News

In an open letter to the 'big five' UK publishing houses, high profile authors - including some who have recently shared their experiences of racism - are calling for sweeping reforms to make the overwhelmingly white industry more inclusive at all levels. The letter raises concerns that “British publishers are raising awareness of racial inequality without significantly addressing their own”, and notes the absence of any black people on the boards of major publishers. 

The trustees of The Rhodes Arts Complex are preparing to rename the venue. Three petitions have called for the organisation to dissociate itself from former British businessman and politician Cecil Rhodes who founded the southern African territory of Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe, on the grounds that his "racist and white supremacist motives 'will never represent the views of the people of Bishop's Stortford'". The organisation was already planning to change the name following its conversion to a charitable incorporated organisation, a process which began five months ago.

Auction house Sotheby’s has been asked by British Airways to value works of art that have been displayed for decades in its lounges and at its headquarters. The airline is aiming to sell at least 10 works from its collection of mostly British art following a suggestion by staff that this would be a way of  saving money to help the company survive the Coronavirus crisis.

An archaeological dig, ordered by Tower Hamlets council before giving the go-ahead for a development of new flats, has uncovered the remains of the Red Lion playhouse - an Elizabethan venue thought to be the earliest purpose-built playhouse in Britain. It is belived that the structure found in East London was a prototype for a theatre that staged plays by a young William Shakespeare.

The UK should copy what has already been proved to work by Mainland Europe orchestras, rather than starting from the beginning led by "people not from the performing arts making the decisions", say Sir Simon Rattle, Music Director of London Symphony Orchestra, and Sir Mark Elder, Music Director of Hallé Orchestra. In an open letter they warn of the " real possibility of a devastated landscape" on the other side of the pandemic and point out that if orchestras do survive they will "face insuperable obstacles to remain solvent in our new reality."

Despite reopening only last September after a controversial 3-year £40m refurbishment, the venue operators of Farifield Halls, BHLive, have cancelled their five-year piano hire agreement at short notice. Nine, including two grand pianos, have been returned to their makers. BHLive is a Bournemouth-based exhibition and leisure centre operator and manages the Halls on behalf of the Council, earning revenues exclusively from ticket sales, events and catering.

Bristol Music Trust will be revealing a new name for Colston Hall in the autumn and in the meanwhile will be removing its external signage from the building. Following protests, the Trust announced three years ago that it would be changing the name as part of a major refurbishment project. An in-depth consultation was carried out with over 4,000 people from communities across the city and the new name was due to be announced in Spring 2020, but the pandemic has delayed the process.

In an attempt to distance itself from any association with its namesake, the 17th Century MP Edward Colston who earned much of his money through the slave trade, the Trust has issued a statement pointing out that the Hall was built 150 years after Colston died and was not founded with any of his money: "The current name does not reflect our values as a progressive, forward-thinking and open arts organisation – we want it to be representative of the city, a beacon of its values of hope, diversity and inclusion."