PAGE 22 • FESTIVE NEWS • DECEMBER 2016
Why Should Hereford be the
2021 UK City of Culture?
Abigail Appleton, Principal of Hereford College of Arts and a member of the team bidding
for the accolade explains why:
The title of UK City of Culture title is awarded
every four years by government and recognises
the role that culture can play in transforming the
profile and prospects of a city in countless ways.
It is not a prize for existing cultural achievement,
but goes to a city that makes a compelling case
that a year in the spotlight, with all the funding
and sponsorship opportunities ensuing, will be
genuinely transformational. Hull is in countdown
for its year as UK City of Culture 2017 with a
high-octane programme of local, national and
international arts and culture, and Hereford is
preparing to submit its case to win the title for
2021.
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Hereford is up against stiff competition; there isn’t
a city in the UK that couldn’t argue it would benefit
from winning the title, but our pitch is exceptional
in a number of ways.
Hereford is bidding not simply for the city alone
but on behalf of the whole region. Unlike larger cities
Hereford has a real relationship with the market
towns and villages. The countywide bid is led by
Herefordshire Cultural Partnership, a new dynamic
coalition of arts, cultural and heritage groups, local
authority and businesses, with a shared vision to
create amazing opportunities by working together.
Resources are limited compared to funds available
to bigger cities competing for the title, but Hereford’s
case represents the powerful grassroots energy and
resilience that underpins much of the county's
existing cultural activity.
The partnership is
ambitious and credible and has already secured
funding from the Arts Council of England to develop
a longer term cultural strategy for the area and from
the Elmley Foundation to develop a website. Other
funders are needed to help develop more concrete
plans.
One of Herefordshire’s great assets is its vibrant
culture, rich in tradition and innovation, from a
wealth of outstanding heritage sites to a dynamic
contemporary arts scene. More can be done to build
on this strategically and strengthen the attractiveness
of Herefordshire as a place to live, work and visit,
underpin the area’s ambitions for growth in Higher
Education, develop our young people’s confidence,
creativity and skills through arts and culture, and
make Herefordshire an internationally recognised
beacon for arts and culture enhancing well-being.
The timing is critical. The hugely ambitious new
University Project, NMiTE, hopes to open its doors
in 2019. City of Culture 2021 would help secure the
cultural infrastructure to attract staff and students to
the new institution, with all the economic and
educational benefits the university's success would
bring.
But let’s turn the argument around and ask not
what would the title mean for Herefordshire but how
would Hereford as City of Culture 2021 benefit the
whole of the UK and beyond? Our programme
would be a catalyst for fresh insight and urgently
needed debate about the changing dynamics o