It was noted in June that there are presently approximately 60,000 people working in the North East’s creative and cultural industries. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness stated that she wants to see this number increase. It was reported that her ten – year local growth plan aims at transforming the region into a cultural powerhouse to rival current heavyweights, such as London and Glasgow.
Kim McGuinness
McGuinness is quoted as saying: “We want to treat our culture and creative industries the same way we treat green energy, advanced manufacturing or other traditional sectors that you would expect of the North East. As mayor, I’m going to make sure we put our money where our mouth is.”
It was also noted that Northumbria University is at the heart of this development, with McGuinness explaining that, “Northumbria [University] plays a strong role in helping us build an ecosystem of culture and creativity. They’re a really important partner.”
There has recently been an important investment of £5 million to create a new writing centre for the region. The new centre, which is set to be based within Newcastle’s historic cultural and creative zone, known as Creative Central NCL, was led by the charity New Writing North in partnership with the university.
New Writing North
Dr Neil Percival, co-director of cultural partnerships at the university, commented: “We’re keen to widen access to the publishing industry. The real-world learning experiences students will gain from working with these partners will make them a key part of the future of the creative and cultural sector in the region.”
Percival was quoted as going on to say that, “with Live Theatre, our creative writing students have been able to see their scripts read on stage, with professional actors and a creative director,” says Percival.
“Our partnership with North East Museums provides placement opportunities and projects on their sites all over the region for students across many subject areas including education, health and law, not only within the arts, and our fine art students have their graduation show professionally curated at Baltic and other galleries in Newcastle.
“You can’t replicate that kind of real-world experience. They are very powerful, transformational opportunities that would be difficult to come by without the cultural connections we provide,” he says. Northumbria University has also been heavily involved in the foundation of A Writing Chance, working with New Writing North, philanthropist and actor Michael Sheen, and other partners to “open access to the writing industries for writers from working class, low income or minority backgrounds, and it is leading on a national £3.9m research programme that fosters creative communities and promotes the devolution of powers over culture and the creative industries”.
Dr Neil Percival commented that: “Our research with our partners helps to break down barriers to access within the creative industries.
“We’re able to give our cultural partners solid, evidence-based understanding of the impact of what they do … That, in turn, helps them meet local needs and bid for funding for further development, as well as helping to shape policy decisions much further afield in Westminster.”
Meanwhile in Sunderland Crown Works Film Studios have recently received £25 million form the devolved authority and are looking to create 8000 jobs.
Comment
This is all very encouraging and is of course merely the tip of the creative iceberg which is sitting in the sea of opportunity in our region, if we get the investment that we need.
As a de-industrialised region, it is well documented how we have been struggling to find a real way forward since the closure of the coal mines, the steelworks and the shipyards in the 1980s and 1990s. While the creative industries can’t fill all the gaps left behind with the demise of heavy industry, they can certainly play a part.
We are after all a traditionally very creative place. Northumbria in its golden age saw the creating of a number of superb pieces of art, not least of course the wonderful Lindisfarne Gospels, which as I have argued should really be back in the North East to stay, probably in Durham near the cathedral where Cuthbert and Bede are buried. We also have by far the most significant folk music traditions in England, ranging from the 19th century pit songs of writers such as Tommy Armstrong, to the great music hall tradition represented by performers such as Joe Wilson, Geordie Ridley, and Ned Corvan to the pipes and fiddle tradition of the Northumbrian hills and dales. Indeed, I can remember when the first bagpipe museum in the world was opened in the 1970s at the Black Gate in the castle in Newcastle, before it moved to its present location in the Chantry in Morpeth.
On top of that we have a wealth of modern music stars, many great poets and writers and a host of other creative assets too numerous to mention here.
So, the creative industries have a lot of rich heritage to build upon, and as I said earlier can play their part in helping the region move on, particularly in two ways.
Firstly, it can help to provide, jobs, especially for our young people, who at present need all the help they can get, to get into the job market, not to mention their foot on the ladder in the housing market. It can also help to bring in much needed investment into the North East.
That said, the benefits of such creative development should not only be seen in terms of financial gain. The development of creative industries can also bring us other perhaps less tangible, but equally important benefits. Most of all, it can help to raise the self-esteem and spirits of a region, which has been on the back foot for a hundred years now. It can give us a real sense of pride, can give is confidence for the future and can help improve the mental health of many of our citizens.
However, this creative explosion will not happen by itself. It is vital that the infrastructure of the region is drastically improved, especially in the area of public transport. It is no use us having many talented, creative young people dotted throughput the region, along with numerous creative initiatives that they could get involved in, if they can’t get to them, simply for the lack of a decent, reasonably priced bus service.
There will also need to be a return to an appropriate level of investment in education. We are seeing major threats on the horizon to special needs education including a lot of potentially very creative young people, while for years now the creative arts have been cut and cut from the school curriculum.
It would be great to see the creative industries playing a major part in Northumbria’s revival. But let us make sure that the foundations are in place, so that this is not just an aspiration, but becomes a reality.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
