MY STORY Living with the immigrants in our garden
Diversity isn’t just for people, it extends to the plant kingdom too and a soon to be published study shows that three-quarters of the plants in our city gardens are non-native. Next year Birmingham’s Victoria Square will be given over to PoliNations, a celebration of horticultural as well as human diversity which is commissioned as part of UNBOXED, next year’s festival of the UK’s creativity marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee. Its creative director is Angie Bual, artistic director of the Bristol based arts organisation Trigger which makes outdoor and site specific live theatre.
Antony Sher dies
Sir Antony Sher, perhaps the finest actor of his generation, has died aged 72, the Royal Shakespeare Company announced today.
TAITMAIL Behind the battlements
Nottingham Castle Museum was doing well, for a museum without much real history left to talk about, and it was getting a healthy 150,000 visitors a year - about half what Stonehenge gets - before it closed for its £30m refurb which it was hoped would double the numbers.
Shebeen culture wins Turner Prize
Array Collective, the Belfast co-operative of 11 artists whose nominated work, The Druithaib’s Ball, is an installation centred on an illicit Irish drinking den described as “a place to gather outside the sectarian divides”, has won the 2021 Turner Prize.
ACE’s £38.3m for local culture
Arts Council England has today announced grants worth £38.3m for the programme that makes partners of cultural organisations and communities.
Bird to quit SOLT and UK Theatre
Julian Bird is to stand down as CEO of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre after more than 11 years.
THE ART OF PHOTOJOURNALISM Image of the month
London’s East End, June, 1957, by Frank Pocklington
Alan Sparrow talks to Frank Pocklington about his favourite Picture Post photograph
Sacha Craddock stands down at New Contemporaries
Sacha Craddock is stepping down as chair of New Contemporaries, the organisation set up more than 70 years ago to support emerging visual artists with touring exhibitions of their work.
Eilish McGuinness takes over at NHLF
Eilish McGuinness is to take over from Ros Kerslake as CEO of the National Heritage Lottery Fund at the end of the year.
Lewisham’s year of diverse culture
Lewisham is to be London’s next Borough of Culture for 2022, focusing on diversity, activism and the climate emergency in a programme that was announced at the Rivoli Ballroom today.
Emmie Kell is ACE's new museums chief
Emmie Kell, CEO of the Cornwall Museums Partnership, is to be Arts Council England’s new director of museums and cultural property.
Merger creates Creative UK
The Creative Industries Federation and Creative England have merged today to become Creative UK, bringing together the advocacy work of one body and the investment expertise and practical support of the other.
Kathryn Jacob to chair HOME
Kathryn Jacob, CEO of the cinema advertising agency Pearl & Dean, is to be the new chair of the Manchester arts centre HOME.
33% of musicians still earning nothing from music
A third of our professional musicians are earning nothing from music and 87% are earning less than £1,000 a month, according to new figures today from the charity Help Musicians.
£1m hunt for young museumgoers as ‘perfect storm’ looms
The Art Fund has launched a £1m fundraising campaign to help museums attract under 24-year-olds.
Another £107m for arts recovery
Almost 1,000 arts organisations are to benefit from a new round of £107m worth of grants from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
£5m for community jubilee parties
A new Arts Council fund is offering £5m to help voluntary and community organisations celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee next year.
Curators share £300k development funding
The Art Fund has named the 11 museum professionals that will share the Headley Fellowship’s grants this year worth £302,500 to extend their collections knowledge.
THE WORD Under-estimating the power of the tweet
Social media have become essential to arts organisations, says a new report, and often rely on underpaid and under-resourced operators. Alice Kent of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre asks what can professional networks, industry, funders and policy-makers do to ensure that digital workers are better supported
Birthday royal sculptures for Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall has commissioned sculptures of the Queen, Prince Philip, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert from four young artists to mark its 150th anniversary.
Ten Manchester music creatives offered £1k development packages
Manchester International Festival is offering £1,000 each to ten local musicians to help them create new work as part of its MIF Sounds initiative, launched last year at the height of the pandemic.
Florence Nightingale joins Lord Mayor’s parade
Marking the completion of her 200th birthday celebrations., Florence Nightingale joined the Lord Mayor of London’s Show at the weekend.
Giant print plant plays host to classical experiment
A printing plant that once one of the largest in Europe has been the venue for a pioneering immersive concert.
Mariam Zulfiqar to lead Artangel
Mariam Zulfiqar, Forestry England’s contemporary art programme manager since March this year, is to be the new director or of the public art producer Artangel.
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