大象传媒

Today we are announcing a new creative partnership that we all hope will energise audiences, artists - and the creative industries. This is unprecedented, it’s a new level of collaboration. It’s going to have impact at a really local level and it’s going to amplify the UK’s creative voice at a time our country is redefining its relationship with the world. For the 大象传媒, it's going to change the way we work. We’re calling this collaboration Culture UK.

Check against delivery

I’m delighted we’re all here in our Radio Theatre - home to so many great broadcasts over the years. But let me say, straight away, this event is not just about the 大象传媒. Or any single one of us.

It’s about all of us - getting behind a new approach to collaborating, commissioning and creating arts all across the country.

I’m here with The Arts Councils of England, of Northern Ireland and of Wales - and Creative Scotland. We’ve come together because we want the UK to be the most culturally engaged and creative country in the world - where everybody, wherever they come from, can take part.

This matters because culture changes lives. Culture creates jobs. It brings people together. But also celebrates our differences. It makes us believe in the future.

I’ve seen - time and time again - the impact arts, culture and creativity can have.

When I was growing up in Birkenhead I couldn’t have dreamt that one day I’d be leading one of the world’s great cultural organisations. I’m talking about the Royal Opera House, of course!

That doesn’t happen by chance. It happens because someone - or something you’ve seen or heard - inspires you.

In my case, it was a headteacher at my primary school who decided we should start the school day with a piece of classical music. And that single experience opened my eyes to endless possibilities.

Many of you know this to be true because you are living it - and inspiring people every day.

But we know too that there are serious challenges - risks even - that make working together more necessary, more urgent than ever before.

Everyday I hear worrying, new stories that threaten the cultural landscape we’ve all grown up with. Far too few of us have access to the arts, there are communities we simply don’t engage with, and that has to change.

And for those arts organisations that are serving communities - times have never been harder. If we do nothing, there’ll be places closing their doors for good.

We know that the cost of technology is holding back a sector that should be leading creative innovation.

We know that - when it comes to the arts - children simply aren’t getting the same opportunities as many of us did to their detriment and to ours.

And we know that all these things can be harder to tackle in a UK that is committed, as we all are, to cultural devolution.

But devolution does not mean dissolution. Culture is one of the very few things that unites us - and expresses our identity. And we ignore that fact at our peril. So funders, commissioners, government, broadcasters and tech companies - we all need to work together like never before.

And let’s not forget we are lucky in this country. The United Kingdom is the greatest place for arts and culture in the world. We have extraordinary creative voices across our nations and regions. The best theatres, museums and producers. And we now have a set of funders who are as dynamic and engaged as I’ve ever known.

All this presents an irresistible opportunity - to do something collectively.

Today we are announcing a new creative partnership that we all hope will energise audiences, artists - and the creative industries.

This is unprecedented, it’s a new level of collaboration. It’s going to have impact at a really local level and it’s going to amplify the UK’s creative voice at a time our country is redefining its relationship with the world. For the 大象传媒, it's going to change the way we work.

We’re calling this collaboration Culture UK.

And by the way, we're already talking with the British Council and I hope many of you will want to get involved.

Culture UK means genuinely working together, doing business week-in, week-out. For the first time thinking long-term, strategically, across the UK and across all the arts.

I experienced the impact of working this way when I chaired the cultural festival of the 2012 Olympics. I learnt so much then about being part of something bigger, coming together with other organisations to do things we couldn’t do on our own. And I experienced the 大象传媒 at its best - as a catalyst for creativity. All of us involved in 2012 did. And that’s why I’m convinced we need to work that way again.

We’re going to focus on three things:

Delivering creative landmarks

First of all, we’re going to use our convening power to build moments - festivals - where we bring audiences together around a theme or an idea.

We did that last year with Shakespeare’s anniversary, re-imagining his plays on stage and screen, but also in schools and communities across the country. All of us - working together - reached over 30 million people in the UK and more than 200 countries around the globe. That’s what can happen when you collaborate.

Another great example was Jeremy Deller’s project We’re Here Because We’re Here. We all backed him and 14-18-NOW - a brilliant commission by the way - and it caught the imagination of over 30 million of us.

These are landmark moments, festivals of Britain, when collaboration pays off hugely when more people, who don’t normally think culture is for them, take part.

That’s what we want to achieve - but, for the first time, consistently AND in a joined up way.

Working with the Arts Councils and Creative Scotland, we’ll have a development team representing every corner of our country, modelled on the Cultural Olympiad. That starts next month.

This means we’ll plan across the whole of the UK - amplifying the extraordinary creativity that goes on and supporting the best ideas wherever they come from.

