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General Information | FAQ Research
What do we mean by 'culture'?Defining culture is a headache, which has wracked many bright minds over the years. Sheila McKechnie, Director of the Consumers Association, said: "Culture is what we grow people in." Brian Eno, musician and contemporary thinker, reckons: "Culture is everything you don't have to do". It's a seductive idea, until you consider that it would include hanging around the bus-shelter drunk on cheap cider. The artist Eric Gill, on the other hand, thought culture was represented by the work that you did; the play looked after itself. Plenty of room for debate there, then! Culture South West has adopted an inclusive definition. One that rounds up all those activities which help improve both the quality of people's lives and the way they feel about the place in which they live; that add to a sense of belonging for those living here, and attract our visitors. Call them culture, leisure, recreation, whatever. The shorthand word we've chosen for all of them is culture. The common denominator is the enjoyment, inspiration, education or challenge they provide. The definition makes no distinction between so-called 'high' or 'low' culture. After all, what is the difference between, say, enjoying opera or a Punch and Judy show? To the respective rapt audiences wrapped in the plot, surprisingly little. No, culture as we see it is relevant to everyone either living in the South West or just passing through - whether they are young or old, whether they're in our cities, towns or villages. It not only involves celebrating the past, and enjoying the present but embracing the future as well. New technologies such as the Internet are already beginning to have a big impact on the way people access cultural activities. They will become increasingly important in our region in particular because of its size and largely rural nature. When you tot all this up, you begin to realise the scale and significance of this current of cultural energy in the South West. It is reliably estimated that more than one in five of the region's jobs are in the cultural sector and there are many others that are indirectly dependent. What do we mean by 'South West'?The administrative boundaries of the South West have created the biggest region in England, stretching from Swindon in the East and the Isles of Scilly in the West. It covers the county and unitary authority areas of Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Somerset, Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset, Devon, Torbay and Plymouth, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and (for Museums, Libraries and Archives) the Channel Islands. Some living at one end feel they belong to an entirely different area. Some at the other are proud to consider themselves part of a separate country. The South West corrals together the most extraordinarily diverse set of communities, scenery, heritage, tradition - and opportunities. Why is culture important in the South West?Survey after lifestyle survey confirm it; the South West is where a majority of people in the country would live if they had absolute freedom of choice. And if they have to settle for a holiday anywhere in Britain, again, they say, they'd come West. 21 million of them prove the point by doing just that every year. And our cultural activities and assets play a major role in that. Most of the five million or so of us already born or drawn here would say it has something to do with 'quality of life'. The fact that so many artists, poets, writers, craft-workers and musicians have chosen to live and create here, continuing a rich tradition of artistic endeavour hasn't happened by accident. The creative industries and cultural tourism are vital both for our economy and the self-confidence we project - underpinning our growing reputation as a go-ahead and innovative region. The statistics pile up; it's worth a cool billion to the regional economy... 45 million people visit our attractions every year... Film and TV generate over £100 million of expenditure annually... About five percent of the workforce are employed in the creative industries. 'Culture' in its widest sense is a crucial part of the regional fabric, and it was in need of a body like Culture South West to promote it. Why were the Regional Cultural Consortiums established?Our Consortium is one of eight, plus the London Cultural Strategy Group, established by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Chris Smith, then Secretary of State, outlined the rationale for establishing the Consortiums: "Our cultural development plays a growing part in all our lives. It is important for its own sake, uplifting the quality of life of young and old, in town and country, through what we do and experience in cinemas, galleries, museums, libraries, concert halls, sports fields, arenas and clubs, in the broadcast media that comes into our homes and in many other places. It also finds vital expression in the creative industries and tourism, providing jobs and economic benefits that are of increasing significance to many local communities as well as to the country as a whole. There is a diversity and distinctiveness in our cultural life and I want the Regional Cultural Consortiums to bring together people who can help make the most of culture and creativity in each part of England." Who funds Culture South West?Culture South West receives funding each year from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to cover core staff salaries and running costs. Each regional cultural consortium receives the same amount of funding and one of the tasks of the RCC Boards is to decide how this funding should be spent in the region. In the South West, it has been agreed that this money should be spent on a very small core staff team so that there is some funding remaining to assist with key initiatives and help deliver the action plan outlined in the regional cultural strategy, In Search of Chunky Dunsters (2001, PDF or RTF format). Culture South West also receives financial support from the South West Regional Development Agency. Does Culture South West provide funding?Culture South West is not a funder, although it does work closely with a number of key funding agencies in the region and nationally. Is Culture South West part of the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA)?Culture South West is not part of the Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) although we are based with SWRDA at their offices in Exeter. Culture South West works closely with SWRDA on issues relating to culture in the region. One of Culture South West's key roles is to inform and advise SWRDA on issues relating to culture and how this can contribute to prosperity in the region. Who is Chunky Dunster?The man who kindly lent his name to our regional cultural strategy document - In Search of Chunky Dunsters (PDF or RTF format) - is 57 year old Gerrard Dunster (or 'Chunky' to all who know him). He has been a member of 'the Marketeers', one of Bridgwater's 13 big carnival clubs, since it was founded over 40 years ago. The carnival tradition is strong throughout the South West, but nowhere is it bigger than in Bridgwater in Somerset, where every year 130,000 people from all over the country gather in November for the procession of some 125 floats, lit by upwards of 20,000 bulbs! It's a glitzy evening's entertainment and the culmination of a full year of planning, fund-raising, construction and choreography. Chunky's whole family gets involved and the man himself is representative of the many community activists in the region who help make culture in the South West the rich and varied thing it is. |
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