Here’s a New Year’s Eve thought to conjure with: according to a story in yesterday’s Guardian, Newcastle upon Tyne has topped a survey of 14 UK cities in a study to name the arts capital of the country.
According to the study, for TV channel Artsworld, the citizens of Newcastle are, per capita, more likely to visit art galleries, museums and concerts; have better libraries and bookshops, and have more arts students and the second highest number of theatres, than anywhere else in Britain.
Apart from the fact that London is near the bottom of the list (at Number 9), there’s an even more worrying entry at Number 10: Liverpool – which is, of course, the 2008 European Capital of Culture. It may have aspirations for that continental title, but clearly it can’t hold a candle to Newcastle, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, Plymouth and London that precede it in the British stakes.
But I also have a confession to make: I have never been to Newcastle. I have been to every other city on this list – after Liverpool, it is completed by Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham – but, except for passing through it on the train en route to Edinburgh every year, I have never actually stepped foot in Newcastle. Obviously there’s a major part of my cultural education lacking. And perhaps that should be my first New Year’s resolution for 2007: to go there. (Where, though, is Brighton in the list? Surely it must have one of the savviest arts audiences in the UK?)
And here’s to a successful 2007 for all of us! Thank you for reading in 2006, and I look forward to catching up with you on the other side…..
I too looked for Brighton on this list, after reading another survey showing that Brighton is the top UK city for number of artists per population. Hmm, something fishy going on in survey land ...
It's no surprise to the people who live in Newcastle that it tops the list!
You shouldn't need to set foot in Newcastle to find out about it, Do a bit of basic research! This is exactly what the Artsworld researcher and the lazy Guardian reporter failed to do. It entirely escaped their notice that the City of Culture bid was on behalf of 'Newcastle-Gateshead', that the famous bridge was built by Gateshead and is called the 'Gateshead Millenium Bridge', that the wonderful new Music Centre (not mentioned but shown in the photo) is in Gateshead and is called 'The Sage Gateshead', and that the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is nothing to do with Newcastle apart from the fact that its citizens are grateful to Gateshead Council for providing the bridge to reach it and the Sage Gateshead so easily!
Ah, but Newcastle still has the majority of the theatres and museums:
The Theatre Royal, The Northern Stage at the Playhouse, The Tyne Theatre (Opera House), The People's Theatre, Live Theatre on the Quayside, The Hancock Museum, The Laing Art Gallery, The Biscuit Factory Art Gallery etc.........need I go on!!
Also, in the cinema world we have the Tyneside Cinema which is one of the best arthouse cinemas left in the country. (Better than any multiplex).
And as for Brighton? Pah!! Humbug!! Everyone knows that the majority of "artists" only spend week-ends there and that it's nickname is "London by the Sea".
I rest my case.