A Connection Between Arts And Business

“The old days are gone of business sponsorship, where the corporation wrote a large cheque in return for access to the royal box or the corporate name on a poster. Company shareholders are much more demanding than they once were about corporate spend; those working in these enterprises also want more from the relationships with arts organisations than a night at the opera. The ethos of corporate social responsibility means businesses want to see their contribution make a difference to the wider community as well as the quality of the arts.”

Tusa: An Arts Manifesto

John Tusa, who has remade London’s Barbican, says “the arts world must reject further attempts to judge what we do by criticisms of the social make-up of our audience, the composition of our staff, or any other quota-based criterion. These words should be nailed above the doors of the department of culture and the Arts Council.”

The Year’s Oddest Books

“Half a dozen bizarre tomes including a guide to stray shopping trolleys and a history of a Coventry ice-cream business may win their 15 minutes of fame as contenders for the Oddest Book Title of the Year. The competition, which has been run by The Bookseller magazine since 1978, invites publishers, booksellers and libraries to submit their choices of the strange and odd.”