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Dateline: 10th January, 2008
McMaster Review Published Sir Brian McMaster's review, Supporting excellence in the arts - from measurement to judgement, was published today. In July last year James Purnell, the Secretary of State for Culture, asked Sir Brian McMaster, former Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, to undertake a review to report on:
In his introduction, the Secretary of State said, "I wholeheartedly support the findings of this timely and comprehensive review," and added that it will "mark a real shift in how we view and talk about the arts in this country." Of great significance to funding of the arts is his comment: "It is also time to trust our artists and our organisations to do what they do best - to create the most excellent work they can - and to strive for what is new and exciting, rather than what is safe and comfortable. To do this we must free artists and cultural organisations from outdated structures and burdensome targets, which can act as millstones around the neck of creativity. "The move from measurement to judgement which Sir Brian suggests," he goes on, "is a vital one, and one that will allow all of us to articulate better the importance of the arts, how and where they add value to our society and why, now more than ever, they are deserving of public funding." McMaster makes a significant point about the pursuit of excelllence in the arts in his own introduction. "There is also an important difference," he says, "between what I define as excellence and what I would call good practice. Excellence is about experience and good practice is what leads to it. There can be no doubting the value of excellent administration, financial management and research; all of these are factors that contribute to excellence of experience. Good practice alone, however, is not what I mean by excellence."
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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