We were all pretty impressed/surprised/baffled when Hull was crowned City of Culture for 2017. But now, London’s 32 boroughs each have the opportunity to compete for the brand new and totally prestigious title, ‘Borough of Culture’.
Thanks to our main man Sadiq Khan, the likes of Hackney, Harrow and Haringey can bid for more than £1million of funding to fight for their right to get cultured. Showing off the very best of their borough, each area will conjure a wonderfully creative plan to make culture a big part of its future. Bids started last Friday, and two winners will be announced in 2018: one of which will take the title in 2019 and the other will have the crown in 2020.
The London Borough of Culture Award fulfils Sadiq’s master plan to strengthen London’s reputation as an internationally-renowned powerhouse of culture, and will show off the secret cultural gems all over the city. Boroughs will be judged on not only their creativity, but also their ability to put the community at the forefront of their vision and, ultimately, how they plan to bring about change to the borough, hopefully creating a long-lasting legacy.
So we can expect to see lots of friendly competition over the next few months, all in the form of various cultural events; be it festivals, exhibitions, pop-ups or other artsy activities. And hey, who knows, if Hull can do it……