On Thursday, 12 November 2020 the University celebrated completing the final storey of the new Faculty of Arts Building with a “topping out” ceremony.

Explore with Professor Silvija Jestrovic (Theatre and Performance Studies) some ideas from her recent work about the presence and absence of the author, in ‘The Author Dies Hard’. Siilvija challenges us to think about the questions ‘Who is the author?’ and ‘Where is the author?’. Her wider work looks at how the author is constructed through cultural and political imaginaries and erasures, intertextual and intertheatrical references, re-performances and self-referentiality, and what the politics and ethics of these constructions are.

Hear from Dr Pietari Kaapa (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) about his work on the relationship between media and climate change. Pietari asks us to think here about the environmental impact of the production of our media and reports on the work of the Global Green Media Production Network.

Dr Heidi Ashton (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) discusses how freelance workers in the creative sector are ‘Free Freelancers’ in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heidi details the precarity of this sector, the ways that freelance workers have fallen through the gaps of government safety nets, and the difficulties faced in monetising freelance work on digital platforms.

In this film, Dr Maria Barrett (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) examines this time of crisis for UK theatres as an opportunity for government, policymakers, theatre management teams and activists to reenvisage the sector and reach out to those not normally reached by, or represented in, our theatres.

Dr David Wright (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) examines the social divisions in the consumption of culture at home, and looks at the extent to which the digital cultural offerings of lockdown are available to all. David also asks what the risks are of privately owned platforms controlling our access to culture.

Today, explore with Dr Chris Bilton (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) a view of the ‘undigital’ creative economy and the impact that COVID-19 has had on it. Chris asks us to consider what performances, publications, and works of art and culture we value, and encourages us to try to support artists and creators directly.

Associate Professor Michael Meeuwis (English and Comparative Literary Studies) explores the history of Victorian theatre and, particularly, the Victorians’ love for amateur theatricals at home. Michael makes the link between these performances and how we’re keeping ourselves entertained during lockdown.

Then&Now is a student led-research project run by students in the Faculty of Arts in collaboration with the Modern Records Centre. Find out more about the project here.

New Faculty of Arts building artwork commission. Can you spare 10 minutes to talk to artist Matthew Raw and to express your feelings and plans about the move of the Arts and Humanities departments into the new building? He is interested in talking to anyone who will live with the building (and mural!) every day. If you would like to be involved, please contact Sarah Shalgosky asap at S.H.Shalgosky@warwick.ac.uk.