Arts Council England reveals ‘ambitious’ funding for 2018–22

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Arts Council England announces ‘ambitious’ investment for 2018–22 | Arts Council England has revealed details of its budgets for 2018–22, which total £622 million per year for its three main funding streams: the National Portfolio, Grants for Arts and Culture, and strategic funds. £409 million will be made available to the National Portfolio each year, £10 million for Grants to Arts and Culture as well as £125 million for strategic funds. The budget represents a substantial increase for first two streams, but it includes ACE will be spending money from lottery reserves in this period, and chief executive Darren Henley stresses that the funding situation remains tight: ‘We need our money to stretch much further, and we’ll have to revisit the spreadsheets if the financial picture deteriorates in the future.’

Audrey Azoulay announces funding increase for French museums | French culture minister Audrey Azoulay has announced ‘substantial’ funding increases for the country’s museums and acquisitions budgets (French language article). Culture funding has increased by a total of 5.5 per cent, which brings the total up to €3.6 billion. In addition to this, regional museums will see their acquisitions budgets boosted. Azoulay’s stimulus measures are a response to a drop in visitor numbers to French museums after terrorist attacks in Paris and elsewhere in France. ‘I know the difficulties confronting museums today, between a drop in attendance, particularly linked to the drop in tourism, and a rise in security expenses,’ she said in a speech on 28 September.

Czech police arrest Russian artist for hooliganism | Police in Prague have reportedly arrested Russian artist Oleg Vorotnikov, a founding member of the notorious Voina art collective. Vorotnikov faces charges of hooliganism and breach of the peace in his homeland. If deported and found guilty, he may receive a sentence of up to five years in jail. Czech authorities have begun extradition procedures, which Vorotnikov and his family intend to fight.

Otto Dix picture book rediscovered | A picture book created by Otto Dix for his five-year-old stepdaughter Hana Koch has gone on public display for the first time, reports The Art Newspaper. The book, which features 14 watercolours by the artist, had long been hidden in an altar retable at Koch’s home in Bavaria. It is only now that her daughter has given permission for the item to go on public display at Düsseldorf’s Galerie Remmert und Barth.

Leipzig Academy of Arts launches enrolment programme for refugees | Leipzig’s Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst has announced a new programme that will allow 15 refugees to study art in Germany. According to Artforum, six refugees have already been able to enrol thanks to the scheme, and a further nine will follow later in the term.