News

Museums should be brave, accountable and "aim for justice" in decolonising their practices and collections.

The Museums Association (MA) has released Supporting Decolonisation in Museums, offering ten guiding principles and advice on how to reach these objectives.

The association says statues and the names of buildings, streets, and galleries "send a clear message of whose presence is considered important and whose is not".

"Although this issue can cause controversy and debate in the media, it is an important part of decolonising work.

"Decolonising museums requires creating spaces that no longer celebrate historic and ongoing acts of colonial violence, whether through removing names, removing or recontextualizing statues, or commissioning artists to engage critically with this inheritance." 

The guidance was produced by MA’s Decolonisation Guidance Working Group, established following a 2019 report into the growing field.

Group Chair Rachael Minnot said working group members "challenged one another" throughout the process.

"I’m excited to keep learning and growing with the wider sector as they engage with this tool."

The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) is making its first round of acting auditions free.

The school is also making all first round auditions self-taped, having moved auditions online during Covid-19. 

“We found that asking for a self-tape submission last year enabled us to meet a number of individuals we wouldn’t otherwise have connected with, and I think that’s reflected in the makeup of this year’s first years,” said Head of Acting Will Hammond.

Fees for second round in-person auditions and in-person dance auditions are being reduced from £40 to £30.

LIPA says the changes are reflect efforts to increase access and diversity. 

It will continue to offer audition fee waivers and travel grants to applicants who come from areas of the country with lower rates of higher education uptake.

There are ambitions for a new youth theatre in West Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire’s new Culture, Arts and Creative Industries Committee convened for the first time last week (November 4) to discuss the region’s cultural recovery.

Led by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, the cultural board discussed plans for a “theatre without walls” to include a Yorkshire Youth Theatre.

“We might not be able to have a national theatre, but we can have a Yorkshire Theatre that would be made up of Yorkshire voices, Yorkshire stories, Yorkshire writers and Yorkshire talent," Brabin said.

The committee also considered a Town of Culture competition, previously suggested by former Shadow Culture Secretary Brabin.

Its next meeting is scheduled for January.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music will hold a cross-party inquiry into the barriers and delays facing musicians touring in the European Union.

The announcement follows a letter to Boris Johnson, signed by APPG on Music Chair David Warbuton, demanding "urgent action" to address ongoing barriers.

The letter highlights the "lack of clarity" musicians looking to tour the EU are facing in the wake of recent DCMS annoucements.

"We need the Government to ramp up negotiations with nations like Spain where costly visas are still in place and to look for swift solutions to both the visa and transport issues facing musicians and crew," Conservative MP Warbuton said.

The APPG on Music will kick off its inqury with a first evidence session later this month.

The inquiry will focus on visas and work permits, carnets and instrument manufacturing materials, transport issues, the effect on the UK music industry, the effect on emerging artists and potential solutions. 

"This is a hugely welcome move by MPs from across the political divide," UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin said.

Creative Scotland has opened applications to its Radical Care Fund, a £75,000 project aiming to improve working conditions for creatives with caregiving responsibilities.

Grants of between £3,000 and £15,000 are available to creative organisations and businesses looking to support these creatives.

Creative Scotland’s Ashley Smith-Hammond says the fund will address challenges including unsocial working hours, fluctuating patterns of work and higher than average levels of freelancing.

“All of these elements combine to create barriers for people working in the arts, screen and creative industries to manage work and care responsibilities. We hope that this fund will help to rethink fair working systems and improve peoples’ work/life balance.” 

Applications close on 26 November, with between five and fifteen projects to be chosen for funding in the week commencing 20 December.

Derbyshire County Council has set aside £1m to boost the county's culture and creative industries.

The money, which comes from the council’s Covid-19 Recovery Fund, will be put towards a series of initiatives drawn up with the county’s Culture, Heritage and Tourism Board.

Council leader Barry Lewis said the funding will support businesses which contribute to the “vibrancy and vitality” of the county.

“The impact of Covid-19 has been devastating to Derbyshire’s creative and cultural economy, with those businesses that rely on attracting audiences and visitors some of the very last to return to normal operation.”

The announcement follows Derby's place on the longlist for UK City of Culture 2025, revealed last month.

Opera house Glyndebourne is set to launch an on-demand streaming service, Glyndebourne Encore, next month.

The service will offer access to Glyndebourne’s back-catalogue and future filmed productions, alongside additional insights and interviews about a chosen opera each month.

Artistic Director Stephen Langridge says Glyndebourne Encore is a response to audience demand realised after its digital festival, hosted last year due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The company says it will continue offering regular, limited-period, free streams alongside the service.

Glyndebourne Encore will launch with 15 filmed titles available from 1 December. An annual subscription will cost £79.99, or £59.99 for Glyndebourne members.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council have extended their partnership to 2024.

Now in their tenth year of working together, the two bodies aim to develop Northern Ireland’s arts sector internationally.

The partnership does this by supporting international showcases and running an annual £50,000 Artist Development Fund.

British Council Arts Director, Skinder Hundal, says the two organisations have mapped out a clear framework for continued international cultural dialogue and exchange.

“We are delighted to continue our partnership. Together over the past nine years, we have increased the number of cultural connections between Northern Ireland and the rest of the world, developing vital long-term partnerships.”