The government’s Covid-19 response is opening up deep divisions. Theatres and museums get help but creatives are being cut looseThe pandemic has deepened many fissures in British society. The lack of capacity in our health service, and the life-and-death consequences of inequality: so much has been exposed in glaring relief. The fragility of the way the arts are run in Britain has likewise become crashingly obvious.Last week the government announced a £1.57bn rescue package for UK theatres, heritage sites, museums, arts centres, independent cinemas, galleries and concert halls. This is probably just about sufficient, if spread carefully, to keep a national infrastructure alive. But the package of aid, which the government – in its reflexively and unattractively boosterish way – calls “world-leading”, is no magic bullet. There will be a long and difficult route ahead for arts companies, as they navigate an uncertain future of reduced audience capacity, potential second waves and further lockdowns, and a shaky sense of how soon the public will be willing to partake once more in mass gatherings in confined spaces. Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/14/cultural-rescue-package-artists-institutions-covid-19