Thursday 19 June 2014

What The ‘Diversity In Arts’ Debate Is Really About…

And of course, it’s not about diversity. It’s about jobs for the policy wonks and die-hard identity politics crowd:

Stephen Moss, sensible man, sensible outlook:
Culture is for everyone. Thanks to the internet, it is now freely and easily available. If you want to find it, you will, though it may take a lifetime to work out what it all means and what really matters. Dipping in courtesy of well-meaning outreach programmes doesn't work and may well be counterproductive. And if you never find it – if you fail to realise that the late quartets of Beethoven are the greatest musical statement of all time and still the most modern pieces of music ever written – no lives have been lost. It's only art.
Bonnie Greer, entitlement junkie & diversity token:
I wouldn't have accepted board appointments to the British Museum; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Serpentine Gallery; the presidency of the Brontë Society; and now a seat on the cultural board of the first world war commemoration, if I didn't believe not only that culture belongs to all, but also that there is a duty in a democratic society to make it accessible to all, too.
QED.

12 comments:

Demetrius said...

On 10 June in Singing For Her Supper I dealt with this issue. With my own connections to some of those listed all I can say is that they are fully accessible to anyone who comes along. Greer is just doing the usual posturing for position.

Anonymous said...

It's only "culture" if lefty wonks are employed to say it is.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant. Is Greer human? She has that manufactured look. These arties aren't just found on the left and most of them don't give a stuff about ordinary people. This said, I've met some excellent people using arty stuff to educate disabled kids and so on.

Anonymous said...

We should not be surprised when unscrupulous trustees of musical culture resort to desperate claims that...if you fail to realise that the late quartets of Beethoven are the greatest musical statement of all time and still the most modern pieces of music ever written...anymore than be surprised by unscrupulous trustees of civilised culture who resort to desperate thieving.

'A sergeant has been sacked by West Midlands Police after claims he stole small change from street beggars.'

Anonymous said...

You are getting so sad Melvin. Turning a story about the arts into yet another pathetic dig at the police.
If you read the story properly it seems he was caught by other officers which you don't mention.

Perhaps I should turn every post on here into a rant about bent "doctors" (if you are one of course) and failed politicians (which you definitely are).
I noticed you didn't answer any of my questions on a previous post either.
So very sad.
Jaded

Tim Almond said...

Bonnie Greer is a token black woman. Look on her Wikipedia page and you'll find nothing that you've ever heard of. It's all about these organisations saying "look, we're not racist".

And he's spot on. There's a ton of MP3 stuff that's bonkers cheap on Amazon. Let alone the excellent Naxos stuff. You can get the excellent Gardiner/Terfel set of The Marriage of Figaro for £17 on Amazon MP3, which is 3 CDs worth of music (how anyone can like classical music, but not Figaro, I don't know - it's certainly the best 18th century opera.

Anonymous said...

Gosh. Police custody officers listened to all seven movements of No. 14 in C sharp minor when they should have been checking on a father who had a heart attack in his cell and died.

Anonymous said...

Someone should quote " when I hear culture I reach for my revolver" ( a good idea probably) -
then there would be something for pedants to chew on

Lynne at Counting Cats said...

Bonnie Greer: The cultured lefty's Diane Abbott.

Anonymous said...

My apologies, Julia. West Midlands custody plod WEREN'T listening to Beethoven, as reported yesterday.

Lloyd Butler died in the cells as PC Woodcock (that's right) who was supposedly monitoring the deceased, preferred to watch porn. Woodcock also made personal telephone calls on the station’s landline whilst Sergeant Mark Onbutt (you couldn't make it up) was otherwise pleasuring himself.

Anonymous said...

Gosh.You are a cock Melvin. And I wasn't listening to Beethoven when I wrote that.
Jaded

JuliaM said...

"Greer is just doing the usual posturing for position."

It's a living. I suppose!

"These arties aren't just found on the left..."

True, but the vast majority so seemingly lean that way.

"Someone should quote " when I hear culture I reach for my revolver" ( a good idea probably) "

In her case, I'd need a bigger calibre to adhere to game laws.