Government Stuff
The new Culture Recovery Fund: Emergency Resource Support is now live for organisations at imminent risk of failure.
DCMS has launched a consultation on the potential change of ownership of Channel 4 (2-3-1), with a full sale apparently being the government’s ‘preferred option’.
DCMS has launched its new Plan for Digital Regulation to help reduce red tape for Britain’s innovators. Do you know who else has a plan? Gareth Southgate.
£60m has been set aside by DCMS for 20 organisations in England to help protect our national heritage.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has indicated that the government will support the reopening of theatres after 19th July with a state-backed insurance scheme.
The government wants to turn the UK into a leading global destination for the next generation of 5G networks with a competition worth £30m. That’s about 2/5ths of a Jadon Sancho.
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Culture Stuff
Arts & Culture
Malawi-born Samson Kambalu's sculpture Antelope has been picked as the next artwork to adorn Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth.
Arts organisations including Equity, BECTU and the Creative Industries Fed have pledged to work with the government to tackle bullying and harassment in the arts.
Dave O’Brien and Mark Taylor write for The Conversation about why Michael Sheen is right – there is a class crisis in the arts.
The Crafts Council has released a new report on the challenges faced by women of colour in the craft sector.
Damien Hirst chats to The Guardian about painting cherry blossom to please his mum and dying his hair blue. Should have got the Foden tbh, Damien.
The Fruitmarket, the UK’s first new cultural space since the pandemic, has opened in Edinburgh.
Future Arts Centres has published its first book for arts professionals looking to multiply the voices of creative communities.
A decade-long investigation into Da Vinci's DNA has found 14 living male relatives and hopes to finally uncover the ‘secrets of his genius’. We need Sterling’s secrets next.
Design
The Beeb has defended splashing the cash on a new logo design which looks fairly similar to the previous one.
Foster + Partners has revealed plans for Greece’s tallest skyscraper. Θα μπορούν να το δουν να έρχεται από τον τελευταίο όροφο. That’s Greek for ‘they will be able to see it coming home from the top floor’.
Theatre & Dance
The Stage on the theatres looking to continue with COVID safety measures once venues fully reopen this month.
Scottish actor Sam Heughan is funding a 10-year programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to support young talent who may otherwise be priced out of the school.
The Royal Shakespeare Company has released pics of its temporary outdoor theatre, set to open this month. Looks solid. Like John Stones.
Classical Music & Opera
The Beeb has unveiled plans for this year’s TV and Radio 3 coverage of the Proms.
Museums
The Guardian on how the Black Country Living Museum became a TikTok sensation.
The V&A has an exhibition coming up in 2022 looking to reframe the narrative around African fashion and creativity.
The bass guitar seen being smashed on The Clash’s London Calling album cover is to go on permanent display at the Museum of London.
Press, Books & Libraries
Guardian Australia has struck a deal with Facebook to licence news to the platform down under. G’day for online media.
Richard Desmond has sold his share in Reach, meaning he has no stake in the UK media market for the first time in 47 years.
AK Blakemore has won the prestigious Desmond Elliot Prize for her debut novel The Manningtree Witches.
Exhibitions and Events
LIFT (short for London International Festival of Theatre, FYI) has kicked off its 40th anniversary with a programme of shows celebrating the city until September.
Photographer Cephas Williams’ major exhibition Portrait of Black Britain has taken over Manchester’s Arndale Centre until 18th July.
Sky pulls back the curtain on what theatre shows are reopening in the UK and when. Cool. Any day but Sunday is good for me… maybe not Monday either.
Performance Exchange 2021, a live performance programme brought to you from cutting-edge, commercial galleries in London, takes place this weekend.
At 8pm on Sunday you can watch Scotland’s Costal Railways With Julie Walters on Channel 4 among other things on other channels.
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Creative Industries & Tech Stuff
Film & TV
The Beeb’s annual report is out, showing that its used by 90% of adults per week, has seen a record 6.1 billion streams on iPlayer and the full list of star salaries.
This week’s England semi-final on ITV was the biggest peak football audience ever for a single channel (so far…) (27.6 million of us).
The majority of Channel 4’s presenter of the Tokyo Paralympics will have a disability.
The Beeb has secured the UK premiere of the new Gossip Girl xoxo gg.
Shhhh. Ryan Reynolds is set to be the latest Hollywood star to make an appearance on CBeebies’ Bedtime Stories.
Music to my marmalade-y ears! Production of Paddington 3 is to commence next year.
Fashion
H&M, Timberland and OVS have been ranked as the top three most transparent fashion brands in the annual Fashion Transparency Index.
First Lady Jill Biden has made the cover of Vogue in the US. Harry Kane will be on it next month I reckon.
Music & Radio
The National Lottery is partnering with the Music Venue Trust in a unique initiative to help revive the UK’s grassroots live music sector.
ABBA’s compilation album Gold is the first to spend 1,000 weeks in the UK charts. Someone really should thank them for the music.
The Other Ed has just super surprisingly bagged his 10th no.1 single. Best thing that’s happened to him since sitting with Becks at Wembley last week.
The BRITs Apprentice Scheme is to return for a third year.
The Association of Independent Music has published research into an alternative streaming proposal.
Great interview in GQ with Dave ahead of his new album… and he is BACK today with a single with our man Stormzy, too. Most iconic duo since Rice and Phillips.
Gaming
The winners of BAFTA’s Young Game Designers Awards have been unveiled.
Nintendo has unveiled its long-rumoured upgrade to the Switch, with a new model featuring a bigger, better screen.
Pokémon GO has earned more than £3.6bn in revenue since launching in 2016.
Chinese gaming giant Tencent is to scan gamers’ faces to crack down on children playing at night.
Tech & Telecoms
Money transfer giant Wise has become London’s biggest ever tech listing worth more than £8bn.
Deliveroo has announced plans to create 400 new ‘high-skilled’ tech jobs in the UK – and Ofcom is hiring 300 staff to help take on social media platforms.
The British Army has used AI during an army operation for the first time.
NWF, the UK’s largest producer of semiconductors, has been acquired by Chinese-owned manufacturer Nexperia.
Pinterest is banning ads promoting diets or slimming products – a first for social media networks.
The Tech Zero taskforce, led by Bulb and Tech Nation, has become an official partner of the UN’s Race to Zero.
The Pentagon is cancelling a $10bn cloud computing contract awarded to Microsoft during the Trump administration.
Talking of Trump… he’s filed a lawsuit against Google, Twitter and Facebook, claiming that he is the victim of censorship :’(
The UK’s most powerful supercomputer, Cambridge-1, is now operational. Honestly haven’t seen power like this since Harry Maguire’s header against Ukraine.
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Appointments & Movers
Jeff Bezos has had his last day as Amazon boss; Felicity Burch has been appointed exec director of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation; Sean McNamara has been named the next principal and CEO of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts; James Mackenzie-Blackman has been named as the new chief exec of Theatre Royal Plymouth; Jonathan Lo is to join the Royal Ballet as staff conductor; Paddy McGuinness is to be the new host of A Question of Sport
And could YOU be right for this role? The Heritage Alliance is looking for a new chair
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...And Finally (It's Coming Home Edition)
Wasn’t even worth the 120 minutes of stress on Wednesday. Should have known that Suzie the psychic pig and these mystic meerkats from Sussex are NEVER wrong.
Tesco with possibly the most painfully forced football pun I’d seen until this edition of the newsletter.
And this woman has already got an ‘It’s Coming Home 2021’ tattoo and she doesn’t even watch footie. I am HERE for this confidence, Courtney.
Have a calm and relaxing weekend, everyone.
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