Birmingham is the second biggest city in the fifth largest national economy in the world. Now in an energetic process of regeneration, it needs investment in contemporary visual art more than ever. This applies as much to the private/ corporate sector as it does to the local authority, just as it did in the post-war years and Birmingham’s Victorian heyday.
Great world cities look good; they are impressive through their built environment. They have a network of museums, galleries and alternative venues that not only contribute much to the economy, but also they provide vital social spaces.
Birmingham is now in an energetic process of regeneration, it needs investment in contemporary visual art more than ever.
Visual art, like architecture, is an “ambient” art form, always around, day and night, usually freely available and extremely free in the ways in which it can be experienced. Indoors or outdoors, it concerns everyday experience, encouraging a closer look at every aspect of human life. A city without a smart grasp of visual art is a much poorer place, sometimes literally, as it lacks a key attraction to tourists and then visitors, and potential new residents.
In this vein, visual art must not be thought of as happening exclusively in some kind of pilgrimage destination, an experience restricted to temples of art. It should be sewn properly into all parts of the urban fabric that constitutes a city like Birmingham. A thriving visual art market is envisaged, whereby hundreds of artists, often graduates from excellent colleges, can sustain careers in their chosen professional field. These individuals undertake a “primary industry”, proudly acknowledged by the city, that gives rise to new business centred on commercial galleries and a number of serious local collectors. The patronage of the latter often makes good sense purely in terms of rising prices for works of art way beyond rates of inflation, highlighted by record sales this year at Sothebys and Christies.
The Visual scheme is an incentive first step in a long journey from where we are to the cultural scene we are dreaming of for Birmingham and the West Midlands.
The Visual scheme is an alternative arts space that takes advantage of new technology. It is an incentive first step in a long journey from where we are to the cultural scene we are dreaming of for Birmingham and the West Midlands. It stimulates a nascent artistic supply and demand; through its competitiveness it conveys the importance of artistic excellence and thus contributes to an improved quality of life that the entire city and region can benefit from. It’s a good thing.
— About the author
Writer, curator and Director of Ikon Gallery, Birmingham since 1999.