Hi Martin, what can you tell us about Hull UK City of Culture 2017?
The UK City of Culture project is in its second iteration. The first was Derry-Londonderry in 2013. It’s a project set up by the government following Liverpool European Capital of Culture in 2008. Since the UK won’t hold that title again
until 2023, the government decided to have a UK version where a different city would host it every four years, setting up a quadrennial celebration of UK culture.
How do you go about programming on such a large scale?
We spent the past year in discovery – talking to lots of people, listening and letting the voice of the city be heard as we start to make choices about what we’re going to put on. One of the temptations is that you rush in too quickly because you feel under enormous pressure to have a full programme two months into starting work. I’ve been very insistent and begged the patience of Hull’s communities to let us have this past year in which to plan. If you don’t take the time to immerse yourself in the city and in conversation, there’s a danger that you end up with a programme that could have been staged anywhere.
That’s not to say that everything we do is about Hull, because we’ve also invested time in securing the Turner Prize. Larkin once produced a collection of poems, none of which he said were about Hull, but they all have the city’s voice. That’s what you aim for, because somewhere in everything you do, overtly or hidden, is the voice of this city.
You don’t force it; it arrives. The programme arrives because it starts telling you what it needs to be. As we head into 2016, we turn from working on things we might do to working on things we are doing, which is still a year before day one and two years before day 365.
How do you engage the Hull community?
First, you come and live in this city. What you absolutely can’t do is plan from afar. So I’m now a resident of this city and part of its communities, as is everybody we’ve employed who hasn’t come from Hull – roughly half our current staff.
That in itself is the legacy starting to take hold. The sharing of knowledge between people who have lived here for a long time and newcomers – even within the team – means that new ideas are being born and new skill sets are being transferred and learned. In microcosm, you can see it start to happen.
In terms of the working with wider community, in year one you just have to get out there. We’ve had hundreds of meetings and conversations with people. We also make sure that we communicate effectively through our social media and twice a year we stage update events, to which up to 600 people come. We take everyone through what we’ve been doing and where we’re going. What that does is maintain confidence in the project.
The most important thing is that we turn that conversation into action.
Two of the biggest questions from the arts community are: how do I get involved and is there any money available? We’re now able to say: this is how you get involved. The grants programme will launch next year, where you can apply for money, and the volunteering system will open next year for applications.
We’ve been very open about how we’re curating the year thematically.
We’ve always said that nobody needs our permission. This isn’t a centralised project in that sense. If you want to do something, do it – just tell us at some point and we’ll help you market it.
What challenges have you and the team faced?
The most obvious one – and the one that will never go away – is money, but the more we have, the more we can do and this is still a very, very challenging climate in which to raise money. The argument for corporate sponsorship of the arts is still being made. Having said that, we’ve already engaged with BP and Yorkshire Water as principal partners and we’ve attracted public funding as well. We’ve got some more to come, but money will never stop being an issue because our ambition will always outweigh our pockets.
The second is ensuring that you’re ready. This project isn’t about staging 365 days of art; it’s about a city going through change. Our relationship with the city council is very strong and positive. The weight is on the its shoulders at the moment because it has chosen to refurbish the art gallery and theatre.
Right now there’s £25m of refurbishment work going into the pedestrianised spaces of the city. That’s got to be done on time, when council budgets and personnel are under pressure. The ability for a city to be ready to stage the work is a big challenge, but we work closely with the council to support them in that ambition.
What do you see as the role of culture in a project such as this?
Culture brings people together. Culture encourages people who have never talked to each other, to talk. It asks the right questions at the right time. It’s also fun, amusing and creates memories. The legacy of memories is really important because that ultimately all adds up to belief and confidence, and confident cities can do anything. That’s what this project does and that’s what culture can do.
It all comes back to identity. By latching on to the unique stories of Hull – its geography, relationships with other cities – you find its unique voice, which again builds its confidence. This is why I speak so passionately about culture, its value and why it needs to be taught in schools and properly funded.
If you treat culture not only as something you do when you’ve got a few quid to spare, but as welfare, to make people happy and healthy, and something that inspires and makes young people communicate, suddenly you’re talking about an incredibly important, urgent aspect of life.
Martin Green is chief executive of Hull UK City of Culture 2017
He will be speaking at this year’s Remix Summit London event, for which the Guardian is a media partner
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