WIREDGOV

We’ve announced funding for a consortium of cultural organisations to produce a showcase highlighting the best of England’s performing arts as part of the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The consortium, made up of Battersea Arts Centre, Dance4, Fierce, GIFT, MAYK and Transform, will receive an initial £500,000 to deliver the showcase, which will feature both live socially distanced and digital performances when the Fringe returns for the first time in two years.

2021’s showcase aims to pilot new ways of working for the post-pandemic Fringe, with plans to continue in 2022 and 2023, adapting plans to reflect lessons from the first year’s event and changing Covid-19 restrictions.  By giving artists the chance to show their work to a national and international audience, the showcase aims to create opportunities for artists and companies based in England to collaborate internationally and tour across the UK.

The grant follows an application process which began in mid-2019.  The decision, originally due to be announced earlier this year, was postponed because of the pandemic before reopening in late summer, to allow the shortlisted applicants time to adapt their proposals to take into account social distancing restrictions.

Simon Mellor, Deputy CEO, Arts and Culture at Arts Council England said:

“We are delighted to be collaborating the consortium on this exciting new showcase in Edinburgh that will provide a platform for artists and companies based in England to launch a host of new national and international collaborations. This investment is an important first step towards realising the international ambitions within our new strategy, Let’s Create and helping build a post-Covid cultural sector in this country that is innovative, collaborative and international.”