Ashen faces in the arts

Even at the most conservative estimate, Iceland’s volcanic ash cost the British economy £130m per day, with a backlog of 400,000 passengers left stranded in the five days all UK flights were grounded. As we go to press, airports have gradually re-opened for business, but what impact has the saga had on the arts sector?
Mark Robinson, founder of arts consultancy Thinking Practice, has reported that 20 South African artists-in-residence at the Swallows Partnership were left stranded in the UK when their weekend flights were cancelled – all at a huge cost. “The irony is that we had real trouble getting them visas to get in to the UK,” he joked to us, “now can’t get them out!” Similarly, David Dixon of DD Associates, who has worked on a number of fundraising projects with refugees and the arts, finds himself marooned in Madrid – along with Kevin Spacey. The Old Vic’s Artistic Director had to miss a speech he was due to give in London on philanthropy and the arts, while Dixon has turned the experience into an opportunity to raise awareness and donations for the Zimbabwe Association.
It’s the jetsetting crowd of classical musicians that seem to have missed the most appointments, though – the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and Milapfest all had to cope in concerts without a number of their musicians (trapped as they were in far-flung destinations). Meanwhile, York Theatre Royal tweeted about their folk being stuck in the Seychelles and the States, and Birmingham Royal Ballet reported that “merry havoc” laid waste to artistic director David Bintley’s plans to visit the Japanese Ballet Company. Over in Berlin, 45 people attending an international conference on theatre hired a coach with the help of the British Council, to journey from the German capital to London.