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High culture

A document released yesterday by Boris Johnson - the Mayor of London - says that Arts Directors should target young people with opera and ballet as well as hip hop and movies.

His cultural document, Cultural Metropolis, says: "Working class students may be steered towards popular culture like hip hop, new media and film, on the basis that they will find older art forms like opera or ballet irrelevant. This approach patronises young people and limits their horizons."

Now this sounds a little bit snobbish to me. Yes, young people don't exclusively like pop music and films, and provisions should be made for everyone's taste and to broaden the horizons of those who want to. But it seems to me like the Mayor's office are suggesting that "hip hop, new media and film" are without any benefit at all.

That can't be right, can it?

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