Collaboration

People in Worcester have been invited to give their views on a five-year arts and culture strategy.

A draft strategy put together by Worcester City Council sets out plans to secure and invest funding for the sector and work in partnership with local organisations. The authority is seeking feedback to ensure the blueprint represents the area's "wide variety" of activities.

The council hopes to increase Worcester’s influence within the wider region as a "dynamic, innovative, and distinctive place" and "encourage and empower the sector to deliver ambitious creative projects in and around the city".

It also wants to develop and nurture creative networks in the city and wider region, "bringing together partners to facilitate ideas and developing a community of engaged and active collaborators".

The online consultation closes at 5pm on 30 September.

A new digital exhibition will display Ukrainian mosaics, some of which were destroyed during the ongoing war, at this year’s Greenwich+Docklands International Festival in London.

Part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute, images of the mosaics will be projected onto the walls of the Old Royal Naval College.

Brightly coloured, hyper-intricate digital projections of the mosaics will be accompanied by striking sounds, to draw attention to both Ukraine’s cultural legacy and losses.

Yevgen Nikiforov, curator of the exhibition, said: "Three years ago, we collected dozens of the most interesting mosaics for an animated projection to take a new look at the monumental art of Ukraine in the 20th century.

“Now, these unique objects are under threat, like the entire Ukrainian heritage. Through the display of these works in London, we will inscribe this layer of Ukrainian culture, still not sufficiently studied, in the history of world art.”

Wrexham will make another bid for the title of City of Culture in 2029 after recently losing out to Bradford for the 2025 title.

Members of Wrexham Council's executive board approved launching another attempt to win the title at a meeting this week. They also supported a number of other recommendations including inviting the National Eisteddfod to Wrexham in 2025.

Hugh Jones, the arts portfolio holder, said he was confident about the council’s chances of success in 2029.

He said: “If you look at the facts with Bradford and the size of their team, they had eight full time staff and a PR agency that had been working on the project for two and a half years.

“In just over six months, we came so close to winning this and that gives an indication of the achievement that we had in Wrexham.

“Clearly, we want to bid for 2029 and why wouldn’t we because 2025 is probably worth somewhere in the region of £300m."

The British Council and the Ukrainian Institute have launched the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture, a new programme designed to support the Ukrainian arts sector.

The season, which has been planned since 2019, marks 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, its theme is “Future Re-Imagined”. 

It will focus on the changing needs and priorities of the Ukrainian arts sector and aim to provide new opportunities for Ukrainian artists. A programme of activities, events, grant-funded projects, residences, talks, films and lectures will take place in the UK, online and in satellite locations.

The season will also support future Ukrainian artistic collaboration through a series of grants worth up to £30,000, based on the results of an open call launched last October.

They will include the development of residencies for Ukrainian musicians and dancers; theatre pieces that examine Ukrainian political and cultural history; professional development opportunities for Ukrainian journalists and collaborations with Ukrainian designers, photographers and digital artists for London Fashion Week.

The season launched last week at Sheffield DocFest with a display of artworks and screenings of Ukrainian documentaries. 

Upcoming highlights include Cheltenham Book Festival and the Kyiv Book Arsenal partnering for a special Ukraine Day event celebrating emerging voices in Ukrainian literature; a Ukrainian to English Literary Translation Summer School at the University of East Anglia, bringing together translators and authors; and a programme at the 2022 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival focusing on contemporary Ukrainian opera and chamber music.

“While the whole of Ukrainian society is affected by the Russian aggression, artists and creatives are among the most vulnerable groups,” said Volodymyr Sheiko, Director General of the Ukrainian Institute. 

“Ukrainian culture is a major target in this war, so it is particularly important to continue building networks and supporting the creative sector.”