UK

As 2019 comes to a close and we look ahead to 2020, the team at Manchester International Festival are reflecting on a successful year and excited by what’s to come in the new decade.

This year’s festival - the second led by our Artistic Director John McGrath - was the biggest yet, with more than 1,000 ticketed events, ranging from dance, theatre, music and visual arts, to site-specific performance and immersive installations.

The Arab British Centre is seeking a film curator for the fifth edition of the SAFAR Film Festival, taking place across London venues from 17 – 21 September 2020.

The opportunity is a freelance position and is available for candidates based in the UK and overseas.

Apply before 8:00pm GMT (UK time) on 15 December 2019.

Working closely with the festival directors and producers, the responsibilities of the curator include:

In November 2020, the UK will be hosting the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow at the SEC. This follows the Chile / Madrid co-hosted event taking place this December.

This is a huge opportunity for the UK to showcase our role as a world leader in tackling climate change and we are expecting around 30,000 delegates and 190 heads of state.

Brent is the next London Borough of Culture, following Waltham Forest's programme in 2019. As to be expected from the home of Wembley Arena, its rich reggae heritage, and Kilburn's 'Music Mile', the 2020 celebration will be enriched with sound and song.

Highlights announced so far include:

Paisley Museum will undergo a £42m transformation beginning in 2020 after plans were approved by Renfrewshire Council.

The Category A-listed Victorian building is being upgraded to help it tell the stories of a town known around the world for its pattern.

The museum is expected to draw audiences of 125,000 people a year - almost four times current numbers - from Scotland, the rest of the UK and internationally when it is due to reopen in 2022.

The designs have been produced by AL_A, a company headed by by Stirling Prize winner Amanda Levete.

The Design Museum will open the first-ever major museum exhibition of Prada design and innovation in September 2020. 

Prada: Front and Back will "offer unprecedented insight into Prada’s creative approach, inspirations and landmark collaborations". It will reflect the idea of "front and back" through looking at the surface of the fashion house's work while also highlighting the "creative and industrial infrastructure" behind it all.

It will tell Miuccia Prada’s story through it's products and success in both design and business, evolving the very idea of style and culture.

Liverpool Biennial 2020 has chosen an unusual theme for its artists. Entitled 'The Stomach and the Port' the biennial will "explore the notions of body...challenges an understanding of the individual as a defined, self-sufficient entity."

Liverpool Biennial 2020 is curated by Manuela Moscoso with artistic director Fatos Üstek and the Liverpool Biennial team.

Glasgow has been named the UK’s top cultural and creative city in 2019 as part of a landmark report by the European Commission.

The report puts Glasgow at the top of the UK list above London, Bristol, Brighton and Manchester in the top five. Edinburgh is ranked 6th on the list. The report also ranked Glasgow as Europe’s leader for ‘openness, tolerance and trust’.

In 2018, Greater London Authority and the Port of London Authority jointly commissioned consultancy company Publica, in collaboration with BOP Consulting, to undertake a study to make the case for a cultural vision for the River Thames.

In 2018/19, the total income of Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) funded cultural organisations was £3.7 billion, similar to 2017/18. Read the full report here.

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