The Space theatre to receive £27,098 from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund
The Space, on the Isle of Dogs, East London, is among over 2,700 organisations to receive funding from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund in the latest round.
Like so many organisations, the Space had to furlough the majority of their staff back in April 2020. Despite this, the venue launched Locked Down, Looking Up, an online programme of new play readings, workshops and performances, thanks to funding from the Arts Council’s Emergency Grants.
Further funding from the first round of the Cultural Recovery Fund enabled the Space to bring staff back off furlough, re-open briefly in October, invest in live-streaming equipment, develop new work and continue to deliver performances, workshops and networking/support sessions online.
Since February this year, with strict COVID guidelines in place, the Space has been live-streaming performances from the venue. This new grant will mean the Space can retain all staff, whilst progressing the development of new work and reaching new audiences.
The Space’s programme for April-June will include a festival of four new plays developed in 2020, three audio plays commissioned by the Space to accompany a visual art exhibition, a Global Majority Symposium including workshops, discussions and events and a window for playwrights to submit new work to the ScriptSpace programme.
Artistic Director of the Space, Adam Hemming, says, “We’re incredibly grateful for the continued support from the Arts Council and DCMS. The work we’ve done over the last 12 months hasn’t been a stopgap whilst we wait for the pandemic to end. We felt it was crucial to keep reaching out to audiences and artists and, in doing so, we’ve developed new ways of working, built an online, international audience and provided meaningful support to creatives. We will use the latest award to underline our commitment to delivering high quality performances and expand our reach to benefit more artists and the public that we both serve. In 2020, we were ‘locked down, looking up’, in 2021, thanks to this award we’re coming out of the lockdown, looking forward.”
Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:
“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.
Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”
Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:
“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.
We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”