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Arts rift 'will take a long time to heal'
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The Gwent Theatre fiasco has left a legacy of suspicion of the Arts Council of Wales AM's heard yesterday.
At a special meeting held at the Blackwood Miner's institute members of the Post 16 Education Committee were hearing submissions from local companies on the future of the Arts in Wales.
Artistic director Gary Meredith and administrator Julia Davies attended on behalf of Gwent Theatre, who successfully campaigned against an ACW decision to cut their grant for youth theatre.
The policy of cutting the number of youth theatre providers from eight to five has since been suspended, pending the arts review.
Mr Meredith said, "I think the breach of trust will take a,long time to heal. Even now they should make available the documents revealing how the decision was made - to understand what went wring. Then we could move forwards rather than looking back with mistrust and recrimination".
Committee Chairman Cynog Dafis revealed that despite promises from the Arts Council of Wales that the papers which led to the Theatre for Young People decision would be released to the Assembly, they have now backtracked, claiming that the papers were submitted in confidence. Mr Dafis asked them to contact the consultees to gain their permission to publish them.
Mr Meredith said the stand-off was indicative of the culture of secrecy in the Arts Council of Wales.
Calls for reform of the arts quango have been heard loud and often by the committee during their review.
Criticism of the lack of consultation practised by the ACW has come from a variety of consultees in different artistic fields.
Support also appears to be strong for the creation of a dedicated culture secretary to defend the arts, and an Assembly committee to scrutinise the ACW or its successor body.
Although Tom Middlehurst is the culture secretary at present, he also has responsibility for post-16 education and training.
The idea of separating the two, to have one person in charge of culture, sport, the media and tourism has also been suggested by Caerphilly AM Ron Davies
NO Vendetta - we just want to do our job
Gwent Theatre's Gary Meredith said it was a shame that arts people had been drawn into the political world by the youth theatre funding fiasco. "All this stuff is a distraction from the work. We don't have a vendetta against any individual in the ACW. But the organisation doesn't seem equipped to deal with problems. I think that, whatever happens as a result of this review, the new Arts Council of Wales, or successor body, must be accountable and transparent"
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South Wales Argus
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Monday, May 22, 2000 |
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