Should the UK's rich foreigners give more to arts?

Dame Vivien Duffield stands up to be counted; follow the link to this FT article

Philanthropic Atheist Part iii

Oil, water colour, indian ink on gesso prepared board

DP Kilfeather 2010

Dame Vivien makes a particularly pertinent point at this time of vicious government cuts. There are rumours circulating about smaller UK public art galleries that are seriously concerned they may not have the financial resources to continue operating into 2012 and may have to close down. Traditional sources of funding are drying up and a vacuum is being created. Dame Vivien is drawing attention to seriously wealthy foreign residents and the UK Nouveau Riche who have disposable assets but perhaps culturally are not well disposed to philanthropy for whatever reason. The reasons may include an unwillingness to take time out from making money to spend money, or cultural barrenness almost certainly through no fault of their own. I believe the reasons apply equally to UK nouveau riche citizens as well as wealthy foreign residents in the UK. 

Part of the solution are the existing and new tax break initiatives, but these have to be marketed to and managed for the prospective donor. But generous tax breaks should not be the main reason for philanthropy in the arts. Call me a Red if you like, but philanthropy should be motivated by a need to put something back into society in return for the wealth provided by that society. My work in progress art project "The Philanthropic Atheist" refers to this and the personal psychological conflicts that the powerful and wealthy may experience.


The government cuts in process are proving to be more divisive than I originally anticipated. This government's policy is going to put access to art even more out of reach to the majority of people in the UK. It is with some trepidation therefore that I am commenting on the need for greater philanthropic contribution; this is, "definitely not me supporting David Cameron's so called big society", but nevertheless adding my voice to the call for those that have taken most from our society to put something back.

But is it Art?

This week, my photo book Trafalgar 200 Through the Lens, was made available as an ebook by Amazon. In this format it can be very cheaply read in colour on PC, MAC, ipod, ipad and Kindle in black and white. Quite a significant step for the book, but perhaps not such a significant step for me, "an artist".

Trafalgar 200 Through the Lens
Tall Ship Grand Turk re-enacting the role of HMS Victory

Having prematurely retired from a health destroying career as a capitalist puppet, I decided to attempt to discover my philosophy, redefine my life and do something "useful". Photography seemed to be a suitable and readily available medium for me to enter the art world; particularly as I had been attending a fine art photography programme at Brighton University.

Having equipped myself with some pretty impressive pro photographers kit, I managed to nag my way onto a formal Royal Navy press accreditation list, competing with the likes of Reuters, The Press Association and Rupert Murdoch's Titles and amazingly got myself formalised as an independent Trafalgar 200 photojournalist. The Royal Navy gave me the red carpet treatment, affording me access to helicopters and just about everyone I requested, from the most junior naval rating right up to the First Sea Lord and from a distance, Queen Elizabeth. Trafalgar 200 Through the Lens was the result, a book of 400 photographs.

Since then five years of intensive fast track art education and experience have led me to question this book. Can I declare it art? Does it work as art? Is it valid for such a book to have duality of purpose, as an editorial journal and art?

For me, to qualify as art, my own work must be intentional and have a clear reason for being. Both achieved through a mix of research, intensive consideration, action as a consequence and self criticism. Much, if not all of my work aims to subvert conventional or establishment thinking. To present an alternative view for audience consideration. Many of the pictures in Trafalgar 200 Through the Lens are in line with this philosophy but my own text and captions subvert me and irritate me greatly. The texts and captions were written soon after my retirement from business and and reflect my establishment conditioning. My textual subversiveness meekly shows through in statements such as "Photographs will always be read in different ways depending on contextual, social, political and personal factors". This  attempt to have my audience read between the written and visual lines was feeble and ineffective. Today it would be different.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir AlanWest

Today perhaps I would juxtapose Warlord with Accountable Human Lord

There has been an overwhelming temptation to withdraw the book and reissue it with new hard hitting social comments. But, that would be disloyal to the book, a denial of its status as an artefact, of myself and where I come from; my uneducated, rebellious Belfast roots through middle class indoctrination through to artist.

The book has had first class editorial reviews. The only art world comment invited so far was from a Cork Street Gallery owner who generously suggested, "it is an excellent editorial journal with some very good fine art content".

Amazon UK

Amazon USA

Addendum: For readers new to the never ending, "but is it art?", debate by the artworld, this link might perhaps be a useful starting point:  Marcel Duchamp, a short video on art on YouTube.

I'll sing thee songs of Araby. James Joyce's Dubliners No. 5.

I'll sing thee songs of Araby.

I'll sing thee songs of Araby. Draft source drawing for the 5th Dubliners Contemporary Contexutalisation. Responding to the ordination as Catholic priests of Anglican Bishops, John Broadhurst, Keith Newton and Andrew Burnham; 15th January 2011.

The Ethic Aesthetic: Fine Art and Social Exclusion

The Ethic Aesthetic: Fine Art and Social Exclusion: "Art accessible to everybody? Eudaemonism Part I. Oil on gesso board. 30 x 30 inches. Part 1 of 3 boards by Des Kilfeather 2010. Over the h..."

Fine Art and Social Exclusion

Art accessible to everybody?

Over the holiday I was particularly taken by The Guardian Obituary of Brian Stewart by Dea Birkett, (The Guardian 24 December 2010).

Brian, (whom I had never met), died aged just 57, appallingly falling victim to icy roads on his bicycle. As director of the Falmouth Art Gallery he had established a reputation as a "pioneer in making art accessible to all".  This included "baby painting" where baby painting sessions were held in the same gallery space where "high art" was showing. This was through a firm belief that one can never be too young to be exposed to high art.

This type of pioneering work is essential if fine art is to become truly accessible; and to ensure we avoid the temptation to "dumb down" fine art to make it more intellectually attractive and accessible to the masses. The challenge is to raise the knowledge and interest of people, to help them engage, eye to eye, with art in all of its forms.

But, the real risk to accessibility remains the global unfair distribution of wealth. As typified here in the UK by the class system that appears to be getting even more firmly established through for example the recent education cuts and higher education fees structures. Recent higher education fees restructuring in particular is socially divisive and reinforces social exclusion from the arts. Ensuring that art remains available mostly to an upper middle class privileged minority.

Plenty of work is happening in the artworld to counter this tendency. For example I have been on the periphery of initiatives by Portsmouth City Council and The Pallant House Gallery in Chichester to fight social exclusion.  These include art access programmes for people normally considered to be at the bottom of the social ladder, ethnic minorities, immigrants caught in the middle, those on benefits and the incapacitated. However these programmes should not be solely dependent on volunteers and charity (even though volunteers and philanthropists will always have a key role).  It is the job of central government to ensure the well being and education of all people no matter where they fit into society and this must be achieved through properly funded education. 

Improper or divisive funding of education causes social exclusion of possibly the majority of the talented, intellectually capable people that we have in this world.