News comment - Page 7 of 9 - a-n The Artists Information Company

As Hull celebrates becoming the 2017 UK City of Culture, Dave O’Brien, originally writing for The Conversation website, cautions against focusing on short-term economic benefits when what’s needed is a long-term cultural strategy.

A recent report from Arts Council England, Towards Plan A, urges the cultural sector to provide better evidence to government. But, argue Three Johns and Shelagh, it’s a flawed and discredited approach which won’t change the creeping erosion of the arts in the UK. Time, then, for a Plan B.

Art Turning Left, a new and wide-ranging exhibition at Tate Liverpool, explores how artists have incorporated political beliefs in their work and how this has changed the way it is produced. The artist and AIR Council member Emily Speed reviews the show and reflects on its relevance to her own practice.

Cultural policy expert Leila Jancovich reacts to the recent Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital report, which shows that government investment in the arts in London far outstrips that in the rest of the country.

Arts Council England’s update of its 10-year ‘strategic framework’ makes for sober and serious reading. But while there are no dramatic changes in its ambitions and priorities, Mark Robinson finds a worrying lack of solutions for cash-strapped artists and no recognition of the regional imbalance in arts funding.

Is Frieze Art Fair useful in any way to artists and is it good for artists and art? Filmmaker, artist and Frieze first-timer Gillian McIver roams the gallery booths and curated projects at the fair’s vast Regent’s Park marquee and finds the experience useful, enlightening and at times troubling.

Manchester artist Liz West took a bold move with her recent solo show – she dispensed with a private view and instead opened the show to everyone on a midweek afternoon. She explains why and urges more artists to take a similar route.

London-based studio provider Acme celebrates its 40th anniversary with an archive exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, looking at its first decade. Co-founder and Chief Executive, Jonathan Harvey, discusses how a group of recent graduates formed a charitable housing association, launched Acme Gallery and became the self-supporting organisation it is today.

Two years on from the Oslo terrorist attacks, as an international competition for a memorial to the events is launched, Claire Doherty, Director of Situations, considers the implications of such a brief.

The recent Craft and Social Change conference looked at how craft can affect a ‘soft revolution’ by turning away from top-down structures towards a more DIY culture. But, as Sharon Mangion reports, the ‘slow’ logic of the Craftivism movement is combining once solitary practices with new media technologies to reconnect communities and mobilise global audiences.

Hilary Gresty follows-up a-n’s report on the recent Artquest conference, For the love it, by adding a question mark – and suggests that this is the right time to make the case for the economic and social recognition of the work of artists.

As the degree show season gets into full swing, Professor Tom Davies from Staffordshire University responds to a-n’s recent report on approaches to professional practice in visual and applied arts courses.

In a time of austerity, it’s become more important than ever for the visual arts to articulate their value to society. But, asks Claire Doherty, Director of arts producers Situations, what forms of evidence should be produced and whose criteria are we to use?

Manchester-based artist Maurice Carlin recently co-organised a public discussion on artist-led spaces during his current residency at HomeShop, Beijing. He reports on how it went and the issues and solutions that were raised.

As Creative Scotland’s open session events on the organisation’s future gather momentum, Edinburgh-based photographer and educator Johnny Gailey assesses what’s wrong at the core of its remit and makes a case for true artistic independence.