Brentford arts centre wins back funding

ARTS Council England is to restore nearly 60 per cent of the funding axed from the Watermans Arts Centre, Brentford, in recent cuts.

It reassessed its decision after the venue threatened to go to judicial review and will pay an annual grant of £240,000 for three years.

The new Arts Council support is specifically targeted at Watermans' programme of work with Asian artists and for Asian audiences. Ninaz Khodaiji, Watermans' programmer for Asian arts, said: "We are at a crossroads in Asian arts development with audience needs becoming more diverse than ever."

Watermans' tradition in Asian arts goes back to its 1984 opening when sitar player Ravi Shankar was the first to appear at the venue.