Latest news with #ArtsCouncilEngland
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
On this day in 2024: Peace Museum announces Salts Mill relocation plan
On this day in 2024, the Telegraph and Argus reported that a museum dedicated to peace was moving to a new home. The Peace Museum, billed as the only museum of its kind in the UK, announced that it was to reopen at Salts Mill in Saltaire in August 2024, following a relocation from its former upper floor space on Piece Hall Yard, which it had occupied since 1994. The new site, on the third floor of the historic mill, was anticipated to provide more space for exhibits and to be more accessible to visitors. As of the time of original reporting in 2024, the Peace Museum's exhibits included a collection of banners from peace marches from across the world. A spokesperson said at the time: "The National Lottery Heritage Fund's support, made possible by National Lottery players, has enabled the creation of a new, engaging, and accessible exhibition, and educational programmes. "Generous capital funding from Bradford 2025 and Bradford City Council has allowed us to turn an unused piece of the district's history back into life. "We would also like to thank Key Fund, Art Fund, Association of Independent Museums, Pilgrim Trust, Museum Development North, and Arts Council England, who have all helped to make our move and reopening possible. "The Peace Museum's reopening is just the beginning of what will be an exciting and ambitious next chapter." More information is available at
BBC News
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
First Light Festival to return to Lowestoft beach for fifth year
Thousands of people are expected to attend the UK's only free beach festival this Light Festival will take place on South Beach in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on Saturday and Sunday for its fifth year.A range of musical acts and dance performances are scheduled across the two days while there will also be a community catwalk for the second year temperatures are expected to near 25C over the weekend, the NHS is urging people to stay safe in the sun. What is First Light Festival? This year marks the fifth instalment of the is organised by First Light Festival Community Interest Company (CIC), a not-for-profit organisation based in charity said on its website it aims to "shine a spotlight on our incredible part of the world".The festival itself has a partnership with the borough and county councils and Arts Council England and it is held on the weekend closest to the summer is completely free to attend and a ticket is not required unless you plan to attend one of the Sundown events on Saturday night in the town following the end of the beach programme. What can I do at the event? Each year the festival enjoys an opening parade, with this year's kicking off from East Point Pavilion at 11:00 here visitors can enjoy a range of musical acts across the festival's there is much more than can be enjoyed including yoga sessions, line dancing, comedy shows for children, talks, poetry and even cloudspotting for beginnersA full schedule of events is available on the festival's website. What are the timings? From 12:00 to 21:30 on Saturday, the beach will be filled with activities as well as Kensington Gardens just off the 22:00 to 02:00 the festival moves into the venues around the town for the ticketed Sundown Sunday, people will gather from 03:30 to 05:00 to watch the sunrise as part of the summer solstice. From 10:00 until 16:00 the rest of the events kick off on the beach again. How can I get there? Festival organisers are keen to encourage visitors to make use of public transport where possible or walk/cycle to the are cycle routes to the festival side and there is free bicycle operator Greater Anglia will run an additional late train from Lowestoft to Ipswich on Saturday to help people get additional service will depart Lowestoft at 23:05 and arrive at Ipswich at 00: those travelling onwards to Stowmarket and Diss, a train from Ipswich will depart at 00: services are also available with the nearest stop being Claremont those who have to travel by car, there is a park and walk site located at Kirkley & Pakefield Football Club which costs £5 for the day of £8 for both days. What about the hot weather? Forecasts suggest Lowestoft will see plenty of sunshine over the festival with highs or 22C on Saturday and 24C on James Mapstone, a consultant in public health at West Suffolk Foundation Trust in Bury St Edmunds, has five tips people should follow during the hot weather:Drink plenty of water to stay hydratedKeep homes and buildings cool by keeping blinds and curtains shut during the dayAvoid the sun between 11:00 and 15:00Wear loose, light clothingConsider the vulnerable including children, the elderly and those with conditions What else is happening? As well as First Light Festival, there are a number of other big events taking place over the That's Gary Barlow will be performing at High Lodge, Thetford Forest on the Suffolk/Norfolk border on on Saturday, St Elizabeth Hospice kicks off its Hop to it! art trail in Ipswich, Woodbridge, Felixstowe, Beccles and Sunday, Ipswich's Cornhill will play host to the Suffolk Windrush Celebration where there will be music, market and food stalls and an exhibition from Suffolk Windrush and the Suffolk Black Community Organisation. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Southsea seafront sculpture returns 50 years after disappearing
It's been more than 50 years since six stone sculptures lined Southsea seafront.A series of five Portsmouth Markers have been dotted across the coast since 1974 as part of a citywide art were originally a series of six, but Portsmouth City Council says one disappeared from its location in the late John Maine, the artist who originally designed the series, has carved the sixth addition to be unveiled along the promenade near the Pyramids. The local authority commissioned Mr Maine to create the sixth 'cousin' as part of its arts programme for the Southsea Coastal sculptures, carved from Portland stones, were some of Mr Maine's first pieces of work. Mr Maine explained: "The Portsmouth Markers have been sited to emphasise key points along the coast."In the Solent nearby there are island fortresses and navigational markers which create intervals across the vast expanse of the sea and this inspired my approach to sculpture in landscape."The other stones are located at The Point, Hotwalls Studios, Spur Redoubt, Bandstand Field and Castle Maine said the space between the sculptures "becomes part of the story"."I believe that such small-scale interventions can have a powerful influence on our reading of the whole landscape," he continued."It is a pleasure to revisit the project after an extended period of time and make a new mark on the landscape." The sculpture was funded by Arts Council council leader, Steve Pitt, said: "Over five decades, the Portsmouth Markers have been recognisable fixtures of our seafront."The sculptures are the only remaining artworks from a 1974 citywide sculpture exhibition so it's great to see the full set completed by the current addition as part of today's sea defence project." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Telegraph
