Welsh Government sets culture and heritage anti-racism targets

Outside of the National Museum Wales
14 Jun 2022

Publicly funded organisations in Wales will be required to report diversity figures, lift barriers to cultural participation and mandate anti-racism training over the next two years.

Tackling taboos in the British South Asian community

Dishoom by Rifco
08 Jun 2022

Do we still need a British South Asian theatre company? That is a question Pravesh Kumar is often asked. His answer is always yes. 

Backlash over massive funding cuts for emerging musicians

07 Jun 2022

Leading music industry figures call for royalties body to reverse 60% funding cut for new talent, despite increase in revenues.

Partnership to tackle racism in music industry

07 Jun 2022

The Musicians' Union (MU) and Black Lives in Music (BLiM) are embarking on a three-year partnership to challenge racism in the music industry.

BLiM CEO Charisse Beaumont said the goal of the collaboration is to empower Black music creators and combat racism.

They aim to do this by ensuring quality music education is available at the grassroots level and by removing systemic barriers to create career opportunities for Black musicians which result in a level playing field across the music ecosystem. 

The partnership follows a BLiM report into racism in the music industry, based on a survey that found 63% of Black musicians and 73% of Black music industry professionals had experienced direct or indirect racism during their careers.

MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl says the research shone a light the areas where “Black musicians and specifically Black female musicians encounter barriers and experience discrimination”.

“We are really excited to work with BLiM on changing that experience and shaping the future of the industry.”

Arts Council chief among Queen's Birthday Honours recipients

Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England
06 Jun 2022

More than 100 people working in the arts and culture sectors have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Bradford wins UK City of Culture 2025

Bradford celebrates winning UK City of Culture 2025
01 Jun 2022

The West Yorkshire city becomes the competition's fourth winner, after a successful bid that championed diversity and young people

Survey to shed light on musical theatre diversity 

30 May 2022

A new survey will provide evidence about the underrepresentation of talent from ethnically diverse backgrounds in musical theatre.

The Diversity Matters survey, conducted by Inc Arts, is asking ethnically diverse musical theatre creators working in England to share the challenges they face working as librettists, lyricists, writers, sound designers and composers.
 
The survey, which is open until 11 July, addresses an information gap around the development of England’s ethnically diverse creators. The results will aim to change and progress how the sector's decision-makers embed diversity in their programming and production. 

Inc Arts says that while existing research shows the sector has diverse work in development, it is not reflected in the Intellectual Property Rights/Royalties end of the pipeline.

Interim Executive Director Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp added that understanding the talent pipeline that leads to off-stage roles is a crucial, yet often forgotten piece of diversity work.

“If diversity does not permeate into all the behind the scenes roles, and up the chain to most senior decision-makers, then we are at risk not only of undervaluing huge swathes of creative talent, but also of perpetuating a creative sector that fails to reflect the diversity of the UK.”
 

PRS For Music election results ‘disappointing’, says MMF

26 May 2022

The Music Managers Forum (MMF) has criticised the results of PRS for Music’s latest council election over a lack of diversity.

Seven of the eight appointees are men, and all are white, leading to a joint statement from MMF Chair Paul Craig, Vice Chair Kwame Kwaten and Chief Executive Annabella Coldrick calling the result “disappointing”.

They say the result is down to an “outmoded and outdated system of governance at PRS, which is in clear need of root and branch reform” and are calling for more to be done to “ensure the value of People of Colour to songwriting and publishing is not just acknowledged but properly represented”.

The council members were voted in through a ballot completed by PRS members. Three members – Tom Gray, Crispin Hunt and Philip Pope – were all re-elected, while Hannah Peel, Nigel Gilroy, Daniel Lang, John Minch and Richard Paine join the council for the first time.

The results were announced at PRS for Music’s annual general meeting. CEO Andrea Martin said the council members bring a “breadth of vision, diversity of skill sets and an understanding of the digital eco-system from which the organisation and the members will greatly benefit”.

Commonwealth Games cultural programme 'ignores diverse communities'

Future Birmingham - SUKI 10C, Digbeth.  The painted former public house at the corner of Bordesley Street and Meriden Street has been repainted.
25 May 2022

Report claims organisers have missed opportunities to include Birmingham's diverse communities in planned events, and are not on target to meet requirements measuring race equality, community engagement and accountability.

Only 13% of UK festival headliners are female

24 May 2022

Only around one in 10 headline acts at the leading UK music festivals taking place this summer will be women, a study has found.

A BBC study focusing on 50 of the biggest UK festivals found that out of 200 headline acts only 26 (13%) were an all-female band or solo artist whereas 149 (74.5%) were either an all-male band or solo artist.

Meanwhile 24 acts (12%) had a mixed line-up of male and female performers, and one (0.05%) artist identified as non-binary.

This is despite many events previously promising to achieve a 50/50 gender balance across their line-ups by 2022.

Maggie Rogers, a singer/songwriter who will be performing at Latitude Festival this summer, said: "What I come to music for - as a fan and artist - is community and to feel part of something, and I think community functions at its best when it feels inclusive.

"When that doesn't happen - when the line-ups reiterate imbalances that exist in gender and race and class - it's not surprising, but it's certainly not ideal."

