Culture shock

Imagine Belfast, the company formed to run the campaign to become European City Of Culture in 2008, has just submitted the first stage of its bid to the UK Government, hoping to be chosen as one of the three shortlisted cities that will contest the final vote in March 2003.

While other places competing for the accolade include Liverpool, Birmingham, Oxford, Cardiff and Brighton, the biggest obstacle that appears to be facing Belfast’s bid at the moment is the reluctance of many living in the city to accept that it is deserving of the title.

Belfast City Council, The Northern Ireland Assembly and most of the city’s major daily newspapers have come out publicly in support of the submission, but dissenting voices are asking how a place with such a fractured past and present could possibly consider itself a centre of cultural merit. Questions have also been raised over the extent of the financial commitment necessary for the campaign at a time when the health and employment sectors are badly in need of heavy funding.

For Shona McCarthy [pictured above], Chief Executive of Imagine Belfast, this has all been an important part of what she describes as “Belfast, for the first time really, engaging in a dialogue with itself.” She is confident that, as the bid progresses, its worth will become increasingly apparent to those currently viewing it with scepticism.

“The financial argument is a complete red herring,” she says. “One of the major global issues at the minute is the knowledge-based economy – the move away from mass production into a world where what’s important is the ability to think creatively. Of course arts and culture is absolutely vital to that. It’s completely erroneous to think that unless you’re pumping money into building factories you’re not benefiting the economy. Apart from anything else tourism is a huge potential market that we’re not even scratching the surface of. The long-term goal is a massive re-imagining of Northern Ireland, not only for ourselves but on an international level. You couldn’t put a price on Belfast re-inventing itself from the city of the troubles to somewhere with something to offer the outside world.”

Likewise, Belfast’s lack of an A-List artistic infrastructure, far from providing a drawback, according to McCarthy helps give the bid an extra urgency.

“You have to start from somewhere. Major international art galleries don’t descend into cities – you have to create a value for the arts and a desire for people to have them. It’s all about an education process, it’s all about a city aspiring towards something.

“And, anyway, culture isn’t what happens inside a theatre or opera house. It’s about people – how they relate to one another, how they communicate, how they empathise and I think Belfast is actually very rich in that regard. I think as well that, like it or loathe it, the politics and history of this society have made us incredibly aware and articulate in terms of understanding global conflict.

“I was astounded after September 11 at the level of political naiveté that there was – the whole thing was presented as a battle between good and evil. And it just brought home to me that over here, if nothing else, you do grow up with an extremely sophisticated take on the nuances of language, and understanding of religion and sectarianism. And I think we have an awful lot to offer the rest of the world when it comes to facing up to those kind of issues.”

It will be another 12 months before the winner is announced, and a further five years after that until the first event takes place. Judging by the response so far McCarthy is more than confident that Belfast will rise to the challenge:

“I think already it’s been an amazing thing, a catalyst for a dialogue that would never have happened otherwise. We always imagined the bid as allowing the city to have a conversation with itself, and for people to really explore who we are and what we want to say to the rest of the world. Hopefully just being honest with ourselves. If it doesn’t have a positive impact here about how we see ourselves, and re-establish a sense of pride in the people of Belfast then it will have failed. All the other stuff – the cultural tourism – is a bonus, but the most important thing is the positive impact it will have on the people of Belfast.”