News

Eleven schools in Northern Ireland will each receive funding to hire professional artists.

£15,000 has been awarded by the Creative Schools Partnership, a combination of National Lottery, Education Authority and NI Executive funding, across the schools' proposals.

Projects include screenwriting, dance, photography, filmmaking and music composition. Grants will cover two years' work.

First Minister Paul Givan said: “This successful partnership has already seen hundreds of children engage with the programme within post-primary schools in urban villages areas.

“The young people have benefited from this innovative arts-based approach, which has supported curriculum learning and improved their educational outcomes.”

Two touts who amassed millions reselling tickets have had appeals against their convictions dismissed.

BBZ Limited’s Peter Hunter and David Thomas Smith were jailed in February 2020 following the first successful prosecution of a company over fraudulent ticket resales. 

The pair will now serve their full sentences - four years and to-and-a-half years respectively. 

They used at least 97 different names, 88 postal addresses and more than 290 email addresses to evade ticketing platform restrictions for events including Ed Sheeran concerts and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child theatre performances.

Upon upholding the conviction, The Court of Appeal noted: "[The] ticketing market is one which appears to be characterised by a high degree of criminal fraud.”

National Trading Standards Director Wendy Martin called the ruling a “major milestone” in efforts to combat unscrupulous secondary ticket sales.

Panto ticket sales through October are half of what they were this time in 2019, analysis from The Audience Agency (TAA) suggests.

Data from 343 venues for the week commencing October 11 found a 52% drop in tickets sold, a 53% drop in income and 27% drop in performances compared to two years ago.

The decrease reflects audiences' low commitment to attendance: 44% of respondents TAA’s Cultural Participation Monitor said they definitely won't go to a panto this year, compared to 8% who plan to.

Those aged over 65 are most likely to stay away, with two thirds expected not to attend at all this winter.

TAA says a pre-Covid trend of decreasing panto sales is accelerating, presenting a further threat to venues, and warns "venues may need to rethink the festival formula in response to these changes".

Seventeen heritage projects across the UK will share £1m to improve volunteers' digital skills.

The money comes from the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Digital Skills for Heritage initiative.

The fund aims to break down barriers and inspire the sector to get more people involved in heritage, according to National Lottery Heritage Fund CEO Ros Kerslake.

Charity for the blind and partially sighted Vocal Eyes received the largest grant (£99,814) for its Museums and Heritage Access 2022 programme, which primarily recruits digital volunteers from Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent communities.

Lewisham London Borough of Culture will celebrate local diversity and bring positive changes to the area, according to its coordinators.

We Are Lewisham said the year will include Breathe 2022, an air pollution-focused artwork beginning in April, and see The Albany transform into a beach for climate change artwork Sun & Sea in June.

Liberty Festival, a showcase by D/deaf, disabled and neurodiverse artists, and Revolution Through Music, a celebration of Lewisham’s activist history, are both scheduled for July.

The borough won more than £1m to stage the third edition of the event, which was delayed from 2021 due to the pandemic.

The programme represents a much-needed call to action that is also joyful and celebratory, according to Creative Director Gavin Barlow.

"Lewisham has always been somewhere that stands up for what it believes in, and the year will showcase the power of the arts to inspire positive change and celebrate our borough’s contributions to music, visual art, dance and more."

Plans for Edinburgh's first new concert hall in a century have been approved.

Local councillors voted on Wednesday (November 24) in favour of the £75m project to be sited between St Andrew's Square and the St James Quarter.

Due to open in 2026, the venue will host music of all kinds as well as spoken word events and act as the new home of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Previous plans were scuppered by a legal challenge from developers of a nearby hotel complex. 

Edinburgh City Council, the Scottish Government, UK Government, and American philanthropist Carol Grigor are funding the project.

Creative England and the Creative Industries Federation have merged to become Creative UK.

The amalgamation has been made official about a year later than expected, though the parties have worked together under a holding company since early 2020.

The new entity's purpose is to "harness the power of creativity and amplify the voice of its membership to build a fairer and more prosperous world".

"By coalescing the collective capabilities of Creative England and the Creative Industries Federation, and drawing on the insights and experience of our growing membership, we are perfectly positioned to have visible impact and drive real change," Chief Executive Caroline Norbury said.

Head of Brand Rachel Johnson said a new website and logo signifying amplification reflects "an inclusive and cohesive identity that reflects the ambition, diversity and scope of the new organisation".

A "greater focus" outside London is needed to increase diversity in the music industry, UK Music says.

The association wants its 10-point plan for increasing diversity to have a greater impact beyond the capital.

A transparency review of the plan says more must be done to create safe spaces, as a “culture of apprehension” still exists around appropriate actions and cancel culture.

Other priorities include engaging with more communities who suffer disadvantage or discrimination and securing Government guidance on how to report someone’s ethnicity. 

The report also calls for more investment: “For there to be lasting change, there must be significant and consistent financial investment by music companies and organisations in processes and initiatives”.