Memorandum submitted by the Mayor of London
INTRODUCTION
1. The Mayor of London's interest in responding
to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into "Protecting,
Preserving and Making Accessible Our Nation's Heritage",
results from three main issues:
— London is home to many of the nation's
key heritage institutions;
— London draws over 13 million non-resident
visitors each year, with many coming to visit London's heritage
institutions, providing great economic benefits to the capital;
— In 2012, London will host the Olympic
Games and Paralympic Games, major showcases for Britain's sporting
talent, as well as its cultural and heritage institutions.
2. In 2004, the Mayor of London published his
"Cultural Strategy for London"—a document which
focused on sustaining and promoting the excellence, creativity,
access and value in London's cultural institutions.
3. The Mayor's Cultural Strategy Plan recognises
that the "excellence and quality of culture in London will
only be achieved by ensuring that London's diverse communities
are reflected and active in the cultural life of the city."
4. As part of the process to develop and sustain
equal access to London's heritage institutions the Mayor commissioned
a report on African and Asian heritage in London, which was informed
by a sector-wide inquiry process implemented by the Mayor's Commission
on African and Asian Heritage (MCAAH). The resulting report, "Delivering
Shared Heritage", was launched at the Victoria and Albert
Museum in July 2005.
5. The Commission's report highlighted a number
of key areas that need to be addressed to increase the participation
of London's black and minority ethnic (BME) communities:
— Making heritage collections relevant,
vibrant and accessible to BME communities;
— Developing equitable partnerships
with BME communities and heritage organisations;
— Diversifying the workforce and governing
bodies of London's heritage institutions;
— Developing BME audiences/users within
museums and archives;
— Investing in and developing BME heritage
institutions;
— Embedding equality principles in
the governing principles of heritage institutions;
— The development of strategies for
preserving the heritage of BME communities.
What the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
should identify as priorities in the forthcoming Heritage White
Paper
6. In developing excellence, creativity,
access and value in London heritage institutions. The forthcoming
White Paper should recognise the role access to heritage and culture
play for all the nations communities, underpinning our sense of
social cohesion, social inclusion, citizenship and sense of belonging
to Britain.
7. Within Britain's heritage sector there is
an incomplete picture of Britain's BME communities' histories
and contributions to Britain's economic, intellectual, artistic
and scientific histories. Currently, Britain's national and local
collections fail to tell the multiplicity of stories within Britain's
history and its relationships with the rest of the world. There
needs to be a recognition of the interlocking relationships between
Britain and the rest of the world, and how this has affected every
aspect of national and everyday culture.
8. It is only when these inter-connected narratives
are revealed within the nation's heritage institutions can BME
groups feel that they have equal access to heritage in Britain.
An acknowledgement of these diverse histories would aid greater
social cohesion and integration within both the host communities
and the BME communities of this nation. A complete and scholarly
representation of BME heritage in Britain would complement the
construction of contemporary British national identity as a multi-cultural
and multi-faith identity.
9. Funds need to be made available to undertake
the necessary scholarly work needed to reveal the significance
of London's heritage collections to culturally diverse groups,
and the economic and tourist potential of this approach to it's
collections. Archives, Libraries and Museums (ALM) London note:
". . . there can't be a generalist or specialist
museum collection in London that doesn't in some way reflect the
city's centuries long position at the heart of a network of worldwide
exploration, trade (including the trade in human beings) and imperialism.
[These relationships have impacted on] every aspect of the capital's
wealth and daily life, on science, aesthetics, technology and
culture. [Caroline Reed, Revisiting Collections: Revealing significance,
ALM: London 2005].
10. In order to facilitate greater participation
of BME groups in the heritage sector, national and local institutions
need to formulate more inclusive collection and acquisition strategies
for collecting and preserving the heritage of BME groups.
11. To aid access to heritage for BME communities
there needs to be a strengthening of BME community heritage groups,
through organisational capacity building and infrastructural development.
The investment in BME heritage groups would also have the desired
effect of increasing the pool of BME heritage workers; building
up BME audiences for heritage; and stimulating partnerships between
national and local heritage organisations.
12. Currently, very little work is being undertaken
in the development and monitoring of action plans that target
and seek to address culturally diverse audiences. There is a need
for the development and implementation of standards and systems
for the collection and monitoring of quantitative and qualitative
audience data. The funding for this research needs to come centrally
from the heritage sector as part of its audience development strategies.
13. In order to ensure that diversity is a mainstream,
not a marginal issue, the MCAAH recommended the embedding of equality
principles into the governing principles of heritage institutions.
Funding, with particular reference to the adequacy
of the budget for English Heritage and for the museums and galleries,
the impact of the London 2012 Olympics on Lottery funding for
heritage projects
14. The success of London's bid for the 2012
Olympics was largely due to the Olympic bid team's projection
of London as a dynamic, vibrant and diverse world city, as outlined
in the Mayor's Cultural Strategy for London 2004. Currently, London's
heritage institutions are undermining the projection of London
as a world city by failing to understand the legal, ethical and
business case for diversity within the capital.
15. Museums need to prioritise the diversification
of their workforce; currently a mere 2% of London's heritage sector
staff is drawn from London's BME communities, despite London having
a BME population of 30% and rising. In order to maximise its potential
as a world city, London's heritage sector needs to utilise the
untapped potential of its existing diverse resident populations.
Funds should be made available to develop training and employment
strategies to diversify the heritage sector's workforce in time
for the Olympics. The diversification of the heritage sector's
workforce would further aid to the image of Britain as a forward
thinking, culturally democratic society, as projected within London's
Olympic bid.
Whether there is there an adequate supply of professionals
with conservation skills
16. Within the area of conservation and heritage
skills, BME participation is grossly under represented in the
nation as a whole and this is even more serious in London. In
order to address this issue and in order to gain the widest pool
of talented people, the heritage sector needs to draw upon the
skills of the broadest cross-section of Britain's multi cultural
working community. Funds should be made available to develop employment
strategies that seek to train, attract and retain a diverse sector
workforce. The MCAAH report has highlighted this as a priority
area.
January 2006
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