There have been many debates and discussions concerning the term cultural policy, none of which have resulted in establishing a clear definition. Hesmondhalgh (2007) argues that the main reason cultural policy is problematic to define is because culture itself has been so difficult to define, as discussed in chapter two.6 Bennett and Frow (2008) are in agreement with Hesmondhalgh that defining culture and cultural policy is difficult because the terms are constantly changing and adapting to fluctuations within society.7 Consequently, Hesmondhalgh concludes that,
The term ‘Cultural Policy’ is often used …… to refer to the subsidy, regulation, and management of ‘the arts’, which I define here as those inventive, creative, non-scientific forms of knowledge activity and institution that have come to be
6 Hesmondhalgh, D. The Cultural Industries. London: Sage Publications Ltd. 2007. p.138.
7 Bennett, T., and Frow, J. The Sage Handbook of Cultural Analysis. London: Sage Publications Ltd. 2008.
176
deemed worthy of this elevated title – the visual arts, ‘literature’, music and dance, theatre and drama and so on.8
Therefore, Hesmondhalgh defines cultural policy as the government direction placed on any publically funded artist or creative endeavours. Accordingly, the term cultural policy within this thesis will refer to the development and direction of publically funded cultural activity as directed through government, either directly or indirectly, where ‘culture’ refers to all arts, heritage, and wider cultural and creative activity of relevance to the manifestation of humankind. The definitions of the terms ‘the arts’, ‘culture’, and ‘creative’ to be used in this thesis, will be taken from the Oxford English Dictionary:9
The Arts:
1. the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance
2. subjects of study primarily concerned with human creativity and social life, such as languages, literature, and history (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects)
Culture:
1. the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively
2. the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society:
Creative:
1. relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something
Museums are directly related to all three categories through the objects they collect, the stories they tell, and the creative programmes they deliver.
8 Hesmondhalgh, D. The Cultural Industries. 2007. p.138.
9 Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford English Dictionary. Date Unknown. Accessed June 1st 2014.
177 5.2 The Development of Cultural Policy Pre-1990
The first formal organisation in the UK in support of arts and culture, The Pilgrim Trust, was established by an American millionaire, Edwin Harker in 1930.10 Harker invested two million pounds in heritage preservation and specifically in schemes which supported social welfare in connection with heritage.11 Early on, the activity of the Pilgrim’s Trust demonstrated that the general population of the country were unable to access the arts and culture. The Trust therefore established the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) in 1940, a significant feat as Britain had gone to war with Germany in 1939.12 The Pilgrim Trust trustee, Lord Macmillan, was appointed chairman of CEMA and its initial aim was to support and encourage access to the arts and artistic endeavour through the turbulent war-time period.13 The most significant action to affect CEMA and the development of cultural activity in England came in 1942 when economist John Maynard Keynes became the chairman of CEMA.14 Keynes successfully lobbied government to support the work of CEMA, largely because of his belief that culture could improve the nation’s wellbeing as a direct result of the general population’s exposure to cultural activities. Keynes was successful and as a consequence CEMAbecame the Arts Council in 1946.15
The creation of the Arts Council established government recognition, whether consciously or not, that public funding had a role to play in supporting and financing the arts and culture. Although Keynes valued the importance of culture as central to human life, and therefore as a prerogative of state funding, he placed an emphasis on the artistic and professional elements of culture, at the expense of its educational and
10 Victoria and Albert Museum. Arts Council of England Records: 1928 – 1997. London: Victoria and
Albert Museum. Accessed June 1st 2014. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/wid/ead/acgb/acgb-el1.html;
Edwin Harker made his fortune by building railways in America, but had a keen interest in British heritage and the pilgrim father’s colonisation of North America.
11 The National Archives. Pilgrim Trust. London: The National Archives. Accessed June1st 2014.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=074-lma4450&cid=0#0
12 Victoria and Albert Museum. Arts Council of England Records: 1928 – 1997. 13 The Second World War took place between 1939 and 1945.
14 John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) was a British economist and philosopher. Married to a Russian
Ballerina, Keynes frequently exhibited his interest in the arts. BBC Online. John Maynard Keynes.
London: BBC. Date unknown. Accessed June 1st 2014.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/keynes_john_maynard.shtml
15 Arts Council England (ACE). The History of the Arts Council. London: ACE. Date unknown. Accessed
178
communal benefits.16 This meant that the Arts Council was rooted in the belief that public funding should support arts and culture, but that it should have a focus on the excellence and elitism of arts and culture being brought to the masses, rather than support the development of working class arts and culture. Therefore, Keynes input in ensuring that funding from government began to power the arts and cultural sectors was welcome in terms of supporting high culture, but established an under-pinning ethos within the Arts Council which valued professional endeavours before wider public access and participation in and of the arts. Even with the creation of the Arts Council, it was not until 1965 that the first government act directed specifically towards the arts was created by the new Minister for the Arts, Jenny Lee. A government White Paper, A Policy for the Arts, enabled funding to be granted to the Arts Council to directly support artistic and cultural activity.17 Gradual interest in arts and culture continued throughout the following decades, but it was not until the Conservative government of the 1990s under John Major that the potential of culture as a driver for economic and social change was considered, and this recognition began to place culture at the centre of government policy. Therefore, the next section will explore the development of cultural policy between 1990 and 1997 to explore the foundations of cultural policy and the effect this had on museums.