Tonight:
4°c
In the past fortnight I have been to see Ibsen's The Ghosts at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, the (free) From Corot to Monet exhibition at the National Gallery and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida at the Globe.
On each occasion I have been struck by the dearth of other black or brown faces in the audience, taking advantage of London's unparalleled artistic and cultural scene. And what's more, this is no new phenomenon.
Contrary to what my father experienced growing up in South Africa in the Fifties, there is nowhere in this country barred to me because of the colour of my skin. Yet it seems to me that too many of us are choosing to ghettoise ourselves by not venturing outside our ethnic and artistic comfort zone.
And it is a great shame that, instead of trying something new, we are choosing to limit ourselves to culturally specific, familiar art in this way.
I hasten to add that I am equally guilty of this: I am ashamed to admit that, with my penchant for ragga and jazz, I had never been to a classical music concert until a friend dragged me kicking and screaming to the Proms last summer.
I had always assumed that it just wasn't for me. And yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, I'm not going to lie and say I'd rush back tomorrow — for now, at least, give me Beenie Man over Beethoven any day. But I can say that I am better for it, and can now critique it from a more informed perspective.
This all comes at a time when major cultural institutions including the National Theatre, the British Museum, the Tate and a host of others are falling over themselves to be “inclusive” and to attract more people from “diverse” and “non-traditional” backgrounds than ever before. But merely adding a hip-hop soundtrack to a play won't solve the more fundamental mindset problem at work here.
What I tell the young people I mentor in Peckham is: “There's no such thing as apartheid in this country — so why limit yourselves?” I encourage them to get out and expand their culturalm horizons and see the full range of what London and life have to offer.
If my mentor kids can go to the National and enjoy a 19th-century Norwegian parlour-room costume drama, then they'll be able to enjoy anything. To be honest, they can get the council estate, guns and drugs theatre of the ghetto experience for half the price down at the local barber shop.
I'll never forget the expressions on the faces of the kids I took on a tour of Westminster Abbey last month. Although it's hardly renowned for being a bastion of multicultural diversity, they were spellbound by the beauty of the architecture and the wealth of history. Likewise, when I took them to see a Shakespeare comedy last year on the South Bank, there was not a black actor in sight on stage, and yet they were still transfixed by the human emotion of the story and the sheer power of the acting.
Sadly, the self-ghettoising attitude to culture is as much about class as race: there were probably no more white working-class people at the theatres and galleries I attended than black or Asian people.
But whether it's Shakespeare, Rachmaninov or Rembrandt, great art transcends ethnic boundaries and the vagaries of our respective melanin quotients — as well as class. Great art communicates universal human truths, and it is precisely this universality which makes it equally relevant to all of us, irrespective of where we are from, how we speak or how we look.
Reader views (4)
dear lindsay , i would love to follow you around with a camera to document what you have to say about our brothers /sisters not going to the theatre museum etc , but we do go and see black plays like oliver and comedy , what would be great to do will be a programe on our american counter parts to see how cultured they are , pls keep in touch can you come to our film festival elizabeth will fill you in , god bless , noel wilson
- Noel Wilson, london, 11/08/2009 16:27
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spot on mate. some good points raised
- James, london, 11/08/2009 14:17
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Sadly pretty much anytime I go to any popular play, I find myself very conscious of the lack of 'black or brown' faces, although to be honest I'd say it's a lack of non-white faces in general.
With a tiny minority of non-whites attending the most prestigious UK universities, colleges or private schools, it should come as no surprise that less people from ethnic minorities have been frequently exposed to arts and culture usually associated with a classical education. As a result the arts naturally aren't going to be first choice for entertainment, they're certainly not for me.
I saw Waiting for Godot last week at the Haymarket and although I enjoyed the actors' performances, I couldn't help feeling that there was a lot going on I didn't appreciate as I had no idea understanding of the themes involved in the play before I saw it.
That's no excuse for not taking a look at all the free stuff you can soak up in London but, at least for me, if you didn't do much Shakespeare (bad example, I know) at school you're not going to enjoy the plays as much as there'll be lots that goes over your head. Add to that the often steep ticket prices at the theatre it's always going to be more of a class issue than a race issue.
- Sam, London, 10/08/2009 17:59
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Well said Lindsay - I thoroughly agree with you.
I also think in this day and age there should be more 'colour-blind casting' - there is no reason why the Shakespeare comedy you saw last year on the South Bank didn't include at least one token "melanin quotient"!
- Claire, London, 10/08/2009 11:33
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