The Blavatnik Archive 2023 Research Fellows

Blavatnik Archive 272 x 145

The Blavatnik Archive is excited to introduce its 2023 fellows. These five scholars come from different disciplines, from history to theater studies. They will be working with a wide variety of materials in the Archive’s collections—from postcards and photographs to video testimonies to theater reviews to military propaganda leaflets—to advance their current projects and explore new research directions. […]

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Read Smart Podcast: The Winner of Winners Shortlist

On March 9th, the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction announced the shortlist for its 25th anniversary Winner of Winners award. All the books in the shortlist have won the Prize in the past but only one book will be named a Winner of Winners. The Winner of Winners will be announced at an event at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh on April 27th. Listen in as host, Razia Iqbal talks to judges Jason Cowley and Sarah Churchwell about which books they chose and what the process has been like so far. This podcast is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. […]

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New Musical Illinois by Jackie Sibblies Drury, Justin Peck, and Sufjan Stevens to Make World Premiere

The new musical, Illinois by Jackie Sibblies Drury, Justin Peck, and Sufjan Stevens will make its world premiere at the Fisher Center at Bard. The music-theatre work, proudly supported by Emily Blavatnik and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, will be a part of the 20th anniversary season. Premiering June 23-July 2, the work is based on Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 concept album of the same name. Tony-winning choreographer, Justin Peck will direct and choreograph the work. The story by Peck and Pulitzer winner Jackie Sibblies Drury, explores the album’s portrayal of the American heartland. […]

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The Baillie Gifford Prize Winner of Winners Shortlist

The shortlist for the Baillie Gifford Prize’s 25th Anniversary Winner of Winners award, where four judges – Chair Jason Cowley, Shahidha Bari, Sarah Churchwell, and Frances Wilson – pick a triumphant novel from the prize’s history. The six shortlisted authors have all previously won the prize and are now in the running to win the ultimate accolade. Congratulations to all! The winner will be announced on Thursday 27 April at an event held at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Stay up to date by following via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Catch up on all episodes of the Read Smart podcast, generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Soundcloud. […]

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Torn Muscle? Send In The Gut Microbes For Rapid Repair

“Our observations indicate that gut microbes drive the production of a class of regulatory T cells that are constantly exiting the gut and act as sentries that sense damage at distant sites in the body and then act as emissaries to repair that damage,” said study senior author Diane Mathis, professor of immunology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS. The team cautions that the findings are based on experiments in mice and remain to be replicated in larger animals and in humans. However, the results raise interesting possibilities about harnessing the power of gut microbes to enhance recovery from injury. […]

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Read Smart: A Quarter Century of the Prize, a 25th Anniversary Discussion

Listen to the latest episode of The Read Smart Podcast to learn more about the Prize’s history, and how the wider world of non-fiction has changed in the 25 years since it was first established. In this episode, former Baillie Gifford judge Razia Iqbal talks to Caroline Sanderson and Andrew Holgate, who have chaired judging panels in the past, about what the experience is like and how the Prize has evolved. Tune in next time when the Winner of Winners award judges talk about the shortlist. The Winner of Winners award, created to celebrate the Prize’s 25th anniversary, will pit the previous winners against each other to find the best of the best of non-fiction. The Blavatnik Family Foundation generously supports this podcast. […]

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Catalysing Change: 9 Young Scientists Transforming Our World

Can we detect dark energy? What new antibiotics and medicines can we make? How does the human immune system respond to HIV and SARS-CoV-2? What are the biggest consequences of the Arctic sea ice melting? If you are interested in the latest advances on these scientific topics and beyond, please join us for this series of short, interactive lectures from the Laureates and Finalists of the 2023 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom. The sessions are intended for science enthusiasts of all ages — from high schoolers to adults. Located at the historic RSA House in London. Not in London? Join the symposium virtually! Attendance is free and open to the public, but registration is required. […]

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Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund Announces Sjf Repertoire Fund Grantees In United States And Canada

The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF SJF) announces additional grant recipients in the U.S. and Canada through its SJF Repertoire Fund, a ten-year $10 million initiative that allows WMG employees in participating regions to nominate local organizations for grants of up to $15,000. This new set of grantees includes 51 organizations based in 14 states and three Canadian provinces and follows the announcement of more than 20 Repertoire Fund partners in Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa) and Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia). These grants further the Fund’s mission of advancing racial equity through education, arts and culture, and criminal justice reform, and prioritizing organizations led by – and focused on – historically marginalized populations.  […]

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David Bowie, and His Personas, Will Live On at Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London will house more than 80,000 items from Bowie’s career at a new David Bowie Center for the Study of Performing Arts, the museum announced on Thursday. The center, which will be at a new outpost of the museum called the V&A East Storehouse at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford section of London, will open in 2025. In a statement, the museum said that the acquisition and the creation of the center had been made possible by a combined donation of 10 million pounds (about $12 million) from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group, adding that the donation would support “the ongoing conservation, research and study of the archive.” Warner Music bought Bowie’s entire songwriting catalog last year. […]

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LONDON’S V&A MUSEUM ACQUIRES DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE WITH £10M DONATION FROM BLAVATNIK FAMILY FOUNDATION, WARNER MUSIC

The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London has secured the archive of the late legendary English singer-songwriter David Bowie and plans to make it available to the public beginning in 2025. V&A secured the archive through the David Bowie Estate and a GBP £10 million donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group, the museum said in a press release on Thursday (February 23). “Our new collections centre, V&A East Storehouse, is the ideal place to put Bowie’s work in dialogue with the V&A’s collection spanning 5,000 years of art, design, and performance. My deepest thanks go to the David Bowie Estate, Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group for helping make this a reality and for providing a new sourcebook for the Bowies of tomorrow.” […]

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