News

Lockdown art projects by children and young people will be showcased as part of a new collaboration between Arts Council England and Google.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Company Three, Dancefest, English National Opera and Heart n Soul will run summer challenges, the products of which will be featured in 'The Way I See It' on Google Arts & Culture later this year.

ACE Chief Executive Darren Henley said the UK's creative industries are built on imagination, innovation and creativity: "Nowhere can you see these skills more clearly than in England’s next generation of artistic talent."

"These children and young people will be the inventors of tomorrow, and we want to understand how this pandemic has affected their lives" 

Practical and immediate help and programmes for Black, Asian, ethnically diverse people and migrant workers facing redundancy in the arts sector will be provided through a new initiative that aims to ensure the sector does not lose valued workers. Statistics show that Black, Asian, ethnically diverse and migrant arts workers are most likely to be in junior roles that are at most risk of redundancy or working as freelancers rather than salaried staff, and the #AllOfUs Redundancy Care Campaign is fundraising to help those in financial crisis, suffering from anxiety and needing practical skills to go back to work.

Launched by Black Womxn in Theatre and Eclipse Theatre, in partnership with the Bush Theatre, #AllOfUs will present a series of programmes starting with #HereToStay, a 4-week package of practical support to help upskill and empower workers who face employment uncertainty to regain their confidence in the workplace. Participants from across all art forms, including theatre, music, dance, comedy, museums and galleries, will get financial assistance, coaching, mentoring, masterclasses, and CV and application guidance, delivered by a team of senior arts professionals.

The senior practitioners leading the campaign are Stella Kanu, Executive Director, London International Festival of Theatre LIFT; Shawab Iqbal, Executive Producer, Eclipse Theatre and Senior Artistic Associate, Bush Theatre; Monique Baptiste-Brown, Researcher and Head of Communication & Audience Development, Brixton House Theatre; Titilola Dawudu, Writer, Producer and Programme Manager for Young People and Youthfulness, Coventry City of Culture; and Annika Brown, Operations Director, Woolwich Works.

The continuing rise in Covid-19 cases in the United States is offering a glimpse of how UK audiences could react to a 'second wave'. A new survey has found that just 16 percent of respondents would consider rushing back to reopened theatres, down from 25 percent earlier, while 75 percent plan to wait a few months before returning - up from 49 percent in April. The earliest date most theatregoers say they’d be comfortable returning is May or June 2021.

From 1 August, indoor performing arts venues in England will be permitted to re-open with socially distanced audiences, the Government has announced. Pilot studies will be taking place in the run-up to the reopning date, with venues including London Symphony Orchestra at St Luke’s being used to refine guidelines already in place.

This move to stage 4 of the government’s 5-stage roadmap for the return of professional performing arts will mean audiences, performers and venues are all still expected to maintain social distancing at all times. This constraint means that, despite being permitted to reopen, maximum capacity will be severely reduced at many venues and performances will not be financially viable.

Equity General Secretary Christine Payne said: "We welcome the news that theatres and performance venues can reopen with social distancing in August, but the reality is the vast majority will not be opening anytime soon. Creative workers need clarity on how the arts funding package will support them to get back to work safely.

"We are deeply concerned that this money will be primarily aimed at securing the future of the buildings, not the future of the creative workers who make the art audiences come to see. Without the intervention of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Culture Minister Oliver Dowden in directing theses funds to those most in need we are facing a loss of talent that will have devastating effects on UK culture for generations to come."    

Four UK music venues announced plans to close on Wednesday amid the pressure of the pandemic.

Manchester's Gorilla and The Deaf Institute and venues The Welly and The Polar Bear in Hull will not reopen once restrictions on mass gatherings lift.

The venues have provided a stage to many well-known acts, including Kylie Minogue, The 1975, Florence and the Machine, U2 and Pulp.

Roy Ellis, Chief Executive of Mission Mars which operates the Manchester businesses, said they were "well loved and have provided an early stage for many acts in the North West".

"The Deaf Institute and Gorilla have been at the forefront of the music scene in Manchester for many years and it is with great sadness that we announce that we will not be reopening."