Seventy years after cultural politics focused on increasing accessibility of the arts for everyone, we acknowledge that people who participate in arts programming subsidized by the government still only make up a minority of society, those characterized by higher cultural and economical capital than society’s average. Despite the efforts to eliminate inequalities in the arts, attendance is still associated with education, health, ethnicity, and social status. One explanation for low participation from the overall public is a discordance between the public’s taste and publicly funded arts programming. Postdoctoral researcher Steven Hadley (Queen’s University Belfast) argues that access to cultural diversity for all members of society is still a challenge. He adds that one solution would be to take a democratic approach to cultural politics, to create a bottom-up, participant-led cultural process.
Article : http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/democratising-arts
Source : Arts professional
Author : Steven Hadley
Date : 21/04/16
