UK Garden City programme should be centered around arts

Thursday, July 25, 2019

A new report from the DCMS Committee argues that the government should create a contest for a UK Garden City programme that includes the arts.

MPs support garden as an artform and argue that their contribution to the creative economy must be ‘explicitly recognised’.

Garden tourism generated £3bn in 2017 and similar to the City of Culture scheme which is a year-long UK Garden City programme that ensures the cultural and economic contribution of the country’s gardens is recognised.

A s per reports the DCMS should be able to scope out how much the initiatives could work in the next twelve months. The first competition will be launched before the end of 2020.

DCMS Committee Chair Damian Collins said it was clear from the evidence gathered by the parliamentary inquiry that  there was a lot of potential here and it needed to be tapped.

Britain gardens are an important part and garden design and tourism should be recognized for the contribution they make to the economy.

Gardens have long been at the forefront of ‘innovation and creation’ which has set trends in artistic movements.

The report confirmed that gardening and garden designs were not receiving the artistic recognition which they deserved.

Sue Biggs, Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, told MPs it was one of her “biggest frustrations” that the artistic value of the UK’s gardens was not given the due attention.

Garden designs reflect sheer artistry from being put together with trees, shrubs,  flowering plants and sculpture. This part of the creative industry is art but Arts Council or any other area that recognises art does not consider garden design as art.

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