TAITMAIL Trusting in a new foundation
Negotiations on saving our culture from apocalypse, behind closed doors rather than in the correspondence pages of the national press, have begun and are expected to take until the end of the month, at least in their initial stage. Not long to build a new horizon.
Dickens as you never knew him
This is unmistakably the author of Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities, but as you’ve never seen him, thanks to a new colourisation process.
THE WORD For the nation to recover, we need our undervalued artists
Erica Whyman, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s deputy artistic director, believes this country has never valued its artists properly. That has to change, she writes, if Britain is to recover from the Covid-19 crisis
Crafts never more popular with £3bn sales
The appetite for British craft has never been higher, according to a new report from the Crafts Council, with 73% of the UK buying handcrafted objects in 2019 and sales exceeding £3bn, and the lockdown adding to it.
Furlough close down will see more theatres shut
The tapering furlough scheme will see more theatres permanently shut, warns the Theatres Trust today.
Opera company reinvents 2020
Although closed in the Covid-19 lockdown, Grange Park Opera, set in the Surrey Hills, is launching a newly devised summer season this month.
THE ART OF PHOTOJOURNALISM Image of the month
Bem Le Hunte, 1st June 1983, by Boleslaw Lutoslawski
Former Fleet Street picture editor Alan Sparrow introduces this month’s image
Roland Rudd controversial choice as Tate chair
The PR consultant Roland Rudd is to be the next chair of Tate, succeeding Lionel Barber in January, 2021.
Turner Prize cancelled – bursaries awarded instead
This year’s Turner Prize has been cancelled, with £100,000 in bursaries being given to ten artists instead.
‘End not yet in sight’ warns ACE chief
The end of the crisis for the arts driven by the coronavirus lockdown is not in sight, says Arts Council England CEO Darren Henley - and there will be permanent closures.
Southbank may be closed till April 2021
With its reserves running dry during the Covid-19 closure, the Southbank Centre may have to close until at least April 2021 and will cease to be a going concern before the end of the year if it doesn’t get emergency rescue funding.
GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE How artists survive
Experts from Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University explore what impact Covid-19 closures have had on the visual arts industry, and its response
Hedge funder Britton heads Tate’s US drive
Paul Britton, founder and CEO of Capstone Investment Advisors which oversees funds worth almost £5.8bn, is to chair Tate Americas Foundation Board of Trustees.
Dowden appoints culture tsar to ‘advise’ on recovery
The government has appointed publisher, philanthropist and entrepreneur Neil Mendoza as Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal to help the sector steer a way through the effects of the pandemic.
‘Theatres facing total collapse’ – Friedman
A leading West End producer today challenges the government to prevent 70% of performing arts companies closing permanently by Christmas.
Celeb face masks to support artists & museums
Leading artists David Shrigley, Yinka Shonibare, Linder and Eddie Peake have designed limited edition facemasks to raise funds for artists and museums badly hit by the Covid-19 lockdown.
Helping hand for theatres in peril
The Theatres Trust is stepping in to help six theatre buildings survive.
Mystery Roman figure to inspire new music
This tiny and mysterious figure of a Roman household god could be the inspiration for an important piece of new music – for museums.
Call for government to step in and ‘save our cultural landscape’
The chair of Parliament’s culture select committee has written to the culture secretary to demand urgent extra support for cultural institutions facing bankruptcy because of the coronavirus lockdown.
MY STORY Nicola Moorby, art historian and Turner expert
In February the Bank of England issued the new polymer £20 note, the first banknote to feature a British artist. The chosen artist is J M W Turner with a self-portrait painted in about 1799, and to coincide this week the art historian and Turner authority Nicola Moorby launches a lecture series for The Arts Society Connected with her talk An Artist of Note: Turner and the new £20 note
When art history came to the Palais de Danse
St Ives’s Palais de Danse was never a notable building. It started life in the 18th century as a navigation school, and it was only in the 20th century that history came knocking, leading to its Grade II listing today.
Sunderland success with online culture programmes
Sunderland Culture has joined forces with the city’s university and local council to deliver a programme of online culture to residents during lockdown.
Northern Ireland employers urged to buy ‘lockdown’ arts
Scheme aims to support artists with saleable content.
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