The price of everything

I don't get out much these days so my trip to Sadler's Wells East in Stratford was a heady experience.

Given the observations I'm about to make about the place of culture in contemporary British society, I should perhaps confess that I had not gone for a performance, despite the coincidence of it being the venue's first night, but simply to meet a friend in the bar for a drink (how very British!). 

Having arrived early I had the opportunity to take in my surroundings, eventually settling down with a copy of the programme and a surprisingly reasonably-priced (for London) pint on a comfortable orange sofa facing the panoramic view afforded by the full-height windows. The imaginative planting of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has now matured to provide a pleasing foreground to West Ham football club (the former Olympic stadium), Anish Kapoor's emblematic ArcelorMittal Orbit and Zaha Hadid's swooping Aquatics Centre roof, framed to dramatic effect, with the vista being much enhanced by an unseasonably clear and sunny sky.

The architecture and decor of the new dance space's airy foyer made for a relaxing atmosphere and the friendliness of the young staff, obviously thrilled to be working in such a 'cool' environment, added to the welcoming ambience. To the extent, in fact, that when my friend arrived I positively gushed about the exhilaration I felt at finding myself once again in a cosmopolitan city with culture at its heart; something, I opined, we'd lost since Brexit. As I say, I don't get out much nowadays so this could have been hyperbolic - or the beer taking effect - but my friend indulged me anyway.

Or maybe I was right and regular denizens of London's established cultural hubs simply don't notice the hollowing-out effect on our cultural life outside of central London. For me, while the impression of a revival might have been illusory - one swallow does not a summer make  - it definitely induced a mild euphoria. A whole new cultural quarter had seemingly sprung up overnight in my East London patch! In reality, of course, it's been a very long time in the making, but now Sadler's Wells jostles with the BBC Music Studios, London College of Fashion and the V&A East Storehouse (not yet opened) in what is being branded 'East Bank': a nod, I guess, to the South Bank and better, at least, than the much-derided marketing suggestion, East Side. This isn't New York, guys.

It's taken thirteen years to reach this stage - the Great Pyramid of Giza only took twenty to complete - the reason for which is probably the marshalling of funding rather than lack of will. Designed by architects, O'Donnell and Tuomey, at a reported cost of £675m, the new dance space represents a significant cultural investment for partners Sadler's Wells, Arts Council England and the Mayor of London. It may well generate criticism in some quarters for having been delivered in London rather than a regional city but it is undoubtedly part of the Mayor and government's drive towards a massive eastward expansion of the capital. And with over half of the UK's creative industries' annual economic output of £124bn being generated in London, this metropolitan focus is unsurprising and understandable.

The 'culture-led' regeneration seen in Stratford follows a well-established trend in the UK but, while clearly better than nothing, I have always found it a disappointingly reductive principle. In a civilised society, arts and culture should be an end in themselves rather than an excuse for something else; a pump-priming exercise to encourage property developers. But who said we live in a civilised society? We may not be New York but we certainly aren't France! Arriving home from my cheery outing, the sobering reality of this hit me. An article in The Guardian presented a depressing case of British philistinism currently confronting the British Council.

Faced with the dilemma of axing hundreds of staff in up to forty countries or parting with half its extensive art collection to meet a government debt, the Council's Chief Executive, Scott McDonald, has chosen the latter course, offering the collection to the government in exchange for writing off a £197m Covid lockdown loan. The Treasury bean-counters have refused the offer, thus placing in jeopardy half of the Council's 9,000-item collection, painstakingly built up since 1938, which is not protected from sale by covenants with donating artists. As an example of cultural vandalism, this takes some beating.

In the UK the intrinsic value of culture is rarely, if ever, a consideration.






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