Edward Scheer - President, Performance Studies international (PSi)

Date: 24 February, 2008

To: Judie Christie, Richard Gough and CPR

From: Associate Professor Edward Scheer
President, Performance Studies international (PSi)

Re: Arts Council of Wales’ Proposal to strip CPR of funding

Dear Judie and Richard,

On behalf of the board and membership of PSi I am writing to express my dismay and surprise at the proposed withdrawal of revenue funding from CPR.

The work of the centre over its recent life continues to place contemporary arts practice in Wales at the forefront of world attention. CPR has always managed the difficult task of being a very local organisation speaking to its immediate communities and constituents while also presenting work of high standard and with global reach. CPR continues to be a priceless resource for the 800 or so members of the international network of performance studies scholars and artists which PSi represents. It is a matter of concern to me that the proposal by the Arts Council of Wales is threatening more than one organisation but a much larger network of artists and scholars for whom CPR is a vital hub of activity.

I certainly hope for the sake of PSi’s members that this decision will not stand but I also wonder about the cultural landscape in Wales. Who will do this work of both maintaining knowledge of the rich folk traditions of Welsh performance and producing contemporary performance practices at an international standard if CPR closes? What other institutions and their people, their art forms and practices will be targeted for cuts? As you know I come from New South Wales in Australia so I know how important small amounts of money can be to a fragile ecosystem of contemporary experimental culture.

I think the PSi community would want you to know that you are making an enormous contribution to world arts and cultures and that CPR remains a benchmark for what can be done with the will, the nous and a little bit of Government money.

On behalf of PSi I would like to thank you and your team for the work you have done and will, no doubt, continue to do.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Edward Scheer,
President, Performance Studies international (PSi)
School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies
University of Warwick