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.

Future of culture in Edinburgh

Seminar room Edinburgh University
12 Apr 2022

Recent research urged Edinburgh’s cultural sector to adopt a values-led approach to addressing inequities and precarities. Vikki Jones assesses the implications of the findings for the city.

Union deals secure better rights for theatre pros

King's Head Theatre in Islington, London
06 Apr 2022

Performers and stage managers can expect a better work-life balance, whilst playwrights get more control over digital reproduction.

Stronger together

30 Mar 2022

Can the cultural sector embrace collaboration as an essential tool to dismantle racism? In launching their new campaign, Arts Against Racism, Inc Arts thinks it must.
 

Fewer ethnically diverse creatives are employed, study finds

21 Mar 2022

Ethnically diverse creatives are experiencing increased job insecurity and financial instability post-Covid, according to a University of Manchester study.

Researchers found 29% of respondents are in employment a year after the first lockdown – 22% less than in 2020 – with 44% saying they are now "financially unstable" or need immediate assistance to pay their bills.

30% of respondents had left the creative and cultural industries for another sector, raising concerns about backsliding diversity in the sector.

Dr Anamik Saha of Goldsmith University’s Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity said the Black Lives Matter protests translated into relatively few new opportunities for Black creatives.

“Our hope is that in shining a light on their circumstances, media and cultural organisations can better support creative workers from minoritised communities, ensuring fair and equal treatment during these difficult times.”

ACW pursues strategy for Welsh language and arts

04 Mar 2022

The Arts Council of Wales (ACW) is seeking views on the role of Welsh in the arts to form a new strategy.

Stakeholders are being invited to join a bilingual discussion about language and art at 4pm, March 9. Two sessions have already taken place.

"We want to hear the voices of people who can speak or who are learning Welsh but we also want to hear the voices of people who do not currently speak the language. Everyone’s views and experiences are key to this strategy," ACW says.

The funder has recently mapped the use of Welsh in the arts and appointed a Welsh Language Enabler, Einir Siôn, who will lead the discussions.

"This will not be a platform to air complaints but an opportunity to discuss positive ways of creating change," Siôn said.

Inc Arts wins accolades for inclusive change

01 Mar 2022

Inclusion and diversity organisation Inc Arts has won four accolades from Anthem Awards.

The awards recognise "purpose and mission driven work". Inc Arts was acknowledged with gold awards for special projects, best strategy, partnership and collaboration and a "medal class" award.

The organisation helped share the experiences of 400 ethnically diverse arts workers with 3,000 senior leaders in the sector during the lockdowns, hosted a conference, Speak-Listen-Reset-Heal, and provided the Unlock toolkit.

CEO Amanda Parker said the work has been hard but has catalysed change at hundreds of UK arts organisations.

"In the darkest of storms, it's great to be seen."

How to remain inclusive while living with Covid

22 Feb 2022

Andrew Miller says arts organisations must work with disabled artists to keep them safe amid the very real risks the Government's plan poses to their health.

Theatre of sanctuary

Curious Monkey's Arriving Group performing at Refugee Week 2021
22 Feb 2022

For Amy Golding, creating a new play starts with an encounter that sparks inspiration, followed by working with a community invited to share the journey.

Train station mini-operas celebrate female musicians

22 Feb 2022

Seven mini-operas were performed at St. Pancras International on Tuesday (February 8) to mark International Women's Day.

The works were created by female composers and musicians following an open call by the Royal Opera House's Jette Parker Young Artists Programme.

Titled Lost and Found, the project aims to improve the visibility of female creatives, as well as offering travellers "a moment of reflection in an unlikely space", the opera house says.

ROH is offering a free livestream of documentary Interrogating the Ballerina and plans to launch its new HerStory tour at Covent Garden later this week.

Welsh theatre 'can't afford' access for disabled actors

22 Feb 2022

Disabled actors are unable to perform at Theatre Colwyn because Conwy County Council cannot afford a wheelchair lift.

