Who do we think we are?
Lincoln Academy, 28 February 2013
Event Time: 5.30pm Registration, 6.00pm Lecture, 7.30pm Refreshments
EMMTEC Auditorium
Free
In the current economic climate, François argues that, we are getting used to the idea that there isn’t as much money these days.
From education to social care, from pensions to policing, spending is being cut. Cultural services – libraries, museums and the arts – are no exception. Austerity surely means doing without pleasant but inessential pastimes.
This lecture looks at the truth of this view and argues that the arts have always been at the centre of human identity and community. They enable us to create and recreate our values and, in the complex democracy that Britain is today, they are vital in how we see and understand each other. The Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics showed how art makes not just debate but new realities. How we come out of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s will be shaped, in part, by our imaginations. Art has a big role to play in that, although previously dominant artists and institutions may not be those who have most to offer. This is not an argument for public spending on the arts. It is an argument for seeing that a free and democratic cultural space is essential for the future of our society.
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