Cultural Fulcrum

Tate Modern viewed from Thames Pleasure Boat. Photo: Wikimedia Commons The Fulcrum Five | 2026.07.24 📍Five observations. One bigger picture. We all want to champion culture, and we all know it cannot exist for free. Yet money remains one of the most uncomfortable subjects to talk about in the cultural sector. As I looked back at my headlines of the week, I realised they were all asking the same question: who gets to shape culture? Whether it's executive pay, public funding, regional investment, the art market or the rise of new cultural centres, the answer increasingly comes down to who controls the money, and who has access.  1️⃣ New Leader, Old Debate The appointment of Jessica Morgan as Tate's new director dominated arts headlines this week. What caught my attention wasn't the appointment itself, but the revelation that she reportedly took a significant pay cut from her previous role as director of Dia Art Foundation—where US tax filings showed compensation of over US$...