Arts universities win £1.4m for knowledge-sharing projects

Students sitting in a lecture theatre chatting
21 Apr 2020

Students will be at the heart of programmes for developing entrepreneurial skills and using theatre techniques to improve patient experience in the NHS.

Unions join forces to demand fairer treatment of freelancers

20 Apr 2020

An open letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is asking for seven key points to be addressed in the Government's plans to protect the creative economy. The Federation of Entertainment Unions, which includes Equity, the National Union of Journalists, the Musicians Union, Writers Guild of Great Britain and BECTU, is calling for more support for groups that are in most danger of falling between the gaps in the government's financial compensation package for freelance workers.

These workers include parents and carers; those with less than 50% of income from self-employment; new entrants into the industry who had no completed tax return for last year; and freelances who operate through personal service companies, paying themselves with dividends rather salary. The Unions are also seeking reassurance that compensation payments will not compromise welfare payments to D/deaf and disabled workers.

 

Fear of virus will deter theatregoers from returning, survey finds

20 Apr 2020

Most theatregoers will not immediately be ready to return to theatres even when they reopen, according to a survey among 2,762 people in Washington DC who attend at least two professional theatre productions in a typical year. Around half of those questioned said they are likely to wait a few months after they reopen before returning, while only a quarter think they will attend straight away. 27 percent said they would attend the theatre less often in future, but only 13 percent said they would attend more often.

Two-thirds said the availability of a vaccine was the factor most likely to prompt them to return to the theatre, while 56% said they would consider returning to theatres sooner if they take steps to clean and disinfect before each performance.

Inquiry to investigate equalities impact of government's Covid response measures

20 Apr 2020

Parliament's Women and Equalities Committee has launched an Inquiry in response to concerns raised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and other organisations that the coronavirus crisis is having a disproportionate impact on some people who have protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. The Committee is asking how people have been affected by the illness or the response to it; if there have been specific impacts on people due to them having a protected characteristic; and whether there may be unforeseen consequences to measures brought in to ease the burden on frontline staff. 

The Government will be reviewing current measures in three weeks’ time and measures in the Coronavirus Bill be voted on again in 6 months’ time, so the Inquiry wants to know what needs to change or improve, which could be acted on in three weeks’ time; and what could be acted on in 6 months’ time. The Committee aims to follow up this work in 12 months’ time to build a more complete picture of how people with protected characteristics have been affected.

Responses should be submitted by 30 April if possible, to enable the Committee to press the Government to reconsider the current measures at the three-week review.

 

2019 saw growing threat to artistic freedom in Europe

20 Apr 2020

An in-depth analysis of 711 acts of violations of artistic freedom that took place in 93 countries last year has found that nationalist, populist politics has led to increased censoring of artists’ voices in countries where the right to freedom of artistic expression has traditionally been protected.

Governments were responsible for over half of all acts of censorship, and criticising the government led to 42% of all imprisonments. A third of all incidents of censorship realated to music and a further quarter to visual art. The figures have been published in State of Artistic Freedom 2020, a report by Freemuse.

 

Grantium “impasse hell hole” unleashes Twitter storm

chickens roosting on a fence outside a barn
17 Apr 2020

Desperate pleas from those who are losing their livelihoods have revealed the stress that Arts Council England’s grant application system – known to be dysfunctional since 2016 – has placed on them.

City of Culture responds to Covid-19 pressures

17 Apr 2020

A test event for the launch of Coventry City of Culture has been cancelled and the money earmarked for it, and for the Godiva Festival, is being redistributed to local artistic commissioning opportunities. The Coventry City of Culture Trust has also postponed the launch of its apprenticeship programme until the start of June.

The trust has set up a £60,000 Coronavirus Resilience Fund and the first £10,000 of grants have been distributed this week to support local individuals and organisations working in the cultural sector who have been directly impacted by the pandemic.

CEO Martin Sutherland said the trust remained 'determined' to support partners in the voluntary and charity sector and pledged to honour all existing employment and freelance contracts.

‘Trickle-down funding for artists doesn’t work’, and Arts Council England knows it

Bournemouth Pier Theatre
17 Apr 2020

Artists have spoken out against an emergency funding formula that assumes a cultural ecosystem exists and will support artists through the current crisis.

Council offers lifeline to Artrix

17 Apr 2020

Bromsgrove District Council has told residents it is committed to reopening the town’s theatre and arts centre, which ceased trading last week due to losses in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. An insolvency practitioner has been assigned to Artrix and the Council is exploring options for it to have a "long-term sustainable future". A spokesperson said: “We must make sure nothing like this happens again... I am sad it has come to this."

