'Exploring Swindon's Culture - An Open Conversation' - About this forumNationally speaking, Swindon is often mentioned because it is the butt of a joke.
The town itself is largely perceived as being a bland and relic of 1960's concrete architecture, and thanks to programmes like Ricky Gervaises' 'The Office' the towns image is further reduced to a sadly comedic status in the eyes of many, a sea of warehouses and computer firms staffed exclusively by plodding, dull people.
Plans are well underway to regenerate the town centre and, after a
recent fact-finding visit to the already-regenerated City of Sheffield, Rod Bluh said he wanted Swindon to become, 'The Sheffield of the south'.
That seems to take care of the fabric of the town centre for the next 20 years, but what of culture? Does Swindon have a 'cultural' identity and, if it does, how well is it faring? Who nourishes it, looks after it, renews it year on year and cherishes it?
The
Swindon Cultural Partnership has something to say on the subject, and the website of Swindon Borough Council displays a fairly large wad of
cultural information, but I suspect both organisations have merely scratched the surface of mainstream 'marketable' culture in Swindon. This isn't necessarily a criticism of either organisation, just an honest recognition on my part that it is in the interests of the Council and it's strategic partners to promote Swindon and make it appealing to as broad an audience as possible including inward business, (sometimes overseas), investment.
The above worries me slightly because I foresee a time when 'political correctness' will be invoked by 'key stakeholders' and 'strategic partners' who are more intent on following and protecting a borough-wide business/cultural plan, than sustaining what is already here, and nurturing the almost organic cultural growth to come. It is my view that 'officially led' cultural management will lead to some cultural aspects being 'approved', moderated and modified to suit whatever business and political agenda is currently in fashion, rather than what would reflect a natural social evolution.
I am therefore concerned that Councils, and the cultural quangos they are increasingly setting up, will exercise increasing amounts of 'hands-on' management of all things perceived to be 'cultural', and that this will eventually amount to cultural censorship. This, I suggest, would be a very negative thing for the cultural health of Swindon or any other community because 'delivering' deliberately engineered cultural 'solutions' could, for example, reduce the cultural value of Old Town Swindon to that of Down Town Disney.
If SBC and the Swindon Cultural Partnership do regard themselves as cultural guardians or moderators, and they alone judge what is culturally profitable, (and therefore acceptable), will access to funds, facilities and support then be denied to activities and interests that don't fit the 'official cultural profile' ? I don't know enough about this to judge whether my fears are unfounded, so I invite comments and discussion from all sides.
As more public realm improvements are made within the Borough, business support and town centre management are increasingly seen as essential to boosting the town centre and attracting inward investment. It seems everyone involved in this becomes a 'strategic partner' this, or 'key stakeholder' that and almost everything to do with anything is expressed in mind boggling management speak.
To be frank, I know I possess a healthy amount of scepticism, (
as shown here), for 'cultural initiatives' which are politically driven and I do recognise that I am less sceptical where a 'hands off' support is offered fairly by councils and their strategic partners. I am not sure whether the Swindon Cultural Partnership falls into the former or latter bracket, so I again welcome comments.
This leads me to the purpose of the
'Exploring Swindon's Culture - An Open Conversation' forum. It is exactly what it says on the tin. I have looked around the borough, (in a virtual sense), and I can't find anywhere else as suitable, or as easy to access, as Talkswindon for a decent and open conversation on culture to occur. For example, you
can submit comments
to the cultural partnership, but there is no on-line facility facility for an open, public dialogue to occur. The public comments which do appear are, without exception, all very positive...which suggests to me that censorship is already being applied. The residents of Swindon are honest and tend not to pander to anyone, especially anyone 'official', so an apparently 100% record of positive comment is suspicious in itself.
I suggest that an independently enabled and
open public conversation is inherently more honest, and therefore genuinely informative and valuable
to the public, than the partial and official attempts made so far. The Talkswindon Forum is the only independent venue available locally where this can happen.
I am sure there are many cultural gems in and around Swindon which are almost unknown. Similarly, I expect there are individuals and groups in the borough who don't appear on any official list or publication, don't appear in the limelight, but who are still integral parts of the overall cultural weave. We would love to hear from as many of them as possible.....
...and perhaps then we can get a good idea of the width and depth of Swindon's cultural tapestry, what condition it is in and how it has been treated.
I fear that if too many 'mainstream' cultural threads are tugged on to satisfy specific corporate goals, or 'cultural solutions' are engineered to fill marketing niches, the rest of the weave may be weakened, marginalised and begin to unravel....
I would therefore like to encourage an open conversation between as many interested people as possible. This is potentially a first in Swindon's cultural history, because it not only enables group and individual discussions to occur simultaneously, but enables the cultural community to become truly aware of its own size and interconnectedness.
Please discuss, and share with others who may be interested
In the meantime, I invite the creators, sponsors, patrons, users and lovers of all things cultural to promote* themselves, discuss themselves and discuss each other in this forum.
Contributors will need to
register for a Talkswindon membership, this is completely free and takes just a few seconds to complete. (please register using an email account you can access easily because you will be sent an activation email immediately upon registering - check your span folder if the email is not received in 60 seconds)
*Talkswindon is regularly indexed by all the major search engines and has an excellent calendar function for advertising events etc.
Our preference is for cultural localism and purely commercial concerns are therefore politely asked not to advertise.
