Arts Council England (ACE) has said it will update its guidance after it was accused of attempting to “silence artists both on stage and in their personal lives”.
The body published updates to its relationship framework in January, which has been criticised by the performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity on Thursday.
It said it had been “listening closely to feedback” and believes “unequivocally in freedom of expression for artists and cultural organisations, and their right to make work that is challenging, provoking, and political”.
New: See our statement with more information about changes we've made to our Relationship Framework with funded organisations. https://t.co/1MlW2S1NSu
— Arts Council England (@ace_national) February 14, 2024
“In light of what we’ve heard this week, we’re looking again at some of the language we’ve used, and will clarify it to fully reflect our original intention,” a spokeswoman for ACE said.
“We’ll publish an updated version of the relationship framework as soon as possible.”
A statement also said: “The updates we made to our relationship framework were intended to support funded organisations in identifying and responding to risks, and were in no way meant to limit artistic expression.
“However, it’s very apparent from what we’ve heard that the language we used in our update was open to misinterpretation.
“We know from our conversations with organisations that support around managing complex, risky issues is needed, and that is what the Relationship Framework is there to do.”
Earlier in the day, Equity said that it had written to Darren Henley, chief executive of ACE, to raise these concerns, asking for this section of the update to be immediately withdrawn.
“We are deeply concerned that the effect of the Arts Council England’s new guidance for funded organisations will be to censor the work that organisations produce and present, and most worryingly, attempt to silence artists both on stage and in their personal lives – especially those working in the activist or political space,” a statement from Equity said.
“The updated relationship framework places an undue burden on artists, warning that ‘activity that might be considered to be overtly political or activist’, including activity by ‘individuals associated with the organisation acting in a personal capacity’ can cause ‘reputational risk’ and breach funding agreements.
“Far from protecting artists, it sends a clear message to discourage the creation of art that is political, and to avoid full participation in civil society if you are an artist who wishes to work with Arts Council funding.
“Arts Council England is subject to political pressures from the government of the day, and its new guidance will allow it to divest and disassociate itself from artists who speak truth to power.
“Artists and arts organisations should be free to critique institutions of power or bring attention to issues without fear of losing their funding.
“Rather, the relationship framework should clearly state that attempts to censor artists and their work presents a substantial risk to organisations and their funding, alongside enhanced guidance on protecting best practice in areas of equality and diversity, and dignity at work.”
ACE is described as an “arms length body” to the government’s department for culture, media and sport and so its decisions on relationship framework are for them to take.
The relationship framework is used to set out how ACE works with national portfolio organisations, which are a collection of arts and cultural organisations that get funding from ACE.