Wales’ arts bypass
By Cathryn Scott for The Stage

The news that the Welsh Assembly is poised to take over the Arts Council of Wales signals the demise of arm’s length funding and could strike a blow at the independence of the UK’s funding bodies. Cathryn Scott discovers why many are worried that government taking back power from arts councils may affect which projects reach the stage.

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<small>[ 04 December 2004, 05:08 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

We all get singed when a quango burns
The decision of politicians in Wales to become overlords of the nation’s arts is a warning to us all
By Magnus Linklater for The Times


THE GOVERNMENT is taking over direct responsibility for funding the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre, the Royal Ballet and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. From now on these companies will submit their artistic plans directly to the minister. The Arts Council is to be bypassed. “We reckon that since we are paying the piper, it’s high time we called the tune,” announced the Culture Secretary. “We have already announced a bonfire of the quangos. The Arts Council is just the kindling.”

You can imagine the tidal wave of shock and horror that would rip through the cultural establishment if any such statement were to issue from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

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The Gallic echoes of Pugh’s artistic ambition
From The Stage

The spectre of the former French culture minister Jack Lang looms all too large in the imaginations of his counterparts in the United Kingdom: suave, telegenic, rarely seen without a famous date in tow and - within the remit of his office - seemingly all-powerful. Small wonder if certain of his greyer and more humdrum British equivalents have been prey on occasions to pangs of envy.

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