A Facebook group called ‘The Future of Artrix', set up by previous performers, hirers and supporters of the venue, has already attracted 1,300 followers.

Rural touring schemes suffer heavy burden from cancelled performances

Empty stage with a period backdrop with the word 'Pennygaff' in the background and a chair in the foreground with a 'closed' sign on top
17 Apr 2020

The number of event cancellations at small rural venues is placing “an immense personal toll” on those who programme professional artists and companies in community settings.

Parliamentary group doubles down on diversity in the creative industries

two white women and a black man sitting on a bench looking upwards
17 Apr 2020

Universities have been tasked with identifying ‘what works’ for creative organisations aiming to become more inclusive and open up opportunities and access to a wider range of talent.

Grim outcomes for artists and organisations as the impact of the lockdown starts to bite

A sculpture of The Ulster Brewer or Barrel Man 1997 By Ross Wilson
17 Apr 2020

Family and friends are helping artists to make ends meet as their incomes – and those of the organisations that contract them – start to plummet.

Theatre technicians join Cardiff's emergency hospital team

16 Apr 2020

Theatre and lighting technicians who usually build festival sites and TV sets are helping to turn Cardiff's Principality Stadium into a 2,000-bed hospital to treat coronavirus patients. Theatre technicians are running in power for beds, events teams are building marquees and putting down floors, and festival electricians are installing power distribution systems. Company director Tom Feierabend of T&M services, whose staff are among those setting up the hospital, said that the equipment, staff and knowledge was there "because the arts industry exists".

Edinburgh's festivals face pressures for a 'rethink'

14 Apr 2020

Council chiefs have said the cancellation of Edinburgh's summer festivals is providing an opportunity to shape their future direction, with more of a focus on "our people, place and environment". With 4 million visitors in the city centre during the summers, heritage experts and others have expressed growing concerns about the scale and unintended side effects of the festivals, including safety issues, environmental damage and the squeeze on affordable housing due to the growth of short-term holiday lets and hotels.

Labour challenges Scottish Government over Covid support for artists

14 Apr 2020

Labour culture spokesperson Claire Baker has asked the Scottish Government to clarify why First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is claiming the Government has provided "new funding" for artists and those in the creative sector to support them through the Covid crisis. Baker said: "My understanding is that these funds are all resourced from repurposing National Lottery funding and some grant-in-aid."

Tate wins court battle to keep its viewing gallery

14 Apr 2020

The Court of Appeal has rejected a claim that visitors' use of a viewing gallery in a new extension to Tate Modern constitutes a 'private nuisance'. Occupants of flats in a development next to Tate had hoped to obtain an injunction requiring trustees to close the viewing gallery that overlooks their homes.

The flat-owners alleged that visitors have an uninterrupted view into their living areas and have been taking photographs and observing them through binoculars. They alleged that the use of the viewing gallery unreasonably interfered with their enjoyment of their flats so as to be a nuisance, and claimed that Tate was in breach of the Human Rights Act. But the Court has dismissed the claims, with the judge finding that, in choosing to buy their properties - which have floor-to-ceiling glass windows - they had submitted themselves to increased sensitivity to privacy. 

Digital boom sustains museum audiences but not income

Interior of Rijksmuseum - people in gallery
10 Apr 2020

Volunteer programmes have been suspended and freelance contracts are at risk as museums take measures to sustain themselves through the Covid crisis.

National Theatre Wales leads on new digital productions

Graphic representing Network
10 Apr 2020

Job opportunities for theatre makers will be created during the period of social isolation through a partnership offering a high profile digital platform supported by BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Arts.

Cultural Industries brief for former Shadow Culture Secretary Tracy Brabin

Tracy Brabin image
10 Apr 2020

The Labour MP’s recent report on the role of culture confronted “the perception, and the reality” that arts, culture and creativity are middle class pastimes with too great a focus on London and the South East.

Lockdown is prompting engagement with classical music, research finds

09 Apr 2020

Research conducted in late March for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) among over 2,000 adults found that six out of seven British households with extra time on their hands were planning to broaden their musical horizons, with a third of these saying they want to discover more classical music. One in five of the under-35s and over a third of over 65s in isolation said they wanted to learn more about the genre.

Since the start of the coronavirus lockdown, the RPO has seen a three-fold increase in its website traffic and a seven-fold increase in engagement on its social media channels. Its online activities are being presented through a new programme, RPO at Home, which includes its first streamed performance, videos of players in their own homes, an RPO at Home YouTube playlist and a card game through which audiences can get to know the RPO’s musicians better. 

RPO Managing Director James Williams commented: “Music is often seen as a good tonic to cope with stress and uncertainty... it will continue to surprise and delight for far longer than the time we will be in isolation."

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