Wednesday, January 13, 2010

History Repeats Itself

Mention Istanbul to most people in Liverpool &, depending on their footballing allegiance, memories will come flooding back of either the greatest comeback seen in any European Cup final, or the biggest fluke in the history of football. I belong firmly in the former camp (nice to see the back of Tom Hicks jnr., btw, for that charming email to a fan -- no more unannounced & unwelcome visits to the Sandon, eh, Tom (http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/02/walk-on-walk-on-right-out-of-pub-mate.html )? -- now if only his dad & Gillett would follow suit). However, I digress.
The University of Liverpool's Impacts08 site (http://impacts08.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/capitals-of-corruption/ ) picks up on an article in the UAE-based The National paper about Istanbul's status as a capital of culture for 2010 (http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100113/ART/701129962/1224 ).
The more you read down Claire Berlinski's piece, the more you find yourself thinking, this sounds familiar. It begins with an observation you'll never find in the Daily Ghost or Oldham Echo:
"As officials at Istanbul's European Capital of Culture Agency know all too well, once you've been named a capital of culture, it's only a matter of time before all the 'capital of corruption' jokes start."
A couple of paragraphs on, the parallels with the Lib Dems' Bread & Circus charade (aka Liverpool08) start to appear with astonishing similarity:
"A study that the international cultural advisers Palmer/Rae Associates prepared for the [European Culture] commission noted that 'almost all cities' selected thus far 'reported that there were problems with their governance structures'. The most commonly noted issues were 'domination of political interests, relationship difficulties between board members and with the operational management team, the absence of representation of cultural interests and the size of the governance structure'. Moreover, it noted, 'personality clashes, communication problems, inappropriate experience of personnel and unclear responsibilities and job descriptions' were ubiquitous."
Berlinski goes on to report that amid claims & accusations of embezzlement & incompetence is the charge "that Istanbul's culture is being destroyed by rapacious development faster than it can be promoted."
Sound familiar?
Then there's this gem with which to compare & contrast Istanbul 2010 & Liverpool08:
"Some of the projects supported by the [Istanbul] agency certainly do leave the organisation open to the charge that the selection process was made with something other than cultural significance in mind. The most notorious has been the nine-million-lira [£3.7m] contract awarded to a residential construction company to re-enact the 52-day circumcision ceremony of the son of Sultan Murad III. Contracts for the restoration of the city's historic walls, it is said, have been given to bidders so unqualified that archeologists are in convulsions; some hint that as a result, Istanbul could be thrown off Unesco's World Heritage List."
I'm not sure about circumcisions, but a growing number of people would happily administer a medical procedure, sans anaesthetic, to the same part of the male anatomy of the chancers, shirkers, propagandists & charlatans whose grandiose claims about culture year's lasting legacy for Merseyside have been shown to be bollo-, sorry, false.

22 comments:

Ronnie de Ramper said...

Nice find. Now we have to wait for Beatriz Garcia's commissioned (ie. paid for by CoC) evaluation of 2008. She's already nailed her 'Objective Researcher' colours to the mast by declaring 2008 a glittering success - and that was in 2007! Don't expect too much boat-rocking when her report finally (yawn) hits the streets. Her research usually amounts to not much more than counting column inches of Press coverage.

Liverpool Preservation Trust said...

11,000,000 Pounds for a Cruise Liner Jetty that no-one can depart from.10 million pounds for The Terminal Ferry Carbuncle.......37,000,000 pounds for the Trashy Tart Museum and about 20 million in subsidies for the three black slugs on Mann Island. How will history record itself with these eyesores. Its been really good for the polish econemy all this european money.

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Esther Johnson said...

Interesting parallels indeed. As an aside, the future of Liverpool FC should have been enhanced by victory in Istanbul but in fact it was not really capitalised on. One instance being the lack of "5 star" UEFA replica kits when the whole world and his dog wanted them. Goes to show that you can waste an opportunity, just as Liverpool Council has wasted what should have been a chance to create a lasting inheritance from 08. What we got was Super-lamb-banana-nonsense and our World Heritage waterfront ruined for a quick buck (in someone else's pocket).

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