Arts Funding Disparity Between London and the North
Christine Baranski and Sharon Maher highlight the urgent need for increased investment in arts and cultural infrastructure outside London, emphasizing the persistent funding imbalance that favors the capital.
Baranski expresses concern over Labour’s recent pledge to ensure access to art for "everyone," noting that the substantial £135 million investment in the V&A East museum is concentrated in London’s East Bank cultural quarter.
She questions when similar investments will reach northern cultural hubs such as Liverpool’s Albert Docks, which has seen the Tate closed for over two years and the museum of slavery shuttered. The once vibrant arts district now appears neglected and abandoned.
Baranski also points to northern towns like Kendal, Barrow, and Kirkby Lonsdale, which are actively competing for the UK Town of Culture 2028 designation in hopes of securing funding to revitalize their cultural sectors. These communities seek to provide accessible venues for music, theatre, and heritage, similar to those available in London’s revitalized areas.
"When, I wonder, will this arrive at what used to be the buzzing cultural centre of the Albert Docks in Liverpool, where the Tate has been closed for more than two years? Where the museum of slavery has closed its doors and where what was a buzzing arts area now looks neglected and abandoned."
"When will places in the north, such as the once-vibrant towns of Kendal, Barrow and Kirkby Lonsdale, be given the same large sums spent on venue after venue in London?"
"All are, incidentally, desperately bidding for UK town of culture 2028 designation in the hope of winning some desperately needed cash to enhance their cultural sector and to bring to these long-neglected and once-thriving centres accessible places where people can share in the joy of music, theatre or heritage, as are enjoyed by our lucky communities in ‘once neglected areas of London’."
She urges Lisa Nandy and policymakers to distribute the £1.5 billion cultural investment package more equitably, advocating for northern arts infrastructure to receive its fair share and achieve parity with London’s advantages.
"Spread the joy, Lisa Nandy, and let’s all have a share in the investment. Let’s have some of that £1.5bn package invested into our northern arts infrastructure, and give some long-awaited parity to those desperately wanting the same advantages seemingly only on offer in London."
Sharon Maher echoes these concerns, acknowledging the government’s £1.5 billion support for neglected cultural organizations but questioning how much of that funding will actually benefit regions outside London.
She criticizes the recent £135 million opening of the V&A East in east London, describing it as an "outpost" that is in reality only seven miles from the main museum, and expresses skepticism about celebrating this as a positive development.
"I agree that the £1.5bn lifebelt the government is throwing out to neglected cultural organisations sounds good. I wonder though, whether a good chunk of that money is going to come back to London."
"The V&A, a national museum, holding national treasures, has just opened an ‘outpost’ in east London, costing £135m. Hardly an outpost – it’s seven miles away from the main site. Sorry if I’m not whooping for joy."
Maher insists that the current funding imbalance must end and that future expansions of national cultural institutions should prioritize northern locations.
"The on those in the north. This has to stop. Any future ‘outposts’ need to come north if it’s a national organisation."
Both contributors call for a more balanced distribution of cultural funding to support the revitalization and sustainability of arts sectors across the UK, particularly in northern communities that have historically been underserved.
