Culture is still here; PHIL REDMOND.MYTHS. Like last week's truths, they have to be managed and looked after. Like, football clubs belong to the fans. Or, the US President is the most powerful man in the world. Liver Birds lay eggs. Every cop should have a Taser. Culture is for life, not just for 2008. Well, I nicked that one from a publicity flyer from the Everyman-Playhouse but, like most great ideas, there is always a touch of the derivative. It doesn't diminish the message; otherwise we would have no great plays, films or political speeches. Which was a problem for the newly-elected US President, perhaps summed up by the tale of his daughter, standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial Lincoln Memorial, monument, 107 acres (45 hectares), in Potomac Park, Washington, D.C.; built 1914–17. The building, designed by Henry Bacon and styled after a Greek temple, has 36 Doric columns representing the states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's pondering the weight of history for the first African-American President, she turned to him and said: "It had better be a great speech, dad." No pressure there then. And while political commentators spent days dissecting dis·sect tr.v. dis·sect·ed, dis·sect·ing, dis·sects 1. To cut apart or separate (tissue), especially for anatomical study. 2. the words, few probably noticed the daughter's smile and cuddle at the end of it that signified sig·ni·fied n. Linguistics The concept that a signifier denotes. [Translation of French signifié, past participle of signifier, to signify.] Noun 1. he had passed the most important test. He kept it simple, straight and more importantly didn't allow the weight of history to tempt tempt v. tempt·ed, tempt·ing, tempts v.tr. 1. To try to get (someone) to do wrong, especially by a promise of reward. 2. him into promising too much. By setting out the challenges more than the solutions, perhaps he was also reminding everyone that even the so-called most powerful man on the planet can only do so much when facing the tides of global change. Was this also echoed in football's biggest transfer saga earlier in the week, when Kaka ka·ka n. A brownish-green New Zealand parrot (Nestor meridionalis). [Maori k  k apparently turned down pounds 500,000 per
week to move from Milan into digs in Salford? And who can blame him,
with the price of private jet fuel these days? At least the reported
pounds 130m deal, taking in all the "ancillary costs", should
serve as a wake-up call to anyone who still supports the myth that
Premier League football clubs belong to the fans.
That's a bit like saying that modern policing is all about the community. I'll come back to the issues of Liver Birds eggs and Taser Quest over the next few weeks, the latter actually being a cultural issue, like culture being for life. Take Glasgow, still basking from its time in the sun as City of Culture, some 19 years ago. The next six months or so are going to be crucial in managing Liverpool's own myth post-2008, as success itself is not enough. The media soon moves on and memories fade, but both are more easily recovered if success follows on success. The need is still to maintain the momentum, encourage more ambition and keeping Liverpool centre stage. Unlike Glasgow, the potential impact of Liverpool's Cultural Year will not take a decade to materialise, but is already clear in the available hard data. It is in real truths, not marketing myths. He can only do so much when facing the tides of global change |
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