Another 'Arts Centre'

A new arts centre that looks like a bank snuck up behind me in Shoreditch, east London, a month ago. Rivington Place cost £8 million and is backed by Arts Council England, that public joke which seems more interested in social engineering than in genuine art. The phrase "genocide of the arts" springs to mind. And the buzz words are "arts centre", "diverse" and "diaspora". The latter seems to have something to do with snapshots and amateur videos (CLICK). Its opening show, London is the place for me, explores migration or how the English managed to become an ethnic minority in their own metropolis. I really resent ACE's continuing waste of tax-payers' money on social projects masquerading as art, when historically important gems like the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow are allowed to fester. Ever heard of the Arts & Crafts Movement or the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, ACE?