Dear The Arts - it is s hugely optimistic aim to have whole population vaccinated by the "Autumn" - by when we still won't know if it's working. We need to reinvent what we do for the next 12 months at least to avoid risking lives, to create an overall strategy to /1

contain covid, protecting the arts we love and the voices which need to be heard NOW. Invest in new and relevant work now to be shared in this context. Invest in artists to share work with audiences, participants and co-creators on & offline but not in gatherings. People are /2

working so hard I know, but "Covid-secure" is a meaningless phrase at this stage in the UK. Every event risks lives. Innovation and invention are required. Precisely what the arts are. 'Normal', which wasn't great for everyone, isn't returning anytime soon. Please talk to /3

artists, practitioners, audiences and strategists who are factoring safety for EVERYONE into their work. Disabled people are key to this conversation. Let's keep people (and this means everyone) and the Arts alive. And just a reminder that people from so called /4

'diversity' communities (ie the global majority) are disproportionately affected by covid in many ways. If you're genuinely committed to diversity - I feel like a stuck record - talk to us now, pay us for our innovation and invention and our strategic thinking on this. We can't/5

sit biting our nails waiting for the next govt announcement, we need to plan morally, artistically and economically for the survival of the arts. That in itself is a moral imperative for custodians of culture in this world-changing pandemic. See the bigger picture and the /6

long term. Energy, money, morale, livelihoods, lives & vital opportunities to speak to our times, are lost in vain hopes for 'normality' & a lack of confidence in taking a long view. We need to get together to discuss this. Here for support, consultation & provocation. End.