British Council Considers Selling Works from Its Collection to Repay Debt

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The British Council, which promotes British culture worldwide, is contemplating the sale of works from its art collection to pay off their 197 million GBP debt to the U.K. government.

Initiated in 1938, the Council’s collection comprises close to 9,000 works of modern and contemporary British art, craft, and design by artists including Henry Moore, Steve McQueen, and Phyllida Barlow. It is valued at 200 million GBP.

Half the collection cannot be sold due to legal restrictions. However, according to The Times, the Council’s chief executive Scott McDonald recently told a parliamentary select committee that he is ‘exploring what we can sell of the 50 percent that is not restricted.’

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Council took out an emergency loan of 250 million GBP from the government—most of which it still owes. It pays an annual 14 million GBP in interest, according to The Art Newspaper.

McDonald told The Guardian that the organisation, which currently faces a financial crisis, is considering 250 million GBP in budget cuts, which may translate to hundreds of layoffs and shrinking the Council’s presence in over 40 countries.

Unlike state cultural institutions in France and Germany, U.K. government funds only cover 15 percent of the Council’s expenses. In comparison, close to half of spending by the Institut français and Goethe-Institut e.V. comes from public sources.

A spokesperson for the Council maintained that the sale could signal ‘retreat’ and ‘a blow to the U.K. in the competition for influence on the world stage.’ Last month, the U.K. government established a Soft Power Council of 26 members for the same task.

‘We are taking all steps necessary to secure the long-term financial sustainability of the British Council, including a review of our assets,’ the spokesperson said. —[O]

Main image: Entrance to The British Council, London, 2021 (detail). Photo: Paul Farmer (Creative Commons).