DARWIN’S GALAPAGOS ISLANDS ARCH COLLAPES The famous ‘Darwin’s Arch’ located on the islands protected as a UNESCO World Hertiage Site, has collapsed due to natural erosion. The rock formation was considered a top dive site and tourist attraction of the islands, named after the English biologist Charles Darwin. The Galapagos Islands, is made up of 234 islands, inlets and rocks and is renowned globally for its unique diversity of plants and wildlife. It is from here that Darwin was inspired for his theory of evolution.
GREECE TO USE COVID-19 TRAVEL CERTIFICATE ’SAVE’ SUMMER Due to be launched in July, the (European Union) EU’s digital Health Travel Passport will see Greece welcome its use before the launch to attract foreign travellers in a bid to save its summer tourism season following two negative summer seasons due to the pandemic. More than a dozen EU countries, including France and Spain, have agreed to test the system before a launch on 1st July. The certificate shows if a person has received the vaccine, had a recent negative test or had immunity based on recovery. The free certificate will take the form of a QR code on a smartphone or paper, letting authorities determine the status of a visitor based on records in their home EU country. th
Tourism in Greece represents a 5 of its economy and saw just 7 million tourists and UK£3.44 billion in revenues in 2020, down from a record 33 million visitors and UK£15.45 billion in revenues in 2019. It expects tourist arrivals to reach half the levels welcomed in 2019.
SIX ABERDEEN ARTISTS COMMISSIONED TO MAKE NEW WORKS FOR ABERDEEN ART GALLERY Sailing, Greece
Six local creative practitioners have been awarded commissions to create new works for Aberdeen Art Gallery’s collection. The commissions celebrate Aberdeen Art Gallery’s success as a joint winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2020.
The 2020 prize money of UK£200,000 was split equally between the 5 joint winners. Aberdeen Art Gallery’s share is supporting a series of small-scale ‘micro-commissions’, open to creative practitioners of any discipline living in AB postcode areas. This includes visual artists, craft-makers, musicians, writers, sound artists, poets and filmmakers. In a year when protesters made their voices heard around the world, particularly in support of the Black Lives Matter movement against racial injustice, the micro-commissions are an example of how Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums is addressing lack of representation and diversity in its collection. As the name suggests, micro-commissions are for small-scale work, produced quickly in response to the collection, creating new works that relate to existing objects and themes or that highlight gaps within the collection. Proposals were invited that sa y
