Public art has show its importance during the pandemic: Yvette Huddleston

There have been numerous examples of the innovation and creativity of the arts in connecting with audiences – from online choirs, to lockdown theatre and television dramas, to virtual gallery tours.

However, we do need to stay alert (to borrow a phrase) to the fact that the arts and culture sector is facing a serious life-threatening crisis.

So how do we ensure its survival? It’s not just about lobbying those in power to recognise the enormous value of the arts and pressing them to fund them accordingly. (The £1.57bn rescue package announced by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden earlier this month is a start, but more will be required.) It is also about making sure that everyone knows the arts are for them. And perhaps that is one of the few good things to have come out of the pandemic – the democratisation of access to the arts. It would be good to see that continue and expand.

Debate and conversation are undoubtedly a good thing, but they lose their value if they don’t result in substantive change. A recent example of this involved a piece of public art. The statue of slave trader Edward Colston had long been a contentious issue in Bristol, with calls for it to be removed dating back many years.

But as the decision was passed from one committee to another, nothing actually happened, so eventually, as we saw last month, direct action happened. However you feel about the way in which the statue was removed, the fact is it needed to go.

It is not about ‘rewriting history’, as the apologists would say, it is about acknowledging it properly, not something we are very good at in this country.

This week, in another example of direct action, acclaimed sculptor Marc Quinn placed a sculpture of Black Lives Matter protestor and Bristol resident Jen Reid on the vacancy left by the Colston statue.

The sculpture, Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 – a powerful image of Reid standing with her fist raised – was removed by Bristol Council after just 24 hours in place, but as Quinn said himself it was never intended as a permanent replacement.

However, in its short time in the public sphere, this work of art made its presence felt, communicated a potent message – of the moment – and contributed to the debate.

In other words, it did what art has always done – it gives us pause for thought, reflects back to us our humanity, comments on the pressing issues of the day and contributes to moving the narrative forward.

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