In an interview with The Art Newspaper ahead of the Labour conference, Thangam Debbonaire maps out the first national infrastructure plan for the arts… artificial intelligence etc.
image for illustration: Open Government Licence v3.0
‘Everybody knows a pub theatre which is about to close…’
The Art Newspaper writes: [9 Oct 2023]
A new Labour government would put the creative industries “at the heart” of its plans for economic growth while embedding the Whitehall culture department in the UK regions, the British shadow culture secretary will say…
….Thangam Debbonaire pledged to be a “national champion of the arts” if a Labour government is voted into power at the UK’s next general election.
Debbonaire, a former professional cellist, was appointed by Labour leader Keir Starmer as the shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport on 4 September. She will lay out her plans at the Labour party conference in Liverpool….
….The plan, titled Space to Create, will seek to embed civil servants from the department for culture, media and sport (DCMS) in communities far from the traditional power centre of Westminster.
They would be tasked with focusing on the specific cultural needs of the region… “We need to protect the cultural spaces we already have,” Debbonaire said. “Everybody knows a pub theatre which is about to close down, or a local gallery or music venue which can’t pay its bills. If we lose those spaces, we lose the pipeline for young and emerging talent…”