13-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Museums put trigger warning on manual about trigger warnings
A group of museums have put a trigger warning on a new training manual about trigger warnings. The 'trigger toolkit' provides advice on how to prevent heritage sector workers becoming traumatised in training sessions. The manual suggests issuing content warnings to alert staff to any upsetting material, ranging from 'Islamphobia' to 'transphobia' and 'colonialism'. But the document has itself been given a trigger warning, cautioning readers about its own 'potentially triggering content'. The guidance was shared by Museum Development North, a heritage sector organisation that works in partnership with Arts Council England. The manual was produced to help staff in the heritage sector handle material relating to British history, and periods in which 'intolerant, discriminatory, and offensive attitudes and behaviours were significantly more prevalent than they are today '. The guidance warns that museum workers will inevitably have to discuss 'material which represents a break with the diverse social and cultural landscape of the present day '. It states that this may be emotionally triggering, and some workers may not be able to 'comfortably engage with the material at hand'. The manual urges museum bosses to clearly signpost any material that could be emotionally disturbing, and provides a list of topics that could be upsetting. These topics include 'classism', 'politics', 'policing', 'transmisogyny', and 'genomics' – the study of an organism's genetic structure. The guidance also advises museum workers to flag triggering content in all emails, discussions, presentations, and training materials. It adds that staff can recognise if material is triggering by the reaction to it, including people 'crying'. If a training session has been particularly triggering, psychological aftercare should be provided to any upset participants. The guidance states: 'Preventing triggers from happening is the most effective and inclusive way of demonstrating an active commitment to your training participants' mental health and psychological wellbeing.' Trigger warnings have become widespread across British universities and the publishing industry. In 2024, The Telegraph revealed that new editions of the James Bond novels and Agatha Christie mysteries had been given printed trigger warnings alerting readers to potentially outdated and racist attitudes in the books. Passages of these books were also rewritten ahead of release to remove words that could be deemed offensive. The Telegraph has previously revealed that Works by Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, EM Forster and PG Wodehouse have been given trigger warnings, cautioning readers about their more antiquated contents. In higher education, students have been alerted to the potentially upsetting nature of literary works from Beowulf to the novels of Thomas Hardy.
Times
12-06-2025
- Health
- Times
‘Trigger toolkit' for museums comes with its own warning
A guide that advises prominent museums on how to deal with sensitive topics including divorce, poverty and violence put a content warning on its own 27-page 'trigger toolkit'. The booklet was released by Museum Development North, which is a partnership funded by Arts Council England between York Museums Trust, the Manchester Museums Partnership, Cumbria Museum Consortium and North East Museums. The aim of the booklet is to 'support organisations working across the sector to take a practical approach to preventing, responding to and managing a triggering event within a training session'. The 27-page guide, called 'Trigger Toolkit', advises leaders in the heritage sector on how to prepare training content that will reduce the likelihood of staff being 'triggered' during their work with collections or artefacts. • Chocolat author Joanne Harris adds trigger warnings to her books Due to 'sensitive' topics, the training guide has two pages of warnings in large red type that states: 'The following two pages contain potentially triggering content.' People working in the heritage sector are exposed to collections that include 'racist and intolerant artefacts', which could bring back childhood trauma and prompt memories of 'offensive language and name calling', the toolkit states. Included among the more than 40 topics that could affect museum staff were death, divorce, childbirth, debt, violence, politics, classism and warfare. Gambling, hateful language, the climate emergency, disease, the criminal justice system, policing, and natural disasters were among other examples of 'possible triggering topics' included in the toolkit. The document cites 2022 research that describes a trigger as a 're-experiencing of unpleasant post traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as intrusive thoughts being evoked by the exposure to materials which spark traumatic memories'. Liz Main, a mental health policy expert who has studied trigger warnings, said: 'On balance I think trigger warnings can be a good thing as they can stop someone from seeing something that may upset them. However, the fact that the booklet is about trigger warnings would indicate to staff that there may be emotionally distressing content in there.' The toolkit was developed by Inclusive Boards in partnership with Museum Development Yorkshire. The guide states: 'Many artefacts and conversation subject matters relevant to the heritage sector speak to a time in which intolerant, discriminatory, and offensive attitudes and behaviours were significantly more prevalent than they are today … It is important that in navigating this history organisations ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion is a priority.' Museum Development North had no further comment.
