Arts funding

Five artists have been awarded a total of £40,000 by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for new digital art projects.

Aimed at artists making digital work for the first time, the artists who have received Individual Artists Digital Evolution Awards are: Csilla Toldy, Michael McEvoy, Michael Speers, Peter O’Doherty and Rueben Brown.

The funded projects include McEvoy's contemporary dance-based project, A Kiss for a Kiss.

The project will feature a duet between a real-world dancer and a digitally-animated avatar.

Movement will be captured through motion-capture suits, with the data transferred using augmented reality technology.

Gilly Campbell, Director of Arts Development at Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: "The programme will support these artists in the creation of art using digital and immersive technologies, and will also help them develop skills in new technologies."

Music Venue Trust (MVT), has announced the first recipients of its new funding initiative, which provides grants of up to £5,000 for UK grassroots music venues.

The Pipeline Investment Fund was established with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance and was primarily funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s recent Revive Live programme of gigs around the UK, staged in partnership with The National Lottery.

A total of 11 venues will receive support - Alexander's Live in Chester, Venue38 in Ayr, The Louisiana in Bristol, The Grayston Unity in Halifax, Retro in Manchester, Chats Palace in London, Backstage At The Green in Kinross, Dorothy Pax in Sheffield, Servant Jazz Quarters in London, Snug in Atherton, and Three Wise Monkeys in Colchester.

The money will be used for a range of lighting, sound and associated equipment purchases, as well as air conditioning units and building work.

The British Council has announced £14m of funding to protect international heritage at risk from factors including conflict and climate change.

The funding will be distributed among 17 new projects over two-and-a-half years, through the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The projects receiving funding include a plan by Egyptian NGO Megawra to revive and protect two Islamic monuments in Cairo, where rising temperatures and excessive flooding are damaging buildings and infrastructure. 

“From the conservation of 13th century manuscripts in Gaza, to preserving buildings in Cairo, it is vital we do our utmost to protect precious global heritage at risk due to climate change and conflict,” said Arts Minister Lord Parkinson.

The British Council received an unprecedented level of high-quality proposals for funding, said Stephanie Grant, Director of the Cultural Protection Fund.

“The selected projects represent a diverse range of approaches to protecting cultural heritage, but with a shared motivation to safeguard cultural heritage for future generations, tackle urgent global challenges and deliver positive societal and economic impact for local populations,” she said.

The British Council also announced that it will fund two year-long research fellowships on cultural relations and climate action, in partnership with the American University of Cairo, the Indian Institute of Technology and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh.

Two early-career researchers from the global south will receive funding to undertake fellowships at the University of Cambridge.

Eleven schools in Belfast and Londonderry will receive funding enabling them to participate in a pioneering education programme inviting professional artists to share their skills with children in the classroom.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Education Authority and the Urban Villages Initiative have announced funding to continue the Creative Schools programme.

Participating schools are invited to collaborate with artists working in fields including animation, film-making, journalism, music production, photography and scriptwriting. 

The Creative Schools programme was originally launched as a pilot in 2017 and has to date benefited 1,000 pupils. Last year, schools were invited to apply for up to £15,000 in funding to develop a bespoke project. 

“The Creative Schools programme is a landmark arts and education project,” said Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which is investing £100,000 from its National Lottery funds in the scheme.

“It brings professional artists into the classroom to deliver practical and creative lessons that broaden learning opportunities for our young people, opening up creative career pathways.”

The programme is beneficial for students’ mental health, enabling young people “to experience a sense of freedom, self-expression and enjoyment”, said Education Authority Chairman Barry Mulholland.

Welsh National Opera has announced it will no longer tour in Liverpool because of cuts to its Arts Council England funding.

The company, which receives National Portfolio Organisation funding from both ACE and the Arts Council of Wales, has had its ACE grant cut by 35%, a drop of £2.2m.

WNO General Director Aidan Lang said: "Our decision to withdraw from performing in Liverpool is regrettable, but has been carefully considered, taking into account a wide range of factors which will help us to make cost savings without impacting the quality of our work." 

WNO has been touring to Liverpool since 1968, first at the Royal Court and from 1976 at Liverpool Empire Theatre.

The decision means that 2023 productions of 'Blaze of Glory!', about a miners' choir set in the 1950s, and Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' will no longer be performed in Liverpool.

Other tour dates in Cardiff, Llandudno, Milton Keynes, Bristol, Birmingham, and Southampton will still go ahead.