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The latest from UK Arts
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Grime artist Skepta has won the 2016 Mercury Prize for his album Konnichiwa. The competition for the award this year included major releases such as David Bowie’s final album Blackstar, and Radiohead‘s A Moon Shaped Pool. The win celebrates grime's recent move towards the mainstream, from its roots in the housing estates and pirate radio stations of east London. Listen to our podcast with Hyperfrank and Jon Savage comparing the punk and grime scenes and DIY music culture.
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In other David Shrigley news, his Really Good sculpture for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square will be revealed on the 29 September. Cast in bronze, the sculpture is a seven-metre-high hand giving a giant thumbs up. Shrigley hopes that this simple gesture will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, that things considered ‘bad’ such as the economy, the weather and society, will benefit from a change of consensus towards positivity. The Evening Standard's Marcus Field caught up with Shrigley about how the piece came about in this interview.
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In December 2015 folk musician and composer Bella Hardy took up residency in Kunming, China, as part of the Musicians in Residence programme. The programme is designed to enable innovative British musicians to explore new musical territory, reach new audiences and write new material in the context of a changing international market. In this short film, Bella gives us a snapshot of her time in China, immersing herself in a new culture and taking inspiration at every turn.
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In this Arts Podcast, we look at two projects bringing marginalised voices to the stage: Hiraeth, a collaboration between Candoco's Jemima Hoadley and Armenia's NCA.Small Theatre, is the country's first ever integrated dance project, bringing together disabled and non-disabled artists. We're also joined by Paula McFetridge, Artistic Director of Kabosh, a Belfast-based company that has been investigating how theatre can empower communities and help to resolve conflict in Africa.
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Each year during London Design Festival (LDF) we invite key design industry figures from around the world to join us for our Design Connections programme. In this Arts podcast, produced in partnership with
Soho Radio, we hear from three experts from this year's international delegation. The panel reflect on their highlights of LDF 2016 and share some insights on the design sector in their own countries and regions. London Design Festival continues this weekend, and closes on Sunday.
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We caught up with Touretteshero's Jess Thom ahead of her first foray into stand up, Stand Up, Sit Down, Roll Over, which she performed at Southbank Centre's Unlimited Festival earlier this month. The work was made in response to Jess's own experiences as a live comedy audience member, and challenges comedians and venues to think about who they want to see in their audiences.
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