No longer taken for granted

The value of the arts and culture has become a pressing topic that people want to hear about and talk about. It\u27s happening not simply because the arts need to find ways to describe their value in order to attract private and public funding - they have had to do that for a long time - but rather because there has been a fundamental change in the role of the arts and culture in society. We need to rethink what we mean by the word culture, and we need a more sophisticated approach to how we value the arts and culture, one that takes into account the several types of value that are embedded in culture, and also the plural perspectives and interests of different groups in society. This is an edited version of a speech given at the University of South Australia on 3 February 2009. John Holden is a former head of culture at British policy think tank Demos