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Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT) has launched a Citizens' Jury that will see up to 30 randomly-selected local residents advise its executive team and board on future decisions.

Birmingham residents will receive invitations by post this week asking if they want to participate in the project. 

Those selected after a two-stage lottery will take part in approximately 30 hours of deliberations over six sessions in November, during which time they will discuss the future of Birmingham's museums and hear from expert commentators.

The Citizens' Jury will respond to the question: "What does Birmingham need and want from its museums, now and in the future, and what should Birmingham Museums Trust do to make these things happen?"

Following their deliberation, the jury will produce a set of recommendations for BMT's board and executive, who in turn have committed to respond to all proposals.

Social enterprise Shared Future will run the process, with support from DemocracyNext and an oversight panel to ensure best practice.

Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah, Co-CEOs of Birmingham Museums Trust, said the jury's recommendations will have a "direct impact" on their future work.

"We're excited to pioneer this innovative approach in the UK museum sector. By inviting citizens to help shape the future of their museums, we're ensuring that our transformation truly reflects the needs and aspirations of our citizens, communities and the city."

BMT joins a growing number of cultural organisations, including the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry and Norwich Theatre, that are increasingly embracing co-creation leadership models involving input from across their communities, audiences and artists.

Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (BGWMC) has been designated an Asset of Community Value by Tower Hamlets Council, granting locals a 'right to bid' if the building goes up for sale.

The LGBTQ+ performance space has been at risk of closure after its owners revealed plans to sell the club as soon as possible and asked the venue's programming team to vacate the premises in July.

The council’s decision comes in response to an application made by community group Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club and grants them up to six months to fundraise for a bid.  

The performers' union Equity, which supported the application, said it is currently negotiating with the owners of BGWMC, who have expressed a willingness to allow a community purchase, to extend the fundraising period.

Nick Keegan, Equity Variety Organiser, says:  “The decision to protect Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club as an Asset of Community Value is fantastic news and a crucial step towards saving the club.

"The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has rightly recognised BGWMC for what it is – a pillar of London’s nightlife ecosystem, a vital workplace for Equity members, and an important part of the queer and local community.  

“The response to this campaign so far has been phenomenal. Everyone who signed the petition, turned up to the rally or spread the word has played their part in this positive outcome. However, the campaign has not been won yet – raising the funds to purchase BGWMC for the community will be a mammoth task.”

Planned appearances by French conductor François-Xavier Roth with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) have been withdrawn amid allegations the 52-year-old sent inappropriate text messages to musicians he worked with.

Instead, Thomas Adès will conduct the two concerts scheduled at the Barbican in October, with the LSO thanking the British composer for “stepping in”.

Following publication of sexual harassment allegations by the French investigative magazine Le Canard enchaîné in May 2024, Roth also suspended his work with the Gürzenich Orchestra and Cologne Opera to give them “the chance to clarify and address the situation”. 

He said at the time: “Due to the release of a news article pointing out that I have sent inappropriate text messages to musicians in the past, the orchestras I lead will be extensively investigating the behaviour cited and collecting information on the allegations.” 

“I have decided to stop conducting the Gürzenich Orchestra temporarily in order to permit a peaceful investigation of these matters. I apologize to anyone I may have offended.”

Around 40 French museums were affected by a ransomware attack over the weekend, according to news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Among the affected organisations was the Grand Palais, which is hosting Olympic events in Paris.

A police source told AFP that those responsible attacked a system that centralises financial data for affected organisations, demanding a ransom and threatening to release financial data.

France's national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, confirmed that it had been alerted to an incident.

​London's Horniman Museum & Gardens is to return 10 objects, including two wartilykirri (boomerangs) and a ngurrulumuru (stone axe), to the Warumungu community in Australia. 

A formal request for repatriation of the objects was made in May 23. 

The objects - all of cultural and spiritual importance -  will be handed over later this year to be housed at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre in Tennant Creek, Northern Australia, where they will be cared for in accordance with the traditions and customs of the Warumungu peoples.

Michael Jones Jampijinpa, senior Warumungu man said: "They are Warumungu and they need to come back to Warumungu country."

“I want to thank [the Horniman Museum] for sending those things back to us. They’ve made a choice to send them back to where they belong. It wasn’t them who collected it, it was their ancestors, so I want to thank them.”

Michael Salter-Church, Chair of the Horniman said: “These objects are of the utmost significance for the Warumungu people, and were lost to them in circumstances where they were compelled to sell or give them away. We are pleased to be able to return them to the care of their original community.”

The Charity Commission has endorsed the transfer of nine of the objects noting the trustees' “moral obligation”.

