The British government has announced more than ￡1.57 billion (nearly US$2 billion) to help the nation’s arts and cultural institutions recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, after some theaters and music venues warned that without support they might never open again.
The ￡1.57 billion package for museums, galleries, theaters, movie theaters, heritage sites and music venues includes almost ￡900 million in grants and more than ￡200 million in loans.
Details of how the money are to be distributed have not been released, but leaders of arts organizations breathed a sigh of relief at the announcement.
Photo: AFP
“When we heard last night, we slept for the first time since March,” Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of London’s Young Vic theater, said yesterday. “It is a real vindication that we have been listened to and that the government understand that we were dying on our knees and also that we are an important part of our country’s recovery.”
“This package gives our sector a fighting chance of survival,” English National Ballet artistic director Tamara Roja said.
The announcement followed an impassioned call last week from about 1,500 acts — including Ed Sheeran and The Rolling Stones — for authorities to save the nation’s live music industry from collapse.
The nation’s arts and culture sector employs 700,000 people, a government statement on Sunday said.
In May, Shakespeare’s Globe, the replica open-air theater in London, warned that it could close without emergency funds to get it through the lockdown.
“This news is truly welcome at a time when so many theatres, orchestras, entertainment venues and other arts organizations face such a bleak future,” composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber said.
“It is absolutely critical that Britain’s cultural sector is restored to health as soon as possible,” he added.
London Symphony Orchestra director Simon Rattle also hailed the new fund.
“We hope it will be distributed as fast as possible ... as so many institutions and individual artists have been staring into the abyss,” he said.
Britain’s arts — especially theater — generate billions in revenue, support hundreds of thousands of jobs, and play a big role in raising the nation’s international profile.
Some UK arts institutions are starting to open their doors after more than three months of lockdown, starting with the National Gallery in London, which is to reopen tomorrow.
However, social distancing rules and an almost total absence of tourists mean they face a big financial hit. Theaters and concert venues have not been told when they can admit audiences, and several have announced they would close permanently.
British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden said theaters would not be able to return to normal until the need for social distancing is over — and it is too soon to say when that will be.
“I want to ensure it can happen,” he told the BBC. “I just want to be a bit realistic about the challenges of getting us back to that point any time soon.”
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