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Mark Hughes: A Tale of Two Cities of Culture: Liverpool vs Stavanger
Monday 14 January 2008
Liverpool
* Population: 446,000
* Unemployment: 5 per cent
* Average personal Income :£16,234
* Life expectancy: Men 74, women 78
* Year of Culture budget £110m
* Orchestras: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
* Art Galleries: Walker Art Gallery, Tate Liverpool
* Major artists: George Stubbs, painter of Whistlejacket
Liverpool's Capital of Culture year burst into life on Friday night with a street party that lasted just 40 minutes. But, if the celebrations were short, the strides required in getting to this point have been anything but.
It started four-and-a-half years ago, cost nearly £100m and, along the way, has seen in-fighting and feuding of epic proportions. In fact, Friday night's celebrations could have been held to cheer the fact that Capital of Culture year is even happening at all.
Highlights in a programme of 350 events planned for the next 12 months include the Tall Ships race, the Open golf championship and the National Ballet of China all arriving on Merseyside.
And, most mouth-watering of all for the tens of thousands of Scousers who will pack the city's Anfield stadium on 1 June to see him, is the return of Beatles' icon Sir Paul McCartney, who will top the bill at a rock concert.
But, events behind the scenes have, perhaps annoyingly for the organisers who have invested so much time into the project, garnered even more publicity than those out front.
The first debate came over the independence of the Liverpool Culture Company (LCC), which was formed by the city council. But with around 65 per cent of its funding and most of its staff coming from the local authority, independence was always unlikely.
A bitter feud between the then leader of the council, Mike Storey, and the council's chief executive, Sir David Henshaw, ensued and resulted in both men resigning.
Then there was the appointment of the Australian cabaret singer Robyn Archer as creative director of the LCC. Although appointed in 2004, she only came to work full-time in Liverpool in April 2006 after troubles obtaining a work visa and was given a £125,000 four months later after her direction was not deemed artistic enough.
The next embarrassment came last year when the popular Mathew Street festival was cancelled at the last minute because of health and safety fears.
Confidence in the LCC wasn't exactly restored when, after seven weeks on sick leave, the company's chief executive Jason Harborrow quit just days before the opening ceremony. Negotiations for a £250,000 pay off continue.
On the back of his departure, it has transpired that the aforementioned Mr Storey and Warren Bradley, the current council leader, are to be investigated by the local government watchdog, the Standards Board for England for conspiring to get rid of Mr Harborrow. Add to this the fact that the design for the Museum of Liverpool Life – the intended iconic building for 2008 – had to be scrapped after it was realised it would cost £100m more than expected, and that there are reports the council are facing a £20m budget shortfall, it could be forgiven if the LCC's aim was simply to get through the Capital of Culture year without any more scandal.
However that is not the case. The defined aims for Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008 are more ambitious. In the same way that it could be asked why Stavanger, an already wealthy city, needs the potential cash fillip that being Capital of Culture will bring, it can also be asked why Liverpool, a needs the title?
After all, the city is famed for its numerous pop acts – it has provided more UK chart number one hits (54) per head of population than any other metropolis on the planet and is famed for era-defining acts such as The Beatles. The fact is Liverpool needs the Capital of Culture title more for the regeneration of the city than as an excuse to bring even more events to the city.
The Capital of Culture year will, hopefully, attract two million visitors to the city and bring in a cash boost to the city of more than £2bn in investment and provide an extra 14,000 jobs. The cash spin-offs for the surrounding north-west region could total £100m.
The figures will make pleasant reading to residents of a city which is blighted by high levels of unemployment and personal debt levels which are well above the national average.
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