International

The second round of the Four Nations International Fund has been confirmed, with applications due to open in September.

The fund is designed to support innovative models of international cultural exchange. It is open to people working in the arts and creative industries in the UK who wish to collaborate with their counterparts in Europe and beyond.

A total budget of £240,000 has been allocated for this round. Applicants can request up to £7,500 for in-person, digital or hybrid activity, including exchanges, residencies, partnership development, co-creation and networking.

The fund is backed by co-investment from Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Arts Council Wales/Wales Arts International and Creative Scotland. 

The first round of the fund supported 38 projects involving 82 British creatives working with 48 international partners based in more than 24 countries. The artist-led proposals that received funding addressed key issues facing society, including injustice, gender identity and environmental sustainability.

“The development of art and culture thrives on international collaboration and exchange,” said Dana MacLeod, Executive Director of Arts, Communities and Inclusion at Creative Scotland.

“Artists and creative practitioners derive inspiration, opportunities to grow and develop practice through the sharing of ideas and explore new ways of working, as well as reaching new audiences.”

She said that the maximum funding amount available had been increased in this round “to encourage fair remunerations for artists and professionals involved in these projects, to better enable more sustainable approaches to international travel and collaboration, and to generally reflect the increased costs of working internationally”.

In light of the impacts of Brexit and the pandemic, as well as the climate emergency, she said that by working together the arts councils and agencies “can more effectively help address challenges for artists and creative practitioners across the UK and enable them to connect with their international counterparts”.

The ongoing negotiations surrounding the restitution of the Benin Bronzes from European museums may be complicated by the Nigerian government’s decision to officially recognise the Oba of Benin as their owner, it has been suggested.

The transfer of ownership of the artefacts, which were looted in the 19th Century, was announced via a Presidential Declaration made in March.

The proposed law states that “all artefacts must be delivered to the Oba of Benin who exercises the rights of original owner. This covers the ones already repatriated and those yet to be repatriated,” a report on the Arise news website said. 

“For many Edo people, it is right and proper that such objects go back to the Oba as they were looted from his great-great-grandfather,” Barnaby Phillips, author of Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes, told the Art Newspaper.

But he said the decision had caused confusion among European museums currently negotiating deals with Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). The organisation itself was also “blindsided” by the transfer of ownership, he added.

The NCMM is responsible for coordinating restitution efforts with Western institutions. 

Godwin Obaseki, the local Edo State governor, has backed plans to house the bronzes in the Edo Museum of Western African Art, due to open in stages from next year, but Oba wants the bronzes to be held by his family in a royal museum or palace, the Art Newspaper reported.
 

A politician in Cork is calling on the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) to return an Irish religious relic thought to have been looted by British forces in the 17th Century.

Sean Sherlock, a Labour member of the Irish Parliament, said that he would like the V&A to return the artefact, known as the Mount Keefe Chalice.

Dating from the 16th Century, the chalice is likely to have been looted from a church during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in the 17th Century, CorkBeo reported.

The artefact was purchased for £400 by V&A officials in 1929, from an heiress living in Cork, who had purchased it from a dealer.

Sherlock called for a “formal dialogue” with the UK to establish a framework between museums in both countries and discuss the return of the artefact.

“I’d like to see a bilateral process between Ireland and the UK where artefacts and antiquities which are of Irish origin could be returned to us. There are probably thousands of artefacts of Irish origin which should be decolonised,” he said.

“I imagine many artefacts ended up in English possession because they were associated with our colonial past. I certainly would like to see the V&A return the chalice.”

A spokesperson for the V&A said that the museum’s archives don’t include any information suggesting that the chalice might have once been stolen or linking it to British military raids.

“We would welcome the opportunity to explore any new information that comes to light about V&A collections – the Chalice is available for loan to museums in Ireland, which could support further study,” the spokesperson told CorkBeo.
 

Musicians' unions have welcomed the news that the bows used to play stringed instruments, predominantly made from pernambuco wood, will not be subject to crippling new restrictions from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Musicians’ Union, the Independent Society of Musicians, the Association of British Orchestras and UK Music worked with the government on a campaign to exempt bows made from the wood from proposed new restrictions that would have subjected travelling musicians to complex paperwork. The move would have also decimated the bow-making trade and hampered sales of antique bows. 

Pernambuco wood, which only grows in Brazil, has been subject to some CITES restrictions since 2007 but at the 19th CITES Conference of the Parties, held in Panama, a proposal to heavily tighten restrictions on using the wood was replaced with a requirement that all pernambuco products, including finished bows, are presented with a CITES permit the first time they leave Brazil.

Dave Webster, Head of International for the Musicians’ Union, described the decision as “a significant victory for musicians' right across the globe”. 

“This outcome provides real peace of mind for our members and all musicians with pernambuco bows,” he said.

The new restrictions “will balance Brazilian concerns for the protection of its national tree while avoiding new and unnecessary red tape for musicians and instrument manufacturers across the UK”, said Tom Kiehl, Deputy CEO of UK Music.

“We will continue to monitor the implementation and compliance to ensure the new policy works as intended,” he added.