fault for not making a good enough case, or good enough art, that people don’t value what we do, or the people’s fault for being brainwashed idiots; whether it’s a blip or a new reality, all that doesn’t really matter right now.
The systems we had that, for better or worse, enabled us to do art in the way we used to do it just aren’t there any more. So do we give up? Some say we should protest, and yes, that’s essential. We need to get angry. We need to change things because this situation is not a good one for the country as a whole.
In a calmly furious post Alex from Third Angel brilliantly demolishes the fatuous argument that the cuts will be a good thing, forcing people to be creative in how they do things, as if it was so bloody easy to get money in the past.
But we also need to keep on doing art, keep on making culture, and somehow we need to do it better and stronger than before.
The cuts are bad, the arts have a value beyond their contribution to the economy, people’s livelihoods are a stake, society will be damaged irreparably, Mike Whitby is an idiot, Jeremy Hunt is a cock, all these things we can agree on.
So what are we going to do?
That’s what Biting Back is supposed to be about. A bit of space to figure out the survival strategy.
From the About page: Thoughts and opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Birmingham City Council, mac or Sampad.
