The Art Fund launched its New Collecting Awards last month, enabling curators in museums across the UK to buy in new areas. The UK charity awarded a total of £300,000 to five curators, including Hannah Jackson, the assistant curator of fashion and textiles at the Bowes Museum in County Durham, who was given £60,000 to develop a collection of French haute couture. Charlotte Keenan, the curator of British art for National Museums Liverpool, was given £60,000 to help assemble a fine art collection relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture and history. Applications for the second round of awards will open this summer.