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Southbank boss on City: They're a bunch of bastards
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent16.04.09
THE outgoing head of the Southbank Centre today attacked the failure of the City to support the arts.
Australian Michael Lynch, 58, who leaves the arts centre today after seven years as chief executive, said those who had benefited from huge salaries and bonuses must return more to society.
Mr Lynch said they had been "a bunch of bastards" who failed to cough up for the arts even when times were good.
And he said their failure to back worthy causes during a period of "unprecedented excess on every front" was the thing that most surprised him during his time in Britain.
Highlights of his tenure included hosting the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras in the same week, having Brian Wilson perform his album Smile and welcoming Toni Morrison as part of the literary programme.
Nearly 20,000 Southbank Centre visitors made donations and a handful of significant donors such as Vivien Duffield gave money for its refurbishment.
But with the exception of Shell and JP Morgan, corporate bodies and City individuals failed to contribute to the £118million budget.
"Corporate Britain had in my view let down the side," he said. "They need a sense of values."
Mr Lynch first launched his attack on City misers when the Royal Festival Hall re-opened two years ago. But with employees of Goldman Sachs now expecting vast bonuses, he is bowing out of London with a renewed bid to name and shame.
He said not a single Goldman Sachs banker had given "anything meaningful" to the Southbank renovation but "the Government, to their credit, got behind us in a big way". The centre itself generated £40million a year through new shops and restaurants on the 21-acre site.
"But what we failed to do was to get corporate Britain and a lot of individuals who made hundreds of millions behind us," Mr Lynch said. "And if we couldn't do that then, I guess I feel pessimistic now.
"If we were doing the Royal Festival Hall today, I think it would be almost impossible."
Political support was vital, not least through public funding, Mr Lynch said, and any cuts would "cause enormous damage disproportionate to what it's going to mean in terms of battleships or saving a bank".
Despite warm working relations with the current Tory culture team, he said his experience in Australia was that conservative administrations were prone to wielding the axe. And he admitted: "The prospect of being here under a Conservative government was not enticing."
Mr Lynch is returning to Australia to join the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Reader views (16)
Well he got the first sentence right, need to put arrogant in front of that though...
- Dc, Ealing, London
So very typical of the attitude to us bankers now; "you are all scum. Please will you give us some money?"
As others have pointed out, we prefer our mentoring schemes in hackney, our donations to universities, and our other charitable contributions. You do not get to treat us as pariahs and then whine when we decide that your particular cause is not high enough on the list to justify a handout.
I suspect that Mr. Lynch's attitude is the main reason that he was not a success. Please don't blame bankers for this.
- John, London
Dear Investment bankers, I know that you may donate money to the poor in England. But I am so sorry to inform you that it never arrives at the destination that you wish it to go - to the needy and poor. The reason for this is because you keep employing the middle class to be the middle men and they keep running away with the dosh. Also what I have noticed that these Regeneration managers also tend to get a mighty big wage for helping the poor. Or should I say paid for riding on the back of the poor mans misery, especially now considering the poor man has to pay for the holidays that these middle classes had when they took out all that credit that they know full well that they had no intention of paying it back. Whilst millions of the poor with children, mainly female run households lost their milk tokens during the so called BOOM. So I personally only have two words to say to the lot of you the lower and upper middle class aspiring to become royalty (except never will).
- Toad, Hometown london city
Why should the arts be funded at all? It just leads to opportunists playing the system and eliciting money for ever more fatuous and bizarre work. Arts administrative organisations become self-perpetuating beaurocracies staffed by managers on high salaries spouting precious drivel. When Jazz was alive and well in the forties and fifties it received no support of this kind but was of high artistic merit. Nowadays it lives a postumus existence as a facsimile of its former self sustained unnaturally by arts council grants and various subsidised courses at music colleges taught by former also-rans. And what could be more inappropriate than the latter? Jazz was always quintessentially bohemian; now, that it leads a kind of posthumous existence its become utterly bourgeois - what could be more artistically destructive than that? The bottom line is: listen to the high quality of Jazz from years ago and then listen to it's mediocrity now.
- Richard, Welling
And they call us whinging poms?
- Brad, London, UK
A lot of banks have been generous to the arts as has been pointed out by other contributors.
- Toni, London
So what's your salary Michael Lynch? I bet you're not on average national wage.
A classic case of Dear Kettle Love Pot.
- Sally, London
Plenty of banks give to the arts. Off the top of my head, Bloomberg funds "Space", the gallery attached to their offices, I have attended several functions there. UBS funded some of the regeneration of St Luke's Church on Old Street, partly deigned by Hawksmoor yet which had remained a ruined shell since the mid 1960s until a few years ago. It is now a wonderful arts venue. This man should think before opening his gob.
- Mcw, London
The arts in the UK are also sewn up by greedy posh ********, nepotistic, opportunistic and arrogant. The poor pay for the rich as usual whether they rip off our ideas or public cash. London seems to be the destination of choice for every global chancer.
- Mark, London
They may have a few quid up their jumpers, but they can not support every cause.
Its probably down to poor execution of the requests for funds. Mr Lynch may be to blame for that if his mouth always operates in this manner.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke
Thank goodness he is heading back to Australia. Yet another of our Australian friends who opens his mouth and talks utter garbage. For his information many of the banks and city establishments did a lot and gave significantly to projects in the London and the rest of the UK - but they trnded to focus on people that realy needed help, like abused children, schools in tough and crime ridden areas, supporting hospitals etc. But I also know that we did and are still supporting art exhibitions and various other "artistic" ventures. He should get his facts straight and stop moaning.
- Nick, london
An investment banker speaks! And what a petulant philistine he is.
- Bloke, London
So how much did you contribute J Foulkes and Patrick?
- Mikkiduk, London
I'm sorry Mr Lynch but if I give any money away to is to a worthy cause. Why not get the middle classes who go to your establishment to fund your activities? They are quick to label us all punters and fraudsters yet you want our money? Forget it.
Companies like the bank I work for make large contributions to the poor parts of London and run extensive community and mentoring schemes that make a far more useful contribution than the arts that cater to just a tiny subsection of society.
And what do you do with your salary? How much do you give away? Put your money where your (rather large) mouth is. Learn about more about the charitable work of the banks before you become another bitter member of the chattering classes.
- Investment Banker, London, United Kingdom
Just more evidence of the selfishness and greed of the former Masters of the Universe. No doubt your Tory apologists will complain about more criticism of their favorite people but it is clear these people were convinced of their own importance at the centre of the Universe. Sadly even the most incompetent and criminal Bankers have managed to get away with enough cash to live long and luxurious lives while the rest of us face higher Taxes to pay for their mistakes.
- J Foulkes, Hillingdon England
Michael Lynch is absolutely right. Where are the Passmore Edwards and Rockefellers of today who saw it as their duty to use their fortunes for the benefit of others. I would hazard a guess that the majority of the 20,000 Southbank Centre donors earned only a fraction of the sums enjoyed by the bankers and others in the City.
- Patrick, Dalston
