UK Art
UK arts institute dismissed pro-Palestine activists, claim former employees
Former employees of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London claim that their dismissals were linked to their pro-Palestine activism. The Cultural Workers Against Genocide (CWAG) alleged last Friday that fourteen ICA staff members were informed of their impending redundancies in March and the group included all employees who had received informal warnings in October for their involvement in drafting and publishing a letter urging the ICA to boycott Israel amidst its war against the Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the Art Newspaper, the letter was published on the ICA website without the management’s authorisation. The CWAG statement also noted that despite the workers’ union pushing for pay cuts at the senior level to mitigate redundancies, only three positions were saved.
Moreover, the statement outlined several demands for the ICA, including severing ties with the law firm Mishcon de Reya, which has close connections to the Israeli state; fully committing to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel; and divesting from companies that “contribute to or profit from the Israeli occupation and the genocide of Palestinians.”
An attraction near York is set to be the first in the country to host a “remarkable” new art exhibition.
‘The Botanical World of Mary Delany’ opens on Tuesday, September 10, in the National Trust’s Beningbrough Hall, near York.
Beningbrough Hall is the first venue in the United Kingdom to host this international touring exhibition, presented in partnership with the British Museum. The art will be honouring creative women, including specially commissioned sculptures by Rebecca Stevenson.
According to a new report, the UK has some of the lowest levels of government spending on the arts in all of Europe.
Titled The State of the Arts, the report by the University of Warwick and the Campaign for the Arts gathers data on funding, education and employment in the arts in the country.
Between 2009 and 2023, there were significant cuts to UK state funding for the arts, with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)—the government agency responsible for backing cultural organizations in the UK—reducing its core funding by 18 percent.
Read more: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/uk-arts-spending-low-levels-europe-report-1234712562/
When we see art on exhibit in a museum or gallery, we often don’t think about the decision making process of selecting artwork and how to properly display it. A new summer program for middle schoolers, offered by the University of Kentucky Art Museum, seeks to pull back the curtain on the how and why of planning an art exhibit.
Representatives at the museum believe that informing students about the inner workings of the museum heightens the knowledge of the human effort that goes into their exhibitions, which can engender a more personable visitor experience, provoke an additional layer of critical thinking and model potential career paths.
Read more: https://uknow.uky.edu/arts-culture/middle-schoolers-will-be-curators-new-uk-art-museum-summer-camp
