Features - Page 186

The emergence of Covid-19 has provided the art world with sometime previously coveted – time. However, for those who have been offered prestigious residencies prior to the pandemic to ensure self-selected isolation, the current situation is more suffocating than inspiring.

The unveiling of prime minister Boris Johnson’s exit strategy from the UK Covid-19 lockdown has been met with a mixed response this week, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer saying the initial address raised “as many questions as answers”. However, for one business leader, managing director of DMR Training & Consultancy, Dave Radley, the plan came across as not only a clear route forward, but also the first signs of a new normality beginning to take shape.

Rishi Sunak has warned that it is "very likely" that the UK is in a "significant recession", following the release of ONS figures that show the economy took a two per cent hit in Q1 2020.

Unless you are American, the fourth of July is not a particularly significant date. A Saturday, almost six weeks from now, the day itself is quite unexceptional. However, under new government guidelines, 4 July will now be pencilled into the diaries of the great and the good in the cultural sphere – it is the earliest possible date that museums and galleries can be reopened for the public, while obeying strict guidelines.

For the past 50 or so years, artistic duo Gilbert and George have made a habit of traversing the streets of London. Both well into their eighth decade, the pair have made the decision to self-isolate in accordance with government guidelines in their house on Fournier Street. These unusual circumstances have by no means deprived them of artistic inspiration.

Gone are the days of crowding round the Rosetta stone, or vying for a photograph of the Mona Lisa. Indeed, selfie sticks have swiftly been replaced by face masks, as museums across Europe slowly reopen in response following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Five years ago, Alexander Hamilton was one of the lesser known founding fathers of America. Now, thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s trailblazing musical, Hamilton’s name and his story are known far and wide.

Having previously approached The Leaders Council of Great Britain & Northern Ireland regarding his concerns over the longevity of the government’s Job Retention Scheme, managing director of Abril Industrial Waxes, Hugh McAulay, reacts to prime minister Boris Johnson’s provisional “roadmap” out of lockdown and discusses why divergence in the strategies of the UK’s four constituent countries may not be a good thing.

For the past 56 years, Maximiliaan Martens has been absolutely besotted by the work of Jan van Eyck. Seeing the Ghent Altarpiece, arguably van Eyck’s most famous piece, one cannot help but understand why.

Leading musicians are expected to perform at Wigmore Hall as part of the BBC’s “empty hall” series, a concert set that sees leading musicians return to a London stage for the first time since lockdown commenced.

For almost half his life, Tom Phillips has been illustrating A Humument, a Victorian novel, which he charged himself with illustrating each and every page. A project he started in 1966, Phillips completed his project in 2006, covering the pages with a range of drawings, paintings, and collage.

Stanley Johnson, father of prime minister Boris Johnson, has announced his 1982 novel, The Virus, will be republished this summer, after a two-week hunt to find a publisher.

Writing for The Leaders Council of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Christina Thakor-Rankin, principal consultant at 1710 Gaming, discusses the temporary and permanent changes that industry can expect as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown, and why some of these changes may render life as we know it entirely different to before within certain sectors.

Two joint initiatives performed by officers from Europol, Interpol, and the World Customs Organization, in addition to a range of national police forces, has resulted in the arrest of 101 individuals and the recovery of over 19,000 items of archaeological and artistic significance.