Four years on from Brexit and I’m taking a look at how various industries have been affected by the realities of our decision to leave the European Union (EU). I’ve already looked at How fishing was gutted by Brexit, and how Brexit has impacted farming. In this article I want to look at how Brexit […]
If you are one of those who (as dance critic Mary Clarke said), “think ballet is just Swan Lake” – pretty fantasy, tutus and tiaras, with no relevance to modern-day Britain, I might suggest you watch the Royal Ballet’s production of Manon. (It doesn’t have to be ridiculously expensive: tickets at, for example, Seaton Gateway […]
We are so lucky to have so many creative, motivated people in our west country communities. People like Ashburton Arts Centre director and celebrated jazz musician Andy Williamson who puts together cracking events like the Ashburton Chamber Music Festival 13 – 23 July and the diverse, eclectic but accessible Tinners Moon Festival which kicks off […]
The fifth Byline Festival comes to Devon! You’ve read their articles, seen them on TV, applauded their values and their bravery in speaking out, and now you can see and hear them in the flesh! Some of the biggest names in the progressive media feature in the Byline Festival line-up, including: Carole Cadwalladr; George Monbiot; […]
Most of us know the West Country as home of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their struggle for trade union rights. It is less well known that Dartington Hall in Devon is where the Labour Party manifesto Let Us Face the Future was written. This set the direction for the 1945 Labour government, founding the NHS […]
Andrew George is calling on the Conservatives on Cornwall Council to reverse their decision to cut crucial funding for the Royal Cornwall Museum. Andrew is a Cornwall Councillor and has raised questions with the Council’s audit committee which meets later this week. Andrew said, “When your Party runs the country with an 80 seat majority, holds all MP seats in Cornwall and […]
I just spent 45 minutes sitting in a bunker in central Exeter listening to sirens and bombs. This was Four Of Swords Theatre’s performance To Refuge, based around a work by Ukrainian playwright Elena Hapieieva: In the Bowels of the Earth. It was immersive theatre at its most intense. The performance takes place under The […]
We wrote about the wonderful Ashburton Arts Centre back in October 2020 and director Andy Williamson explained why the venue was so loved by performers. The Tinners Moon Festival, which had had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, is in full swing right now and you really shouldn’t miss the opportunity to […]
Covid-19 has prevented just about all music touring, but it will start afresh. Bands, orchestras and choirs will travel the planet again. They will play to packed houses, festivals and stadiums as soon as people are free to attend. But touring for all types of UK musical performers after Brexit is beset with administrative difficulties, […]
On 26 October, we held a panel event to discuss the impact of Brexit on music specifically and the Arts generally. We were joined by David Knopfler, singer-songwriter and founding member of rock group Dire Straits; Ben Osborn, based in Berlin, composer, musician who also works with asylum seekers and marginalised people using music to […]
In their first response to complaints submitted, the Information Commission Office (ICO) has ruled that Dartington Hall Trust violated data protection laws in their creation of a list of campaigners. Nearly a year ago now, the BBC and then the Times reported on a ‘Black List’ that Dartington Hall Trust (DHT) had created of people […]
Amongst the very many losses and deprivations, the ending of UK citizens’ freedom to travel, work, study, love, live and retire in any of the EU’s 27 member states is, perhaps, the most devastating. It is a loss gleefully celebrated by Patel, that enemy of rights and freedoms, and repeated with every ‘let’s rub you […]
Here’s something I would sincerely like to know from anybody who thinks today that Brexit was a good idea: what did my UK soundman and UK mandolin player gain from Brexit? I want somebody to tell me, because I keep hearing about “Global Britain” and “all the new opportunities”!!! I don’t want to argue. I’m […]
The export of live music, which earns the UK billions and is the only source of income for countless musicians, support crew and suppliers, has been stopped in its tracks – and not only by Covid-19. Visas take months. UK trucks are not permitted to drive between gigs. Customs documentation is needed in volumes not […]
If you thought Handforth Council was bad, let me introduce you to Honiton. In the last three years, two successive town clerks and 17 councillors have resigned. Two council employees were more or less driven out of their jobs. £75,000 was wasted on staffing issues, and employment tribunals are pending. A barrage of complaints was […]
In case you missed them, here’s a collection of articles from Cornish writers or on Cornish (or Isles of Scilly) subjects. Please share! You are our distribution network! If you have a story to tell, please get in touch: cornwall@westcountryvoices.co.uk; devon@westcountryvoices.co.uk; dorset@westcountryvoices.co.uk and somerset@westcountryvoices.co.uk Look out for box sets from Devon, Somerset and Dorset!
Earlier this month, the first round of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund was announced by Arts Council England, with a welcome £257m allocated to 1,385 theatres, museums, orchestras, dance companies, music venues and other arts organisations impacted by Covid-19. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced: “This funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, […]
Whatever Rishi Sunak did or didn’t say or did or didn’t mean in his interview with ITV, the debate over the value of the arts and of artists in our society and economy has been front and centre recently. And rightly so. The UK’s creative industries are estimated to contribute around £13 million to the […]
The US west coast is on fire, the hurricane season is off to an early start and in the UK a year of unseasonal weather has resulted in the worst wheat harvest in decades – yet more reminders that climate change is a pressing and immediate global crisis. And, as leaves fall and mists rise […]
As Cornwall’s museums and galleries prepare to reopen, what should be their focus in a post-Covid world? After long months of closure, from 4 July museums and galleries in England have had permission to reopen their doors to visitors. It’s a gradual process, as organisations access their specific health and operational risks, and prepare us […]