Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the lifting of a series of pandemic-related restrictions as of May 17; the new measures include the reopening of theatres, cinemas, concert halls, museums, and similar venues. However, social distancing requirements and capacity limits will still be in place, and many theatres say they can't afford to reopen to only half-full houses. -...
The government has said subjects like music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies and archaeology are "not among its strategic priorities", according to the Office for Students, which distributes government funding to universities. - BBC
First there were reports that Noel Clarke, who played Mickey from 2005-2010 on the Doctor Who reboot, was a serial sexual harasser and bully. Now come reports that John Barrowman of Doctor Who and Torchwood repeatedly exposed himself on both sets. - The Guardian (UK)
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's released list of "reforms" didn't impress anyone much. Instead, the list set off "a remarkable cascade of criticism toward the embattled HFPA, plunging the group into further turmoil as it attempts to weather a crisis that has imperiled its awards show and its very existence. By Friday evening, two of awards season’s biggest power...
"We're going to hire artists, musicians, performers, and they're going to be out in communities doing public art, public performances, pop-up shows…creating murals, you name it," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "We want to give artists opportunities, and we want this city to feel the power of our cultural community again." - Gothamist
"The program … will give money to artists, musicians and other performers to create works across the city, whether through public art, performances, pop-up shows, murals or other community arts projects. … is expected to create jobs for more than 1,500 artists in New York City." - The New York Times
This aspect of theater hygiene has turned out to be little more than — well — hygiene theater. Experts have been saying since last year that the risk of surface transmission was tiny, and in April the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pegged the risk at just 1 in 10,000. - Variety
The U.K. Home Office revealed on Wednesday that people who have won any of these awards will be able to skip the endorsements previously required as part of the Global Talent visa category — available to anyone in the fields of academia or research, arts and culture or digital technology — from Wednesday, May 5. - Variety
The city had most all of its nonprofit arts constituencies in line like eager petitioners: as soon as the mayor spoke, they hit “send” on their summer news releases. And let’s not forget the suburbs. Ravinia is returning, too! If you run an arts organization, you’re now worried about being lost in the shuffle. - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
"For 20 years now, … Harvey Weinstein was still feared, Kanye West was still about the music, and museums exhibited portfolios of amoral behavior with impunity, Favorite has toiled in the cancel culture. … Since 2001, Chicago-based novelist and literature professor has taught a class at titled 'Love the Art, Hate the Artist.' The university...
"Money for Austin's municipal arts funding comes from the Hotel Occupancy Tax of which the arts receive 15% of the city's allocation. Funding levels are set according to tax revenues from the previous fiscal year." The pandemic wiped out revenue from that tax, so arts funding for the coming fiscal year is projected to be only $1 million, down...
"Computer scientists are writing algorithms to identify the emotional arcs of novels. Sociologists are building statistical models to analyze why certain works of visual art resonate more than others. Electrical engineers have scraped tens of thousands of book reviews from the online website Goodreads.com to parse why some types of stories drive readers to talk to each other, and...
"The pharmaceutical industry and the governments of several vaccine-producing countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Commission, have been resisting the IP waiver, while 150 public leaders and experts have sent an open letter to US President Joe Biden in support of it. There is no longer any question about who is...
"Under proposals put forward earlier this year by Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, funding from the Office for Students — the independent regulator of higher education — would be cut by half for students of art and design, music, dance, drama and performing arts, media studies and archaeology during the 2021-22 academic year." - The Art Newspaper
Roselyne Bachelot, the culture minister, has outlined the planned stages of reopening and rules that will be in place beginning May 19: for instance, no food or drink sold inside venues (so there's no excuse to take off one's mask). Seating limits will be 35% of capacity until June 9, then 65% until June 30 and 100% thereafter. -...
