Nick and Roger recently spoke to the Guardian newspaper about the 100% cut to Birmingham’s art funding. You can read the Guardian piece here , and below, read Nick and Roger’s full quotes.
"It is always enormously disappointing to hear that arts and cultural budgets are the first thing to be slashed, especially when we are living in a world where warfare, hatred and destruction are being increasingly supported by our government and many others around the world. These are the times when people most need to find inspiration and solace from artists with alternative perspectives.
I’m sad that politicians and councils are unable to recognise the significant value of the creative industries and all of the people who work within the arts. During the pandemic, they largely failed to do so too, with many struggling musicians and performers being the last to be acknowledged, long after some of those who needed no assistance.
As a community, artists endeavour to lift people’s spirits, promote understanding and inspire positive debate in our society. iI is foolish and shortsighted to ignore our population’s desire for some respite from the depressing news we are fed on a daily basis.
The current plan to cut arts funding for Birmingham by 100% is frankly, disgraceful. In this complicated world right now we need compassion more than ever - artists provide that. I sincerely hope this decision is reconsidered and rapidly reversed.
Birmingham is a powerhouse city in the UK and it should have fair representation across all industries. Our national entertainment sector is responsible for a substantial chunk of Britain's GDP, yet shamefully still not funded or encouraged in the way it deserves to be. It is really time for this to change." - Nick Rhodes, London
"This is devastating news... the city that gave birth to my humble artistic aspirations was a fantastically vibrant, exciting and diverse place of art and culture. It saddens me that future generations could potentially fail to have the same access to music and the arts that I was very fortunate to have during my youth in Birmingham." - Roger Taylor, London
