In The Art of Civilization, Didier Maleuvre writes: “Art doesn’t just tell the story of a people. Art establishes and reinforces the patterns of beauty, power and expression that a culture then inhabits.” As such, “art has civilized us”.

I believe this is true and the government’s announcement that it plans to impose a 50% funding cut on arts subjects at higher education institutions in England makes me fear not only for future generations of creatives but for the very nature of our society.