Imagine a world where there are no books, no theatre, no art galleries and no music. It would be a very dull world indeed. And yet Rishi Sunak the Chancellor of the Exchequer is recommending that the people who work in the Arts should retrain and get a ‘proper’ job
How insulting is that – I for one could not survive without the Arts. When the chips are down, and they are certainly down at the moment we need these people to uplift us – to take us out of the reality of COVID to nurture our souls. Look I know that the creative and arts industry don’t deserve to have special treatment – all industries are hurting economically. But it does seem that the thousands of freelancers in this industry have had their lives decimated and their future is very shaky. And support from the government has been minimal. And what should they retrain as? Where? And will there even be jobs?
Today I posted a job on Linked in for an executive assistant for the Charity that I am working with. And within a few hours I had 285 responses. All with good degrees.
My friends in the Arts are insulted by Rishi’s remarks
“We have been called nonviable. We feel undervalued and unsupported.”
Rishi comes from the world of business and finance. He views the world in a very different way. I would hate to live in Rishi’s world. I am not sure that Rishi would like to live in his world either. So maybe we should give him a trial of what it might be like.
Take away his TVs, his streaming services, his radio. Ban him from live events, theatres, and venues. Hide his books, paintings, and sculptures; confiscate his records, DVDs, and CDs and books.
What does that look like to you Rishi?
If I had not had Spotify, Netflix, The BBC, live theatre streaming and music recitals the last 6 months would have been dire. They have kept my spirit alive
My theatre producer friend has a message for the Chancellor of the Exchequer
“Rishi, you are not welcome to share in anything that we have created. Good luck surviving without us”
Arts and culture are where many of us turn to in times of difficulty and yet it is precisely these industries that are being so hard hit economically. A colleague shared her despair with me
“We have a small theatre in south London, it has always been run on a shoestring. Theatre especially small community venues never make a profit. But I fear it is no longer viable and it will be a great loss not only to the people that have worked so tirelessly here on a low wage but to the community as a whole who I know rely on us.”
I don’t know what the answer is Rishi. I understand you have to make tough decisions but please don’t discount the arts.
“Let’s be careful out there”
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