The council owned theatre underwent a £740,000 redevelopment in 2011 that included disabled access on all floors, but no disabled access to the stage.

During a committee meeting, Theatre Colwyn Manager Phil Batty said installing backstage disabled access would cost a £250,000.

He said: "It is the lift issue that is the cost. We did look into that, but it hasn’t moved any further. Obviously we’ve had Covid the last few years, but we will certainly pick it up again."

Conwy Counil’s Head of Economy and Culture Sarah Ecob said council is considering an installation, but it is complicated by the building's footprint.

Conwy disability champion Frank Bradfield called the issue an equal rights matter: “The cost of the lift doesn’t come into the rights or wrongs of it. You can’t discriminate against people on grounds of disability.”

Tate to commission artistic response to racist mural

16 Feb 2022

Tate Britain will keep a mural featuring racist imagery in its restaurant and commission an artistic response to the art work.

The decision arises following "deep disagreements" in consultations about what to do with the 1927 Rex Whistler mural, which depicts an enslaved Black child among other distressing images.

In 2020, the institution stopped describing its restaurant as "the most amusing room in Europe" amid complaints.

However, the mural is still a work of art and forms part of the eatery's Grade I listed interior, so it can't be removed.

The commissioned artist will be announced in the next few months. Their work will be "exhibited alongside and in dialogue with the mural, reframing the way the space is experienced" and accompanied by interpretative materials.

Telling our stories

a man and woman eat takeaway food sat next to a dog staring at the food
16 Feb 2022

There are many reasons why arts organisations seek to diversify their staff and creatives, but there’s only one result: exciting, meaningful cultural outputs, says Inc Arts UK.

Performance school demands diverse audiences for corporate gigs

15 Feb 2022

The academy's Co-Director says he will no longer put young Black performers in spaces where they don't see themselves represented.

ACW diversity overhaul to reshape portfolio and leadership

14 Feb 2022

Big changes are coming for Wales' arts funding body after critical reports highlighted gaps in its engagement with ethnic minority, D/deaf and disabled communities.

What can investment contribute to race equity?

09 Feb 2022

The existential question of race inequity demands new solutions. Kevin Osborne and Genevieve Maitland Hudson explore the potential of impact investment.

Persistent gender pay gap in UK auction houses

03 Feb 2022

There has been little change to gender pay gaps at UK auction houses since 2018.

Reporting by the Art Newspaper has revealed worsening pay gaps at Bonhams, Christie's and Sotheby's. 

Women at Bonhams earn an average of 48p for every £1 their male colleagues receive. A company spokesperson said furlough skewed its figures for 2020 - just 16 staff were on full salary the day they were recorded.

The pay gap at Christie's is 25.6% compared to 25% four years earlier. The firm says most of its global workforce is female, including several new senior hires.

Sotheby's pay gap is now 24.9%; it was 22.2% in 2017/18. It expects new "family friendly policies" to make a difference soon.

UK's first LGBTQ+ museum to open in spring

24 Jan 2022

The UK's first museum dedicated to LGBTQ+ history and people will soon open in King's Cross.

Queer Britain aim to open a free-to-visit museum featuring four galleries, a workshop, gift shop and education space to the public in spring.

Trustees said they were pleased to have a location steeped in queer history and easily accessible to "all the community".

"Queer Britain aims to tell our many diverse histories, and now we have a home to do that from," Anjum Mouj said.

The collective has an initial two-year lease on the building, owned by Art Fund. It replaces outgoing tenants The House of Illustration, which moves to a larger space.

UK's first queer camping festival launches

20 Jan 2022

The UK's first queer camping festival will take place near London this spring.

Flesh features a house and techno line-up, 90% of which are women, trans and non-binary artists of varying ethnicities: "As such, Flesh will address the long term issue of male dominated festival programming," its manifesto says.

The two-day event aims to improve artists' visibility and help them generate new bookings by leading by example. 

"Many people talk about equality in electronic music but Flesh will take real life action to make it happen."

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