September 17th 2013
Deputation to Bournemouth
Full Council
On behalf of Bournemouth
Creatives.
Arts by the Sea and future
investment
Peter John
Cooper - theatre professional and writer.
I have run companies in Oxford and North Wales and other part of the
UK. I have been chair of a number of
County wide arts organisations. Resident
of the Borough for three years. Speaking on behalf of Bournemouth Creatives and
other arts organisations.
A few weeks ago I was honoured to be asked to
represent the creative peoples of Bournemouth and Boscombe here. According to
The Council Procedure Rule 38(a)(iv) I may not refer to the tragic demise of
the Boscombe Community Centre for the Arts. But I would like to pick up and
develop a few incidental ideas from that presentation about the future arts
provision in the Borough.
Firstly I would like to applaud the Council
for its far sighted support for the Arts by the Sea Festival
Let me quote “The aim is for the Festival to
become a major cultural event in the international calendar: an artist-led
festival that enables regional, national and international artists to create
new work, and showcase their best work, encouraging local, national and international
visitors to Bournemouth.” Hurrah.
This is a marvellous opportunity for the
Borough to kick start its commitment to regeneration. In order to do this we
must encourage a growth outside the weeks of the festival itself to encompass
the arts as they impinge on our residents on a day to day way by the artists living
and being educated here. Bournemouth and Boscombe have always been the home of
significant writers and artists from Robert Louis Stephenson to Aubrey
Beardsley to Tony Hancock. We need to
harness the heritage and skills and connections of these and living artists,
the whole arts community, to deliver that vibrant renaissance we all seek.
The Arts by the Sea Festival has thrown up an interesting conundrum. the regeneration officer from the council, has been asking local businessess for use of premises for the festival as the precinct which they were using has filled up. We just don’t have the venues.
We do have some brilliant small spaces such as the Winchester in
Poole Hill But it is a fact of life that Small, temporary spaces church halls and night clubs do not
encourage investment or create the bigger international scale buzz that we need.
The South West Dance centre is a useful guide to what can be achieved.
But we are one of the only towns (and one with
city status ambition) that has no community arts hub. look at Southampton,
Newcastle Gateshead. In fact it is a sad fact that we have less arts provision
than Sturminster Newton. There is a lack
of provision for public gallery space or space for music making or theatre
production. And we are certainly lacking a wet weather general arts centre that
will exploit the skills of local artists for the benefit of visitors throughout
the year.
Margate with its
problems of high levels of drug addiction, Houses of Multiple Occupancy,
poverty, and a High Street of empty shops and businesses is now listed in the
top ten gallery destinations world wide and the whole area is benefiting from
the additional tourists, jobs, created by its newly opened Turner Gallery. It
can be done.
It will take money – lots of it but One of
the great resources we have at our disposal in the Borough is a large number of
artists who are significantly engaged in their fields of enterprise, writers,
film makers, poets, painters and
performers. I urge the council to make use of this resource in advancing its
plans for the future regeneration. We
are at your disposal. Make use of our
knowledge and expertise and let us not have any more disasters like the one
which befell the community so recently.
