The arts, cultural inclusion and social inclusion NESF report 35. January 2007.

A commitment to social inclusion requires that we embrace all facets of life including the economic, political and cultural domains. While we are familiar with the concepts of economic marginalisation and social exclusion, we are less so with that of cultural exclusion. By cultural exclusion we mean exclusion from access to cultural goods and resources that are regularly accessed by the better-off in society. Learning a musical instrument, appreciating how music is composed and performed, developing the capacity to understand and interpret visual culture, for example, provide children (and adults) with access to rich cultural resources that interact with social capital1 to contribute to quality of life and well-being...