There has been quite a lot of media coverage of the government’s plan for five hours of culture. Much of it cautiously positive though with some reservations as to the practicalities of the scheme. It is not entirely clear how much it is expected to come as part of the school curriculum and how much it is expected to be outside of school hours, though Andy Burham’s emphasis upon schools and local authorities coming up with their own plans would suggest that they will decide this themselves.
Perhaps the most vehement criticism I have seen comes from Philip Hensher in today’s Independent. It is quite a complex article, but the essence is that art in its purest form is not for all, but is intended to be difficult and not accessible to or enjoyable for many. It is an argument for elitism in art.
He paints a somewhat apocalyptic image of operas and galleries dominated by loud, bored, restless children, present because they have to be and ruining the experience for anyone else who has a real interest. One can have a certain amount of sympathy with his viewpoint, there is little worse than being distracted from something you enjoy by someone who is not at all interested.
Yet I cannot help but feel that there is an inherent flaw in his argument. He writes that:
‘Unfortunately, much great art is difficult, and adult, and not at all suitable for children. Very few children are ever going to find Raphael, or Wagner, or Jacques Rivette, or Racine anything but extremely tiresome and boring and stupid.’
I can’t agree that children will necessarily find Raphael or Wagner tiresome and boring and stupid. Of course, if they are put in front of an opera with no teaching or intelligent discussion they will most likely find it confusing or dull. Yet that is not to say that they cannot enjoy it. They will enjoy it in a different way, of course, but then there are many valid ways of appreciating a work of art. Indeed, each time that we see a work of art, we are likely to appreciate it from a different perspective.
There is no inherent reason that children cannot enjoy Wagner, so long as it is presented to them in the correct fashion. Given the right teacher there is no reason to believe that children cannot be captivated. Yes, their reactions will be different, but no less valid. And each time they return to the music in subsequent years they will hear new strains, new elements they had not heard in their youth.
While the quiet, adult contemplation that Hensher describes is one way of approaching art, it is not the only way. There is, of course, nothing wrong with wanting to sit silently for an hour listening to a Beethoven string quartet, but it is wrong to claim that this is the only way we can validly experience art. The truth is that art is neither adult nor child-like, but will reveal different things to us at different stages of our lives.
Yet it can only do so if we have a lifetime interest and the best place to start this education is in schools.
