Issue
Culture is Cool
Why do art and culture matter?
Art and culture is part of what makes us human
Dancing, singing, acting, painting. These are all forms of art, or culture. Ever since
people were cavemen, they have been making art. Early humans drew on the walls
of the caves where they lived. They used paint made from coloured berries, soft
stones and even pieces of burned wood, and drew pictures of the world around
them. They carved rocks and big pieces of wood to make sculptures. Around the
fire at night, they would sing and dance. Long before people could write, they
made up stories, songs and poetry. When different tribes would meet, sometimes
they would fight. Other times they met more peacefully, they gave gifts and told
each other stories about their lives. Art or culture is part of what it means to be a
human being.
Art and Culture in the UK
Culture is one of the reasons why people like visiting Britain. Some people like our
traditional culture, such as seeing a Shakespeare play or visiting a historic house,
like Buckingham Palace in the summer. Other people like more hip, fashionable
culture. They like our music, our television, our fashion sense.
Britain has a long and rich cultural history. In the 1600s, William Shakespeare
was one of the most famous playwrights in the world. He still is. In the 1700s,
British craftsmen made beautiful furniture in what is known as the Georgian style.
People still admire it today. In the 1800s, British architects designed some of our
finest buildings, such as the Houses of Parliament that were the work of Charles
Barrie. In the 1900s, people from the furthest corners of the British Empire came
to live in Britain. They brought aspects of their own culture with them. From India
we learned about ancient stone sculpture, from Australia we learned about
Aboriginal painting, from the Caribbean we learned about great poets, such as
Derek Walcott. And in the 2000s we have learned about samba dance from Brazil,
modern ballet from Germany, street painting from New York. When we learn
about other people’s cultures, we discover that what unites us as
human beings is more important than what divides us.
Because a lot of people like British culture, it is an important part of our economy.
More than 700,000 people have jobs to do with culture in this country. They work
in theatres, museums, art galleries, concert halls, radio, television, fashion and
film. If you feel you are a creative person, then the arts, or culture, are a good
place to work.
Concepts to think about
Creativity
Creativity is about making. More exactly it’s how people use their imaginations to
express themselves. Some people can sing, some can paint, some can play the
drums or invent a completely new recipe. Being creative is quite hard to pin down
in words, but we can all recognise the satisfaction of having done something
creative, whether it’s making a beautiful drawing or singing together in a choir.
Questions
 Tickets to the theatre or the opera can be very expensive. Is culture
something that is only for rich people?
 You can’t play a musical instrument without taking lessons and doing
hours and hours of practising. Is music something that can only be
appreciated by people who have had a long musical education?
 A lot of culture in Britain is old. Why should we care about paintings of
people who have been dead for hundreds of years?
 Culture doesn’t cure illnesses or reduce crime. Isn’t culture a bit
indulgent, something we should do only when we have solved the more
pressing problems of our society?
Answers
Here are some possible answers to the questions above. Do you agree
with any of these points of view? What is your personal opinion on art
and culture?

Culture is part of every human being; it is not just for rich people. It is true
that some cultural events are expensive to put on. A full orchestra involves
more than 50 people; paying each one of them for an evening’s work can
mount up. Opera, for example, was invented in the 19th century when the cost
of putting on an opera were much lower than they are now. However, new
technology has made it far easier for lots of people to enjoy opera than it used
to be. Operas have been broadcast live on the radio for many years; more
recently, they have also been filmed. On certain evenings, you can sit in the
plaza at Covent Garden and watch opera broadcast on the big screen and out
of loudspeakers. And it’s all completely free.

Learning to play a musical instrument takes effort; it takes several years and a
lot of practising to learn to sight-read and to play the violin. Playing a musical
instrument can be very satisfying and offer a lifetime’s pleasure. But is not the
only way to appreciate music. Some people just like listening to music,
whether they sit through a concert or just have the radio on the background.

Britain is an old country. But it also has a lot of young people. We are made by
our individual experiences, but we are also the product of our history. Part of
what it means to have a rich culture, such as ours, is how the culture of today
connects with the culture of 400 years ago. People who go to a Shakespeare
play in Stratford-upon-Avon are not just going to the place where Shakespeare
was born, they’ll be laughing at the same jokes people laughed at in the early
1600s.

Culture makes people feel connected. When you go to a film or a concert with
someone, you have something in common to talk about. If you read a novel
about a family from Nigeria, you will learn that people have the same strong
family ties there as they do here. So culture helps you learn about people from
other lands. That makes people more tolerant. Culture also allows people to be
creative. On the whole, it is probably better to dance together or sing, than to
go to war and try and kill each other. So culture provides a path to peace.
Participating in culture is sometimes described as ETD: “enjoy, talk, do”.
Culture is about ideas, thoughts, innovation, originality, a bit of madness, a
chance to laugh and be surprised at the unexpected.

It is certainly true that we have many problems in Britain; we need more
investment in education and a better NHS. But culture is not as expensive as
you might think. The government spends £400m a year on the arts. That is
about 23p a week or about 3p person per day. Who among you thinks 3p a day
is too much to spend for the chance to have a country where people can enjoy
painting, singing, dancing, seeing a play or listening to some music every day
of the week?