To survive, the arts must tackle inequality of opportunity
By: Culture, Commerce Taskforce
Tags: Creative Industry, Covid 19, Inequality, Diversity, Culture

To combat the corrosive effects of racism, exclusion and Covid-19, the cultural sector needs to act now, says Culture & Commerce Taskforce Member, Maria Adebowale-Schwarte, CEO of the Foundation for Future London

Maria Adebowale-Schwarte

The arts and culture industry stands at a crossroad. COVID-19 and rampant inequality has forced the sector to radically review its role and question its survival.

The hard facts: the creative industries is looking at a £77bn turnover loss by the end of 2020. London will see over 50% of that loss. Talking to diverse arts and culture freelancers and organisations, the impact is most significant on people who felt that doors had never been opened, despite skills, commitment, talent and ideas. If you are Black, Asian minority ethnic, disabled, female, working-class, or LGBTQIA+, you more likely to be impacted by reduced funding and lack of grant opportunities and employment in the sector.

The Foundation for the Future London focuses on ensuring East Bank is an inclusive cultural quarter. Shaping our fundraising and funding strategy is a belief that the culture sector must be everyone.

We cannot afford to only talk about being inclusive but fearlessly invest in eradicating racism, prejudice and inequality. If the sector, and those who support it, cannot or will not do this, then they should have no role in its future.

To turn this around, the sector must step up and actively remove barriers and institutional racism, provide platforms and value lived experience.

When FFL fundraises for East Bank — the new cultural quarter in East London — we are focused not only on world class culture but building a place commitment to disrupting racism and inequality. But, if anyone needs to be convinced, research illustrates that diversity increases innovation, stops herd-thinking and builds resilience.

FFL is committing time and resources to measure and improve our progress on diversity, equity and inclusion, by:

1. Investing in resources and skills

2. Producing and review strategies

3. Collecting and tracking data

4. Having a diverse board, staff and stakeholders

5. Reflecting and implement best practice

6. Expressing our commitment to policy and practice

7. Being accountable

8. Advocating and advance best inclusive practice

9. Collaborating with others

10. Investing in knowledge equity and the value of lived experience

It’s also vital that ours and funders and donors are just as committed to equity and diversity as they are to culture.

The Foundation for Future London works with the City of London Corporation and Culture Mile to invest in collaborative culture sector partnerships and grant funding. One example is Fusion Prize, which ran workshop, and events focusing on creative and critical thinking and culminated in a £50,000 prize to use creativity to upskill future generations to succeed in the 21st century.

One driving theme in the recently set up Culture and Commerce Taskforce is that diverse talent is fundamental to an inclusive and thriving economy. This group of senior leaders across sectors have been regularly meeting to put in place practical actions for sectors to work together to support the creative sector.

With Westfield Stratford City’s support, we have launched Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund, an ambitious five-year flagship project that will invest £10million into local boroughs with some of most diverse communities in London. Providing jobs, learning, training and educational programmes through arts, culture, innovation, public realm and creative placemaking.

The lethal cocktail of C19, racism, prejudice, exclusion and increasing levels of poverty needs the sector to be a catalyst: platform opening opportunities to jobs, business, skills, and investment in local places and economies -for everyone.

If the arts and cultural sector is to tackle inequality, there must always seats at the table for the many, not the few.

Maria Adebowale-Schwarte is CEO of Foundation for Future London. Founder of urban placemaking think tank consultancy, Living Space Project, and Inaugural Fellow at the Centre for Knowledge Equity, Skoll Centre, University of Oxford. She is also the author of The Place Making Factor.

She is a member of the Culture and Commerce Taskforce, chaired by the Lord Mayor in partnership with the City of London Corporation and Culture Mile.

This article first appeared in Arts Industry Magazine on 24 November 2020 https://www.artsindustry.co.uk/feature/2296-the-word-to-survive-the-arts-must-tackle-inequality-of-opportunity