History and heritage

Hull wants its 800 years of seafaring history to be officially recognised by becoming a Maritime City. This follows its designation as UK City of Culture in 2018 which helped revitalise the city.

In becoming Yorkshire's Maritime City, Hull would be embedded as a key part of the UK's tourism and heritage landscape. 

Over the next five years, Hull will refurbish, preserve and restore four historic maritime sites and two historic ships. These are:

England's museums and galleries saw a 6% increase in visitor numbers in 2018 compared to the previous year.

VisitEngland's Annual Attractions Survey 2018, containing results from over 1,500 attractions, revealed a 2% increase in both visits and revenue for England's visitor attractions.

Tate Modern was top in museums and galleries for the first time in ten years with 5.87 million visitors.

British Museum, which has been top of the visitor numbers list in the past decade, had 5.83 million visitors.

A new DCMS National Museums Partnership Report reveals that an extra 33 million people saw objects from UK museums last year thanks to around 450,000 objects being loaned from 17 national museums.

750 museums across the UK benefitted from national museums loaning more than 60,000 objects, which were seen by more than 18.5 million visitiors, boasting local economies.

Showing the power of exporting culture worldwide, the 17 national museums toured 41 exhibitions to 79 international venues, which were attended by around 7 million people.

Eleven theatres receive £50,000 funding from the Theatres Trust London Small Theatres Grants Scheme for projects that improve operation, access and environment for staff, artist and audience.

Opened on 22 June–29 September 2019, the first-ever Yorkshire Sculpture International is the UK's largest dedicated sculpture festival.

The Yorkshire Sculpture International takes place across four major galleries - the Hepworth Wakefield, the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The next installment will play a major part in the cultural programme of Leeds 2023.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) and Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) have commissioned a playable piece of augmented reality public art for Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the first Shakespeare Jubilee.

The piece, I See The Future by Anagram, displays a vision of Stratford-upon-Avon dreamed up by its residents through two pairs of giant binoculars. Supported by Arts Council England and Watershed's Creative Producers International programme, the art will be installed for a weekend 6–8 September 2019.

British Council has announced the artists-in-residence for the first-ever at Ise Jingu, the spiritual home of the Japanese people.

The artists are:

Contemporary arts agency Arts&Heritage (

Hull City Council has revealed £27.5m plans to renovate the 2017 UK City of Culture's maritime attractions.

The plan includes:

• The Maritime Museum
• North End Shipyard
• Arctic Corsair
• Spurn Lightship
• Dock Office Chambers
• Creation of a new maritime route from Queen Victoria Square to the River Hull.

Hull City Council expects the revamp to bring in 300,000 visitors and generate £2.9m in income. The council is set to invest £10m and has applied for a £15m National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) grant.

The European Commission will provide funding to new projects for creative and audiovisual institutions using digital and new technologies.

This funding will be available to consortiums of organisations from at least three countries participating in Creative Europe representing a diverse range of cultural and creative sectors, including audiovisual. 

With a pot of around 1.75 million Euros, the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency estimates funding for 6–10 projects at a minimum of 150,000 Euros for a maximum 60% of total eligible cost for the project.