Agenda item

Report of the Director of Arts.

N.B.- To be read in conjunction with the non-public appendices at item 19.

The Board received a report of the Director of Arts providing an update on performance over the past year and setting out the opportunities, challenges and plans for the coming period.

Members congratulated the Head of Theatre on a successful year, commenting particularly on the inclusion of more dance in this year’s report, this being an area which had perhaps been previously under-reported. On that subject, Members were pleased to note the ongoing activity with the Michael Clark Company, whose work provided a positive example of how the Barbican was delivering on its strategic objective related to audience development. The Board was also pleased to note the allocation of 20% of all tickets to Young Barbican members, which dovetailed well with the Centre’s overall creative learning work and efforts to engage young people with the arts.

A Member emphasised that it would be important for the Board to remember that there should not be an expectation of a Hamlet-style success every year, reflecting that such significant ad hoc successes could not be relied upon and so should not form the basis of future projections.

RECEIVED.