The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) today announce nine international Fellows who will lead a major programme exploring the future of creative and cultural practice. Supported by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council over a period of four years, each Fellow will focus on a research theme which responds to the biggest challenges faced by the creative industries and wider society, and the change needed for the development and survival of the sector and future economic growth. The Fellowships form part of AHRC’s PORTIA (participatory and open research through technology in action) programme which seeks to create the spaces, places and platforms that enable creativity-led R&D to thrive.
Due to launch this April, after envisioning the concept 5 years ago, YARD Arthouse, formed by the MAIA Group, will serve as a community hub for locals to realise their ideas and projects. Based in Lady Wood, West Midlands, the venue marks the initial phase of a regeneration project that will also include an artist led hotel and cultural hub by 2023. Ahead of YARD Arthouse’s launch, MAIA Group co-founder Amahra Spence tells us more about what to expect from the venue, transforming her local neighbourhood and what her hopes are for the venue.