Please find below an invitation to the launch event for a book I have edited 
called "Culture Vultures: Is UK arts policy damaging the arts?" on Tuesday 
7th February, 6.30pm. I hope you can make it along.

Also pasted below is a press release for the book.

Best wishes
Munira Mirza
--

You are invited to the launch of 'Culture Vultures: Is UK arts policy 
damaging the arts?' on Tuesday 7th February, 6.30pm.

Politicians today often claim that the arts are now not only good in 
themselves, but make a vital contribution to the economy, urban regeneration 
and social inclusion. But is there actually any evidence to support this? 
This collection of essays shows that many of the claims made about the 
social benefits of arts are exaggerated, resulting in wasteful projects of 
poor artistic quality. The criteria for funding means that arts 
organisations are drowning under a tidal wave of 'tick boxes and targets'.

Speakers:

Hugo Swire MP, Shadow Minister for Culture
Mark Fisher MP, former Labour Minister for the Arts
Prof. Sara Selwood, Head of Cultural Policy and Management, City University
Andrew Brighton, arts writer and commentator
Josie Appleton, writer and author of ‘Museums for the People’

Time: 6.30pm

Venue: Policy Exchange offices, 10 Storeys Gate, London SW1P 3AY (nearest 
tube: Westminster or St James)

RSVP: [log in to unmask] or 020 7340 2650

--
“Culture Vultures: Is UK arts policy damaging the arts?” edited by Munira 
Mirza. £10, ISBN 0-9551909-0-8

--
PRESS RELEASE

Government has created culture of bad art

Government policy has created a culture of bad art, finds a new study to be 
launched by the think tank Policy Exchange on Tuesday February 7th 2006.

'Culture Vultures: Is UK arts policy is damaging the arts?', shows official 
claims about the social benefits of art are based on exaggeration, and that 
arts practice suffers as a result.

The study warns that Government arts spending has become skewered by the 
'social inclusion' agenda and warns of a 'culture of mediocrity', resulting 
in wasteful and ineffective social policies.

"Whilst this government has given generous funding to the arts, the evidence 
suggests they have been damaged as a result. Official thinking is slave to 
bureaucratic policy targets rather than the spirit of creativity" says the 
report's editor, Munira Mirza says,

The authors are a mixture of influential academics and commentators, who 
show the failure of arts-based projects funded by the Arts Council and DCMS 
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport) to deliver on promised goals. "If 
you read the policy literature, it seems uncontroversial that the arts can 
stimulate economic growth, reduce social exclusion and improve our health – 
in short transform our society. Yet, as this book seeks to show, there is 
surprisingly little evidence for these claims," Mirza argues.

Eleonora Belfiore, of Warwick University adds that Government’s discussion 
about the social impact of the arts relies on "a very selective use of the 
available information and evidence. The growing trend towards 
instrumentality has not been slowed down by the obvious lack of evidence of 
the existence of such impacts".

Commentator, Josie Appleton, points out the phenomenal growth in spending on 
'public art' in town spaces. In 2002, the National Lottery reported that in 
the previous six years it had spent £72.5million on 1500 public art 
projects. In the 1990s 659 permanent sculptures were built; meaning that 
today, we are building six times as many sculptures than during the high 
point of 'statuemania', between 1900-9.

But, no one asks about the quality of the art: "today's public art is not 
really the expression of community values or desires: it's driven by 
officialdom. The regeneration industry has become a law unto itself, 
developing its own standards and methods for evaluating public art," says 
Appleton.

The criteria for funding means that organisations are drowning under a tidal 
wave of 'tick boxes and targets' measuring their social impact. Professor 
Sara Selwood, at City University and leading expert on arts policy states, 
"For many people working in the sector, the requirement to collect data 
represents a growth of state power and bureaucracy". Andrew Brighton, an 
arts writer, complains, "the autonomy of expertise, which is crucial to the 
integrity of the arts, has been undermined". Many artists are beginning to 
feel that their work is only valued if they can prove they have a social 
impact.

Critics also aim their fire at local authorities, one of the largest funders 
of the arts in Britain. James Heartfield argues, "local authorities have 
also turned to cultural regeneration as a phoney substitute for real 
economic revival. For the residents of those cities, much-needed economic 
regeneration has been put on hold. Instead of renewing infrastructure, every 
municipal government has prettified cities with flowers, festivals, 
paintings and sculptures."

The authors include recommendations to Whitehall and arts quangos:

· More honest and independent use of evidence in cultural policy. Too much 
research is driven by arts advocacy and is therefore biased.
· Less bureaucracy around arts funding. The funding framework forces artists 
to spend valuable time and resources on ‘ticking boxes’, at the expense of 
producing excellent work.
· Debate about true value of the arts. The government and arts quangos 
should promote the importance of art for its own sake.

For more information or to arrange an interview with the book's editor or 
contributors, please contact Munira Mirza: [log in to unmask] or 
07980 551 945.

--
Notes to editors:

1. Culture Vultures: Is UK arts policy is damaging the arts?, edited by 
Munira Mirza, is published by the independent think tank Policy Exchange, 
London. It is sponsored by the City of London.

2. The chapters look at the impact of the arts in the field of urban 
regeneration, the economy, health and wellbeing, public space and community 
cohesion, and social inclusion. The contributors are:

Josie Appleton, arts and cultural commentator.
Dr. Eleonora Belfiore, Research Fellow in Centre for Cultural Policy Studies 
at Warwick University specialising in social impact of arts.
Andrew Brighton, former Head of Events at Tate Modern and arts writer.
James Heartfield, University of Westminster, writer and lecturer on cultural 
regeneration.
Munira Mirza, University of Kent and writer/broadcaster on arts and 
multiculturalism.
Professor Sara Selwood, Head of Cultural Policy and Management at City 
University and the country’s leading expert on arts statistical trends.

3. Policy Exchange is an independent think tank whose mission is to develop 
and promote fresh policies that encourage freedom for individuals and 
communities.