Working together, Culture UK is committing to at least three big, landmark moments a year - building on some great collaborations already underway. We’re starting this autumn with poetry. It will be a festival based in Hull - but on a global stage.

We’re also building on a big idea for opera. We’ve already heard from the V&A, The Royal Opera House and the 大象传媒 about a new collaboration but now - as of today - we have the British Council and eight opera companies joining in for Opera Passion – a live digital festival - available to anyone, wherever they happen to live, at the touch of a screen. This is a huge new collaboration.

Culture UK is now discussing lots of other ideas and I can’t wait to see what we plot together to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage next spring, the great exhibition of the north, or - further ahead - mark the 50th anniversary of the Troubles.

We’re forming here the most powerful commissioning network we’ve ever known in the arts.

Let me be very clear about the 大象传媒’s role. I want us to help turn up the volume to create moments of scale that no other organisation can. We’ve got a network of television, radio and online services that speak to the world - and to the country. We’ve got local services the length and breadth of the UK - and I want them to play their part too.

Expect a much more consistent, joined up approach to the arts right across our nations and regions. It’s going to give millions of people access to the arts - some for the very first time.

That brings me on to my second point, about how we commission. That’s going to change too.

Changing how we commission

We want to enable more artists and arts organisations to be media producers - developing new business models and new audiences.

Today, the 大象传媒 is creating a £4m Artists First commissioning budget to help co-fund, and co-curate new works. And our Arts Council partners - and Creative Scotland - are going to build on that too.

In short, we'd like to see the number of organisations producing high quality media content at least double over the next five years
- it should lead to an explosion of new production talent.

Today, we’re announcing 26 new commissions with new work from (and with) some of the most influential artists working in Britain today - Danny Boyle working with Boy Blue; Rufus Norris; Crystal Pite; and Wayne McGregor.

And - we’re investing the money right across the country:

• Tamasha theatre is developing a story with local taxi drivers, that take us through the streets of Middlesbrough. That’s for 大象传媒 Two.
• Bristol Old Vic is rehearsing a show - that’s going to re-imagine Handel’s Messiah on stage and screen.
• And in Northern Ireland, Derry Playhouse is launching Playcraft - a piece of theatre that will be performed simultaneously on stage - and in the virtual world of Minecraft.

Many of these commissions wouldn’t be happening without the vision and leadership of both Battersea Arts Centre and The Space. We are investing in artists - and arts organisations - talking directly to audiences.

Sharing technology

Finally - Culture UK is committing to sharing technology more widely across the sector.

I don’t need to tell any of you that technology is changing what we can offer; and what audiences expect of us. If we don’t innovate - we die. It’s as simple as that. And I’m determined to use the 大象传媒’s convening power and expertise to do more for our industry.

Digital and tech are already at the heart of some venues like the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the V&A and Wayne MacGregor’s amazing studio that opened just last night in Stratford East. And a few are starting to do extraordinary work in augmented reality.

But, for many, the opportunities are few and far between. We want to change that.

We’re putting 大象传媒 Live - our digital live event platform - at the disposal of the sector. It was created for 24/7 coverage for the Olympics and this Summer it’ll be used by major festivals - like Manchester, Hay and Edinburgh - for their events, for the first time. And we’re doing some exciting work in virtual reality with the Edinburgh Festivals and Scottish Ballet too.

But that’s just a start.

We have a world class Research and Development team at the 大象传媒 and I want to share their expertise.

Working closely with the sector, and tech partners, I want us to look at new ways to captivate new audiences - storytelling in VR; immersive theatrical experiences; big creative collaborations that can only exist in the digital space.

By the way, it was great to see the minister, Matt Hancock, write so emphatically yesterday about combining culture and digital. We’re already speaking with the DCMS about all this.

We’re only just beginning to imagine the possibilities and I’m really looking forward to getting the work started next month.

So - Culture UK:

• A partnership the scale of which we’ve never seen before.
• Delivering big creative landmarks each year right across the UK.
• Changing how we commission - opening up the 大象传媒 to artists and arts organisations.
• Sharing technology - with the 大象传媒 acting as a genuine partner - and as a convener.

So that we can all throw our doors open to new voices, new stories, new experiences - on an unprecedented scale - and give every one of us the chance to take part.

If we get this right, and work together over the next five years, I’m convinced we will make a huge difference to people and to communities all over the UK.

I talked at the start about my experience growing up - and the way culture really changed my life. It inspired me to do something my parents couldn’t have dreamt of. And I want everyone to have that chance. That’s why today matters so much to me.

Thank you.

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