Arts Council England mired in row over ‘political statements’ warning

Artists, writers and musicians have reacted with fury to an Arts Council England (ACE) warning that “political statements” could break funding agreements.

In a series of updates recently made to its policies, ACE advised the organisations it funds to be wary of “overtly political or activist” statements made in a personal capacity by people linked to them.

The guidance stated: “Reputational risk can be generated not just by the organisation and its decision but also by staff and other individuals associated with the organisation acting in a personal capacity.”

In a list of examples that might increase reputational risk, ACE included “activity that might be considered overtly political and activist and goes beyond your company’s core purpose and partnerships with organisations that might be perceived as being in conflict with the purposes of public funding of culture”.

It said “any activity” undertaken by an organisation can bring reputational risk to ACE, “regardless of whether the activity is directly funded through [its] grant or not”.

Figures from across the arts and culture industry criticised the guidance, saying it was akin to censorship.

The writer Robert Macfarlane wrote on X: “Could we please see a full paper-trail for the reasons behind this ‘updating (of) policies’ concerning political statements by, uh, artists?”

Feargal Sharkey, the former vocalist of the Undertones and a campaigner against the pollution of British rivers, echoed Macfarlane’s comment, adding: “When was [ACE] or indeed anyone else ever appointed censures of what can and cannot be deemed to be culture?”

The bestselling author Matt Haig said it looked like ACE is “planning to cancel people’s funding if they say ‘political statements’. Not illegal statements. Not discriminatory ones. Political statements. The kind artists have made through history. Scary.”

The film-maker Asif Kapadia retweeted a 2022 ACE statement of solidarity with Ukraine, and asked: “When is ‘political’ okay for the Arts Council?”

The poet Nikita Gill said: “Very normal for the Arts Council to turn around and say ARTISTS of all people should not make political statements.”

And fellow poet Anthony Anaxagorou said: “We better all just shut up, make art that’s as interesting as a sack of porridge and hope nobody asks us any questions about our politics, principles or convictions.”

He added that “art is inherently political” and “what ACE are saying is they don’t want art practitioners calling out a genocide”.

Within hours of the news gathering momentum on social media after a report in the online arts sector journal Arts Professional, ACE published a statement apologising for its lack of clarity and stressing its commitment to freedom of expression.

It said it had “refreshed” its framework on managing reputational risks in response to requests for guidance from leaders of cultural organisations on how to best navigate the current “polarised” environment in which they work.

“For the avoidance of doubt, our guidance does not seek to stop any artist or organisation from making the art they want to make, or speaking out in any way they wish – including in ways that challenge institutions and authorities,” ACE said on Wednesday.

“The guidance does, however, set out a series of steps for organisations to go through, to ensure that if they, or people associated with them, are planning activity that might be viewed as controversial, they have thought through, and so far as possible mitigated, the risk to themselves and crucially to their staff and to the communities they serve.”

It added that while it respected and defended “the rights of individual artists to freedom of expression, political or otherwise”, in practice it understood “that some individual artists – for example, artistic directors – are strongly associated with the organisations for whom they work, and as a result, their personal positions may be taken to be those of the wider organisation”.

This week it was announced that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport would be conducting a full-scale review into ACE, which will determine whether it should continue to operate in its current form.

Some have perceived ACE’s updates as part of a wider trend to silence political dissent. The Belfast rap group Kneecap has said it plans to take legal action after it was blocked from receiving a £15,000 grant under the Music Export Growth Scheme because the Conservative government objected to it.

A spokesperson for the UK business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, said they did not want to hand taxpayers’ money “to people that oppose the United Kingdom itself”.