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery will close for about a month this summer so urgent repair work can take place.

The project is funded by a £1.5m grant from Arts Council England, matched with £500,000 from Brighton & Hove City Council.

The necessary repairs were identified in a structural survey in 2019. The museum says the work will help improve the care of collections and enhance the visitor experience, while reducing maintenance costs and carbon emissions.

The project will include restoring two Georgian glass roof lanterns, which span the building above the central main gallery.

Replicating the original lighting scheme, which included light wells and sun pipes, will mean “the whole gallery will be lit by daylight” and reduce energy costs, the museum said. 

In addition, upgrades and repairs to the building’s two large, glazed roofs will include better ventilation and insulation.

Two galleries will close for the duration of the project, but the majority of the museum will stay open for most of the work. The work is expected to be finished next summer, according to The Argus newspaper.

Hedley Swain, Chief Executive of the Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust, said the work on the roof “needs to be carried out at a time when the weather is expected to be dry, to reduce the risk of water damage while the work is being done”.

"The summer months are the best time to conduct this work and will mean the closure time will be shorter."

Swain added that following the repairs, “visitors to the museum will be able to appreciate our artworks and exhibitions knowing the building is more sustainable, energy-efficient with better lighting and ventilation”.
 

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has emphasised the role the cultural and creative sectors can play in driving national renewal in her first major speech in post.

Addressing more than 150 organisations at the People’s History Museum in Manchester, Nandy said the “inspiring and inclusive story” seen in the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony is “waiting for someone to give voice to it again”.

Highlighting Manchester’s groundbreaking cultural achievements such as the world’s “first free library”, Nandy said the new government would show similar drive, creativity and inclusion, as well as a “willingness to do things differently”.

She said this spirit was already evident in the government’s activity, including a curriculum review to give children more creative and sports opportunities, and its investment in grassroots sport.

Stressing the significance of creativity and culture to economic growth, Nandy claimed: “Through our partnerships with our mayors, councils, businesses and charities, we’re putting rocket boosters under our growing industries – film and theatre, TV, fashion, video games, heritage and tourism – to take the brakes off the economy, create opportunity for every child and to export our incredible talent across the world.”

She added that she intended to make sure public appointments “truly reflect” the country’s diversity – “not to fulfil a quota, but to ensure that our government draws on the creative might of all of our people”.

Nandy promised those that shared her vision “that we will walk alongside you. We will have your back. And we will give voice to the country many of us have believed in all our lifetime but never quite yet seen.”

The summit included representatives from major media and entertainment companies such as the BBC and Amazon, alongside national sports, tourism and cultural organisations.
 

National Trust staff, volunteers and members are leading a week of protests at 40 of the conservation charity’s locations, calling for it to cease working with Barclays over its ties to the fossil fuel industry, according to a report in The Art Newspaper.

Beginning this week, the demonstrations include a parade at Longshaw Estate in the Peak District and a punting protest at Bathampton Meadows in Bath. Corfe Castle in Dorset, Winston Churchill’s family house in Kent, Ham House in west London, and the Runnymede site where the Magna Carta was signed will also host rallies.

A spokesperson for the National Trust said the organisation “fully understands the urgency needed to find solutions to the climate crisis and the strength of feeling about this among some of our supporters”.

“We welcomed Barclays's announcement that it will stop direct financing clients engaged in oil and gas expansion and require their clients in the energy sector to prepare climate transition plans. 

“It is critically important that we continue to engage with the banking sector to do more and faster to reduce financed emissions,” the spokesperson added.

Supporters of a controversial scheme to reroute a major road under Stonehenge have criticised the government's cancellation of the project as it seeks to make savings.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced the scrappping of the planned £2bn tunnel under the prehistoric site, redirecting the A303 which passes close by, as part of measures to plug a £22bn hole in the country's finances.

There has been vocal opposition to the tunnel, with campaign group Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site winning a court battle in 2020 to overturn former Tory Minister Grant Shapps's approval of the project.

Earlier this month, the group legally challenged a subsequent judicial review that allowed the scheme to proceed. The group claimed ministers responsible for the decision were “inadequately briefed”. 

However a spokesperson for English Heritage, which manages the site, told Arts Newspaper it will seek further dialogue with the government to find a solution for the monument.

“English Heritage has been a strong supporter of the tunnel project, which would reunite the ancient landscape and allow more people to explore and enjoy this remarkable site,” said the spokesperson.

The National Trust was also critical, warning that “a solution is needed to remove the hugely damaging surface road that blights Stonehenge and its surrounding landscape”.