ELLEEditor’s LetterPhotography: Ian Harrison.
A few years back, I received a letter from a young woman. She was an
English teacher, in despair, by the fact her school could no longer
offer English Literature A level to its students. The issue was twofold, she
explained. One: the cultural messaging many of them had received
was that an ‘arts’ education would not set them up for future prosperity.
Two: with budgets so tight and the school being in a small, seaside town
miles from the nearest city, there were few cultural
events the students could get to in order to be inspired.
I think about that letter a lot. As someone
who studied English Literature both at A level and
at university, there was personal sadness at the
changing status of a subject I both loved and enjoyed.
But, more troubling still was the perceived lack of
access to ‘culture’ these students believed they had.
Perhaps the word ‘culture’ is the problem,
suggesting as it does a world of opera and glossy art
galleries. (Certainly, I know that when I was growing up, ‘to be cultured’
felt like a deeply middle-class aspiration afforded to the few.) Yet culture is
everywhere and is everything. Culture is fashion. It is beauty. It is the music
we listen to and the people whose influence reaches deep into our lives.
It is why I fell in love with magazines, documenting both the culture we live
through, as well as predicting the cultural shifts about to come our way.This issue, we have the honour of meeting several incredible individuals
who have not only lived through some of our most momentous cultural
moments, but helped to create them. Debbie Harry looks back on a life
in punk (p1O4);Girlscreator Lena Dunham examines a knarly lifelong
relationship with food (p112); while cover star Sienna Miller explains
what it’s like when your personal life becomes cultural fodder (p126).
I also had the pleasure of spending several days
trailing Justine Simons, London’s Deputy Major for
Culture and the Creative Industries, whose very
mandate is to make culture available toeveryone.
On p12O, she explains how she and her team at
London City Hall have managed to do just that.
As Simons says: ‘Culture is a basic human
right.’ And I tend to agree. Culture isn’t about
watching ballet (though it is that, too, and wonderful
it is), culture is about sharing ideas. It’s about
understanding different perspectives. It’s about creating dialogue and
bringing together even the most disparate groups.
As for that young teacher, I wrote back some weeks later, to see
how my team and I could help to inspire her students. We never heard
back. As an eternal optimist, I’m hoping it’s because she realised that,
sometimes, true cultural inspiration can be found right on your doorstep.ELLE.COM/UK November 2O19FENDI
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What’s caught my eye (and heart) this month...