Beyoncé launches scholarship to support young women in the arts

USA: Beyoncé has unveiled her ‘Formation Scholars’, a new scholarship announced on the one-year anniversary of Lemonade to support young woman in the arts. The scholarships are for women studying creative arts, music, literature or African-American studies and aim to ‘encourage and support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious and confident.’  The first four scholarships will be awards for the 2017-2018 school year. Participating universities and colleges include Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design, and Spelman College. The scholarship would ‘encourage and support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious and confident.’ Read more.

 

UK Creative Industries Council Unveils Growth Strategy

LONDON: The industry members of the UK's Creative Industries Council (CIC) have identified five key areas as part of a new strategy to maintain and grow the UK’s position as a world leader for the creative industries. Launched to industry and Government at an event attended by Vince Cable Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Equalities, hosted by Facebook, the strategy - for the first time - unites the creative industries and identifies the significant role the sector will continue to play in the UK’s economic recovery. It acknowledges that creative industries generated more than £71 billion gross value added in 2012 – a 9.4 per cent increase between 2011 and 2012 that surpasses the growth of any other UK industry sector. These includes support for 1.71 million jobs and creation of 890,000 people in other sectors as part of the creative economy. Read more.

 

Four key trends of African design in 2017/18

CAPE TOWN: WGSN, a London trend forecasting company for fashion and creative industries, held a recent press event in Cape Town to unveil the four key trends that will be at the forefront of African design in 2017 and 2018. “The African retail value chain has been significantly disrupted over the past few years and retailers and suppliers need to have a clear point of differentiation and confidence in their design execution,” says Hannari Slabbert, WGSN regional director for Africa. “Added to that is a complex consumer mix who are increasingly influenced by international media and expect a contemporary offering in-store. In 2017, we are significantly expanding our trend content across Africa, focusing on the important social and style movements coming from this continent to help customers make profitable creative decisions to stay ahead of these challenges.” Read more.