 

 

Royal College of Art opens new £135m campus

23 May 2022

A major new campus for the Royal College of Art (RCA), featuring a space for public exhibitions, has opened.

The £135m development accommodates four storeys of studios and workshops for sculpture, contemporary art, video and film, and design.

Meanwhile, a double-height 350sq m space space known as The Hanger has large doors at either end to enable the installation of heavy, large or complex works of art, and will be used for public exhibitions. 

A similar but smaller room provides research, testing and assembly space for sculpture and robotics projects.

To coincide with the launch, the RCA has announced a new five-year strategy for 2022–27 which includes plans to double the percentage of Black British and People of Colour students and researchers from underrepresented backgrounds.

A South Asian counter narrative

portrait of Roohia Syed-Ahmed
04 May 2022

New research on South Asian arts and ageing offers insights and inspiration to a new generation, write Elizabeth Lynch and Arti Prashar.

Project seeks artists of colour ‘to tackle racial injustices’

04 May 2022

Initiative inspired by Black Lives Matter movement will commission artists of African and Asian heritage to help tackle “shockingly low” representation in British public arts institutions. 

UK’s first Aboriginal-owned art gallery to open in Bristol

04 May 2022

Wiradjuri-British artist Jasmine Coe will launch a pop-up gallery in Bristol this summer to celebrate the work of Aboriginal artists. 

Coe Gallery will be Britain’s first indigenous-owned Aboriginal art gallery. It is named for the artist’s father, Paul Coe, an activist involved in campaigns for Aboriginal justice and land rights.

“My art becomes a place where I can learn about the history of my culture and what my family have stood for,” Ms. Coe told the BBC.

She decided to open the gallery in Bristol to highlight the city’s connection to colonialism in Australia.

“Bristol is a city that has its own traumatic colonial history where the historical narrative is now being shifted,” she said. “I believe there is space for the indigenous experience to be heard and to share in how colonialism continues to affect indigenous communities across the world.”

The gallery will hold exhibitions in a pop-up space, with the support of Bridging Histories and the University of Bristol, while Ms. Coe searches for a permanent venue.

Artists scheduled to exhibit include Sandon Gibbs-O’Neill, an Aboriginal artist from Australia.

He told the BBC that it’s important for indigenous artists “to have control over our own narrative”. The new art space will show that Aboriginal communities are “not just surviving, we’re actually thriving,” he said.

Name change for 'whitewashed' Kala Sangam sparks anguish

29 Apr 2022

Founding members of the South Asian arts company accuse Arts Council England of turning a blind eye to "the definition of appropriation" as new programmes and audiences are pursued.

'No clear reason' why people don't access digital arts

27 Apr 2022

Most people struggle to identify a specific reason why they don’t engage with arts online, a government survey has found.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's Participation Survey which provides estimates of physical and digital engagement with the arts, heritage, museums and galleries, found that around one in four (27%) people had engaged with art digitally over the past year.

Of those who hadn't, when asked about the barriers they face, 45% said there was "no reason in particular", with 29% saying they were "not interested", and 11% saying they "don't have the time".

Other barriers to digital engagement included having a health problem or disability (8%), it being too expensive (8%), having no access to internet (5%) or "not knowing what is available" (3%).

The study found a negative correlation between digital engagement in the arts and areas of deprivation. The most deprived areas showed 20% engagement in the arts, compared with 31% in the least deprived areas.

Meanwhile, 32% of those in higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations engaged digitally in the arts, compared with 23% of respondents in intermediate occupations and 17% in routine and manual occupations.

Row over trans label in museum collection

25 Apr 2022

A Glasgow museum has received mixed responses to a display label supporting transgender rights. 

The Burrell Collection, which reopened in March following a £68.25m refurbishment, labelled two porcelain figures of Buddhist goddess Guanyin as a “transgender icon”.

One of the labels reads “trans people have always existed and are rooted in history. Figures like Guanyin reflect this, showing that gender and identity are not always fixed”, while another says “trans rights are human rights. Be more Guanyin”.

Campaign group Women Scotland accused the labels of appropriating Buddhist art to “prop up an ideology”.

Charitable trust Glasgow Life, which oversees the city’s museums, says academic studies have long referenced Guanyin as an icon for transgender people.

“One of the aims of the refurbishment of the Burrell Collection was to work with community groups to reflect often previously under-represented histories as part of the re-display, including LGBT histories, because Glasgow Life museums are places for everyone.”

LGB Alliance grant suspended after outcry

protestors hold up a pride flag and trans flag
13 Apr 2022

The gender critical organisation received one of 704 grants in Arts Council England’s £4.58m Let’s Create Jubilee Fund.

Why levelling up shouldn’t mean levelling down on diversity 

12 Apr 2022

How will Arts Council England square the circle of delivering increased funding to regions outside London while also meeting its commitment to increase funding to Black-led* organisations? asks Kevin Osborne.

Reimagining the orchestra for the 21st century 

SMOOSH! perform at Knowle, West Bristol
12 Apr 2022

Charles Hazlewood is on a mission to disrupt the traditional model of orchestral music and bring the excitement into the streets.

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