The Institute of Contemporary Politics – sorry, *Arts*!
Such naked diversion of art funds into social campaigns is now no longer hidden and the watchdogs have given up any pretence of impartiality or even competence.
Earlier this month, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) awoke from its lockdown slumber with a display about race relations in North London. 'War Inna Babylon' was a presentation of information, testimony and opinion (accompanied by talks) about relations between the black communities and police. If such a presentation being in an arts venue sounds odd, you haven’t misunderstood. There is no art component. The ICA was using some of the over £800,000 from the Arts Council (taxpayer derived) to finance a political display.
The ICA has a habit of diverting funds into political causes. When, in October 2018, Chelsea Manning (American civil rights and internet security commentator) was hosted at a celebratory dinner, that likewise included no art. Breaking both legal and ethical standards for the use of art resources for political campaigning by proxy – forbidden by the Charities Commission – was just another non-issue for the ICA.
When I wrote to the ICA, Charities Commission and Department of Culture, I received a collective shrug, as I explained in an interview with the New Culture Forum. The establishment either sides with the progressive management of the ICA or is too cowed to reprimand it. The ICA justified itself by claiming that highlighting political issues was contextualising subjects of interest to artists, regardless of the fact no art was displayed.
The Daily Telegraph published an article on the new event, interviewing me.
The journalist received brush-offs from all three organisations. It is true that compared to massive corruption and wastage of lockdown measures (including panic buying of £98.7 million's worth of junk PPE equipment), the ICA malfeasance is a drop in an ocean of profligacy.
However, such naked diversion of art funds into social campaigns is now no longer hidden and the watchdogs have given up any pretence of impartiality or even competence. When I replied to the ICA in 2018, I described its seeming immunity from oversight as the 'definition of both elitism and corruption'. I noted such a breach of trust threatened the public arts funding model. Now, facing the corruption, economic recklessness and unwarranted authoritarianism of the current Government, we are facing a crisis far bigger than anyone in 2018 could have anticipated. The required vigilance that the ICA evaded applied to the whole establishment, it turned out. All the signs were there for anyone who cared to scrutinise.
A Bournbrook interview with Alexander Adams on the subject is available here.
