An atmosphere of threat lingers over the arts - and it’s created by the government | Charlotte Higgins

A sign of a functioning society is its artists being free to create work that pushes against prevailing political tides

Public funding for the arts in the Britain has, since it began in the aftermath of the second world war, operated at arm’s length from the government. The principle has a particular purpose in the cultural field. It shields the arts from ministers’ direct intervention; at the same time, it prevents ministers from being answerable in parliament for controversial theatre productions or provocative exhibitions. “God help the minister that meddles with art!” wrote the Liberal prime minister Lord Melbourne, wryly and wisely.

More broadly, the arm’s length principle is what it says it is: a principle, one that embeds the notion that a sign of a functioning society is the independence of its artists to create work that pushes against prevailing political tides. On a deeper level, it acknowledges that artists can – should – act as a nation’s conscience, expressing truths that may be unpalatable or otherwise inexpressible.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3lDdxOA