The fourth b-side multimedia festival is set entirely on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, creating site-specific work that includes performance, installation and film work. Dany Louise talks to the director of this distinctive and nuanced ten-day event.
The current British Folk Art exhibition at Tate Britain provides a timely reminder of art as an expression of creativity and emotion. It is, argues Alistair Gentry, a compelling alternative to a ‘sick and twisted’ contemporary art world.
This year’s Liverpool Biennial is the first that director Sally Tallant can really call her own, having arrived in Liverpool only a few months before the 2012 festival. Now with a new, earlier July start date and a refreshed approach, Laura Robertson finds out what has changed at the UK’s biennial of contemporary art.
As cuts continue to bite, arts organisations are plugging the funding gap by replacing paid staff – such as gallery invigilators – with unpaid volunteers. We look at three galleries in Liverpool and Bristol that have done just that, and assess what this growing trend could mean for both individual artists and the UK’s arts ecology.
Stoke has one of England’s lowest levels of participation in the arts, something which Appetite, part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme, is aiming to improve with three years of events and performances. We report from the north Staffordshire city.
Liz Hill reflects on a Warwick Commission debate which revealed the enthusiasm of the creative industries for better creative and cultural education in schools – and the barriers to making it happen.
Redeye’s National Photography Symposium, an annual gathering for ideas and discussion, takes place at the new Library of Birmingham this month. Redeye director Paul Herrmann explains what’s in store.
The shortlist for the inaugural East London Painting Prize didn’t represent the ethnic and cultural diversity of the area and, argues Gillian McIver, this reflects the UK art world’s stiflingly restrictive approach to artistic practice.
Charlotte Prodger has been announced as the recipient of the annual Margaret Tait Award, awarded to a Scottish or Scotland-based artist working in experimental film and/or moving image.
Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery has responded to widespread criticism from artists and withdrawn an advert for unpaid volunteers to help install a forthcoming exhibition by Glasgow artist Jim Lambie.
a-n The Artists Information Company has appointed Jeanie Scott to be its new Executive Director.
The annual Cheltenham-based Open West competition and exhibition has announced four award winners across three prizes.
A new report published today by the researchers behind last year’s Rebalancing our Cultural Capital, reveals that Lottery funding of the arts in England is largely benefiting the wealthy to the detriment of the country’s poorest and least arts-engaged communities.
The sixth edition of Glasgow International, the biennial festival of contemporary art in Scotland’s biggest city, is the first with new director Sarah McCrory at the helm. On the eve of its public launch, she explains why both laughter and tears are important in art.
The recent Europa Re-Imagined symposium in Cardiff was the latest event organised by the European Prospects project, exploring issues of experience and identity through photography and contemporary art in Europe. Rory Duckhouse reports.
Why do so many artists get asked to work for free, so often? And what’s the best way for an artist to deal with these requests, and ensure they’re financially secure and their work is valued? Michelle Aldredge explores the problem and encourages ‘mindful decision-making’ as a way forward.
AIR Council welcomes three new artist members to its ranks as the a-n/AIR Paying Artists Campaign gathers momentum.
From its base in rural Cambridgeshire, Wysing Arts Centre has been supporting artists to make new work for the past 25 years. We hear from artistic director Donna Lynas, and artists Emma Smith and Seb Patane, about the future aims of the organisation and how the its well-regarded residency programme fosters creative relationships.
Peckham Platform launches its new vision as an independent charity with the opening of Ruth Beale’s participatory installation, Bookbed. We talk to the artist and the organisation’s executive director Emily Druiff about libraries, socially-engaged practice and being a creative educational platform.
What does 2014 have in store in terms of conferences and events, art fairs and festivals? We take a month-by-month look at what the year has to offer.
This year has seen Welsh artist Bedwyr Williams represent his country at the Venice Biennale while, amongst other things, next year he will play a starring role in the programme for the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. If only his big toe wasn’t hurting so much…
The idea of an ‘American Model’ of arts funding is gaining traction in the UK along with growing calls for artists to be ‘entrepreneurial’. But, writes American critic and curator Andrew Horwitz, the funding system in the US is deeply problematic, while those who espouse entrepreneurship miss the point that the real ‘business of art’ is not for profit.
a-n is seeking an Executive Director to lead the next phase of the organisation’s development, responding to changing needs and aspirations in the visual arts.
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Over a 1000 artists descended on Scarborough for the Art Party Conference, instigated by the artist Bob and Roberta Smith. A day of marching, debating and discussion, a-n joined in the action with provocations and special events. Jack Hutchinson reports.
This year’s engage International Conference took place in Birmingham and tackled the current period of ‘extraordinary change’ in art education across the UK while also exploring what an uncertain future may hold. AIR Council member Caroline Wright, who was presenting at the conference, reports.
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