REALISE your right to art is a national
campaign that aims to place art at the centre of people’s
lives, influencing the political debate to create a society
where everyone can be creative citizens. It provides a focus
of principle, aspiration and practice through which to influence
the development of policies and the deployment of resources
that will lead to long term cultural, educational, social
and economic change. At its heart is the insistence that everyone
has their right to participate in culture and to enjoy the
arts. REALISE proposes that action must be
taken to realise this right in full.
“REALISE represents a powerful notion with
an ambitious agenda setting vision”
Baroness Lola Young, OBE, REALISE London
Launch, Nov 2005
As UK citizens, we have a right to housing, education and
health. Shouldn’t all of us also have the right to a
share in the rich visual culture of the nation? Shouldn’t
all of us have the opportunity to flourish as visually literate
and creative citizens throughout our lives?
South/South East Launch:
Stephen Foster, Director of the John Hansard Gallery
(pictured top left), introduced the evening, and
talked of the ‘excellence, innovation and access’
at the core of arts in this country, and the challenge and
responsibility to maintain those three things in an uncompromising
way.
Peter Jenkinson, Cultural Broker/VAGA Associate REALISE,
(pictured top middle) talked about
Southampton being part of the UK's national culture. He said
that 'art today is informed by research and new thinking,'
and that 'people and young people are engaging with art like
never before'. He talked about culture being the 'root to
what we are and where we're going' and how important it is
that culture is recognised as necessary for our future.
Mark Waugh, Acting Head of Visual Arts, Arts Council
England, South East, (pictured top right) spoke of
the fantastic experience that the John Hansard Gallery gives
its audience, and its essential work with the local community.
The arts 'help us to better understand and celebrate our dynamic
cultural diversity and underpin the extraordinary regeneration
of communities and economies that is a characteristic of the
region.'
Noëmi Lakmaier, Artist & Arts Development
Manager Dada-South (pictured bottom left), talked
about the need for respect of the arts in society, and the
need for recognition as an artist without being labelled a
'disabled artist'.
Ratna Begum, Artist, John Hansard Gallery, (pictured
bottom right) spoke of the 'importance of engaging'. "If
we are to invest in the arts we need to commit ourselves to
change our attitudes and the others around us. By this I mean
the school teachers’ need to engage young people, the
tutors at Universities to guide the art students, the local
authority and businesses to invest in young graduates, the
art professionals to promote and the government not to be
biased".
REALISE is led and managed on behalf of
VAGA (The Visual Arts and Galleries Association)
by Peter Jenkinson, Cultural Broker/VAGA
Associate and Hilary Gresty, VAGA Director.The
John Hansard Gallery runs an internationally
renowned and respected programme that mixes challenging art
and radical audience development with rigorous scholarship
and research. The evening was an opportunity to explore the
vision and ambitions of REALISE, alongside
the current development of the cultural infrastructure of
the South of England and the regeneration of Southampton,
of which the John Hansard Gallery is an integral
part.
"This campaign is about changing hearts and
minds, but with plenty of evidence that the visual is a vital
component of life in this country, and is a crucial component
of the future of this country, not just in terms of a knowledge
economy or the creative economy, but in terms of our intellectual
and spiritual welfare as we move forward into the 21st century."
Sir Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate, REALISE - London Launch,
28th November 2005
Read a copy of the REALISE
Statement '2006 for 2006'
You are invited to show you support for the aspirations of
the campaign and add your name to the list of endorsing signatures,
by emailing signup@righttoart.com
For further information and list of signatories to date visit:
http://www.vaga.co.uk
