Arts


Great Britain

Government interest in the arts is expressed through grants to the Art Council of Great Britain, the British Council and other organizations. The Arts Council`s-main duties are to develope a greater knowledge and understanding of the fine arts by the public, and to advise and co-orporate with Government deparments, local authorities and other organizations. The British Council-exists to promote a wider knowledge of the U.K. and the English language overseas and to develope closer cultural relations with other countries. It also arranges study programmes in Britain for scholars, teachers and other professional visitors from overseas.

Museum and art galleries
There are about 1,000 museums and art galleries open to the public. Art exhibitions are shown at many different centres by the Arts Council. The most comprehensive collections of objects of artistic, scientific, historical and general interest are contained in the national museums and art galleries in London. The British Museum-has unparalleled collections of archeological and ethnographical material, in addition to housing the national library of printed books, manuscripts, newspapers and periodicals.
The National Museum-houese paintings by almost all the greatest European masters.

Libraries and books
The largest library in Britain in the British Library, which was created in 1973 from a merger of the British Museum Library with other libraries and institutions. The British Library-Automatically receives a copy of each new book published in Britain. The other great “copyright“ libraries which are entitled to claim a copy of each new book are the following: the National Library of Scotland, the National library of Wales, the Bodleian Library of Oxford University and the Cambridge University Library.
Penguin Books are the best known publishers of peperbacks. Paperbacks are much cheaper than hard-backed books.

Professional theatre
The centre of theatrical activity is in London, with some 60 principal theatres in or near the West End and several more in the suburbs. The most important subsidized companies, which produce plays in theatres of their own, are the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Outside London, theatres are served by touring London companies, but some provincial towns have repertory theatres with the same company putting on a new play every week.

Amateur theatre
There are thousands of amateur dramatic societies in Britain.