Letter: No 'Ministry of Culture' at the ICA

IT WOULD be irresponsible not to respond to Captain Moonlight's flippant treatment of the significant and sensitive issues surrounding Geremie Barme's Red Noise ('Some strange noises off at the ICA', 4 July).

The ICA did not, nor would ever, 'summon Dr Barme to carry out a rigorous self-criticism', but we did initially relay our grave concerns to the show's producer. Our comments were then misrepresented in your gossip column.

There are two issues at stake - one is the politics of culture, the other the culture of politics. Geremie Barme and his colleagues are, quite rightly, concerned with the culture of politics, while the ICA is concerned with the politics of culture. The ICA did not question the integrity of Geremie Barme. What concerned us were the cultural implications of the ways in which his important agenda was represented to ICA audiences.

The ICA does not have 'its own ministry of culture', but is actively involved in debates on the role of art in cultural identity and the representation of ideas.

Lois Keidan

Director of Live Arts

ICA, London SW1