New rules to protect statues
The government is to introduce tough new planning regulations to prevent statues being removed, to a chorus of criticism from the heritage sector.
Government ‘shamefully failing’ performers over Brexit
Leading musicians from rock, pop and classical genres have accused the government of making Europe a no-go zone for performers following its negotiating failure over cultural exchange options.
Austin to head Sunderland’s Fire Station
Tamsin Austin, head of contemporary music at Sage Gateshead, is to be the first director of Sunderland’s £11m new arts centre, The Fire Station.
Belarus issues death threats to theatre directors
Two Belarus theatre directors have received death threats via a state-run Belarusian newspaper.
Hazel Edwards to head ACE’s SE corner
Hazel Edwards, the former director of Newcastle’s Discovery Museum, is to be the next director of Arts Council England’s south east area.
BBC to uncover more V&A secrets
The BBC’s Culture in Quarantine initiative is to go back behind the scenes of the Victoria & Albert Museum for a second Secrets of the Museum series.
Art in the shop window
Eight closed West London high street shops are being brought to life by artists commissioned the local authority.
£150k civic arts prize shortlist announced
Ten arts organisations that have made special contributions to their communities during the pandemic have been shortlisted for the first £150,000 Civic Arts Awards, it was announced today.
Rattle to leave LSO
Sir Simon Rattle is leaving the London Symphony orchestra to work in Germany, where his home now is.
Compton Verney maintains visitor figures for 2020
Compton Verney Art Gallery in Warwickshire has maintained its visitor numbers through the 2020 pandemic year by combining actual with virtual visits.
Auntie comes to the dance
The BBC and Sadler’s Wells are collaborating on a day-long virtual arts festival for later this month.
Lockdown driving new audiences to music – RPO report
More people are enjoying orchestral music as it plays a growing part in everyday life, according to a report being published by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra tomorrow (January 6), which will help the orchestra remodel itself for new audiences and venues
Florence Nightingale Museum closed by Covid
The Florence Nightingale Museum, set in St Thomas’s Hospital in London, is to close.
THE ART OF PHOTOJOURNALISM Image of the month
The Rainboy, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 14th June 1986, by Ian Spratt
‘It is the artists and cultural organisations themselves who have stepped up’ - ACE chief on 2020
Darren Henley, the CEO of Arts Council England, has praised the cultural sector’s fortitude and resilience in an unprecedented year an raising the spirits of the nation.
Art for tax breaks hits record
Works of art by such artists as Barbara Hepworth, Naum Gabo, Pissarro, William Blake and Manet have been used to settle tax bills worth £40m in 2019/20, a record.
Bow Street police station to be reborn as a museum
Bow Street, one of the most famous police stations in the world which closed in 1992, is to reopen in the new year as a museum.
Disabled artists still discriminated against
Disabled artists rights have gone backwards rather than progressed, an outcome of years of austerity.
MY STORY Unlimited – where disabled artists can climb over the barriers
The Unlimited festival returns in January, celebrating the artistic vision of disabled artists in a major development by the Southbank Centre, presenting 33 events - almost all free – globally for the first time. “The Covid-19 pandemic has hit both the arts and disabled communities hard” said the Southbank Centre’s Senior Producer, Ruth Hardie, “and I am incredibly impressed with and grateful for the artists who’ve been working hard, in the most challenging of situations, to adapt their work so we can present this festival online. JO VERRENT is Unlimited’s senior producer
THE WORD How we made sure the show goes on
Since this feature was posted, Tier 4 has been imposed closing the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and the show until further notice. However, the production was filmed and from Wednesday can be seen at https://www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/whats-on/snow-queen-digital-performance
Joanna Read, director/chief executive of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford on a year that is ending in triumph – ‘I’m so glad we have taken the (calculated) risk to commit to the show’
Covid squeezing music out of curriculum, Ofsted report confirms
The Covid pandemic is forcing music teaching out of schools even though it is a legal requirement, a report published by Ofsted today confirms.
Scrooge a guest in Dickens’s home for Christmas…
Ebenezer Scrooge is to inhabit the London home of his creator Charles Dickens for a special one-actor performance of A Christmas Carol.
London’s Tier 3 ‘catastrophic’ for theatres
London being put into Tier 3 of Covid restrictions from Wednesday, announced today, will be devastating for the theatre industry, UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre (SoLT) has said.
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