The Extreme Staycation

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown The advert below came out this week and sent the internet into meltdown. At a time when us artistic folk are feeling a bit taken advantage of and undervalued, this was the cherry on top. The advert was ostensibly to encourage young people to think about applying for jobs in cyber but all it did was to underline the idea that jobs in the arts are frivolous and not "proper" jobs.  This came the week after we were advised by the government to consider re-training. Without the arts, we would all be poorer - culturally, emotionally and as a country, financially.  The arts are what has kept us all going during this unending pandemic and anyone who claims otherwise is a liar.  If you have watched TV, a film, listened to music, read a book, looked at any art - you've enjoyed the fruits of someone's labour, often many years of study and hard work. The arts should never be seen as "not a viable job". I w...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown The image below is a list of statistics from The Stage newspaper, the figures are from the Arts Index covering years from 2007-2018.  It is pretty depressing reading and doesn't give me a lot of hope for the current government to turn their ideas around and properly fund the arts. The UK is a world leader in the arts.  Our theatres, concert halls, galleries etc are what attract millions of tourist here every year, adding nearly 10% to the UK's GDP. I've said it before, I'll say it again.  What have we all been doing, more than ever, during lockdown?  We have turned to the arts for solace, for entertainment - TV, film, radio, books, concerts, theatre, opera and ballet broadcasts.  Without investment, we won't have these incredible works, this breadth of talent. We need to stop seeing art and entertainment as a frivolity and something that can survive on it's own.  We need to recognise their ...