In what can only be described as a bold experiment in cultural democracy (or an elaborate attempt to finally fill that empty unit next to Iceland), Rochdale is set to receive £1 million in arts funding to help locals decide for themselves what counts as “art”. Early favourites include macramé plant holders, someone’s cousin’s techno set, and a knitted re-enactment of Coronation Street’s 1993 tram crash.
The money is part of an £8.5 million windfall from Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places scheme, aimed at regions where the arts have traditionally been limited to the occasional panto and a mural of a kestrel on a substation. Rochdale’s slice will go to Culture Co-op, a grassroots initiative that’s boldly rejecting elitist notions of art in favour of asking Sheila from Balderstone what she thinks.
In a dazzling display of Rochdale co-operative spirit, Culture Co-op has already co-produced a world music festival called Merhaba, transformed pantry cupboards into “creative hubs” (i.e., someone brought in some fairy lights), and co-designed a borough-wide LGBTQIA+ programme, presumably involving drag bingo in the town hall’s lesser-used broom cupboard.
The phrase “Cultural Pioneers” has been coined for those involved, although several participants have admitted they thought they were joining a pyramid scheme for jam.
Among the project’s partners are Your Trust, Action Together, The Co-op Group, Rochdale Council’s Directorate of Public Health & Communities (which definitely rolls off the tongue), and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, who are apparently keen to add interpretive dance to the social rent process.
National figures praised the programme with phrases like “empowering communities” and “unlocking creative potential”, which is politician-speak for “we gave them some money and hope it doesn’t just go on more felt-tip murals in underpasses”.
Arts Minister Ian Murray declared, “communities can follow their own ambitions”, though he notably didn’t say what would happen if those ambitions involved sock puppets doing Shakespeare.
Locals have already started submitting cultural ideas, including a performance piece titled Still Waiting for the 471, a sound installation based on arguing outside Wetherspoons, and an avant-garde interpretive dance of “trying to get a GP appointment”.
The initiative officially launches in 2026, assuming Rochdale hasn’t declared independence as an autonomous creative commune by then. Until then, the town prepares for a renaissance, or at the very least, more papier-mâché than previously medically advised.
