International Museums Day is on 18 May 2020 and in celebration of the theme equality and diversity, I curated an online exhibition on the topic - Diversity, Inclusion and Innovation - for ArtUK's new Curations platform. A selection of works from the exhibition below. ICOM UK is hosting a series of activities in partnership with … Continue reading International Museums Day 2020: Diversity and Inclusion
The inaugural 'AI and art futures symposium' (12 September 2019) explored the interplay of art market futures, art and data, and the role of the tangible and intangible artefact. Organised by UCL (Jo Townshend, UCL Enterprise and Innovation) and hosted by Barbican, the symposium considered the following topics: How the democratisation of art is shaping art … Continue reading Art (I)rrelevance Symposium: Academics, Collectors, Funders and Artists Talk Data, AI and Arts
It was a pleasure to be asked to part of the plenary session The Future of Knowledge Sharing. Start from the premise that over the next decade we are likely to experience vast changes in how individuals and organisations engage with knowledge, I was joined by F1000’s Publishing Director Michael Markie, Maria Nelson, Head of … Continue reading 2019 Knowledge Quarter Conference: The Future of Knowledge
The Frankfurt Book Fair is commonly referred to as the biggest book fair in the world. While I don't know if that's actually true, I can confirm it is BIG. Clearly the publishing industry is trying to spread its wings and explore the interconnections between literature, other forms of culture and creativity and digital technology. … Continue reading The Arts+ Future of Culture Festival: Highlights & Reflections
In my recent blog, The Oscars, Othello and Ira Aldrige: The Paradox of Race in the Performing Arts, I reflected on the many ironies that underpin the casting of black actors (or lack thereof). Within that discussion, I queried the responsibility of white writers to develop characters and storylines that reflect the diversity of the societies in … Continue reading How to Deconstruct the White Gaze: Made Visible at The Yard Theatre
Whether you believe racism, a lack of good performances, or bad luck is the reason why no black actors were nominated for the Academy Awards this year, the #OscarsSoWhite campaign has reignited the discussion about diversity in the arts. Coincidentally, I recently saw the play Red Velvet (now showing at the Garrick Theatre in London’s … Continue reading The Oscars, Othello and Ira Aldridge: The Paradox of Race in the Performing Arts
For some reason, Somerset House is not a place I go for evening or weekend fun. This is my loss, as the venue has greatly expanded its public offer over the past 10 years. It sits on the Thames across from the Southbank Centre and National Theatre, but does not compare in terms of footfall. It now has … Continue reading Exploring the Big Bang at Somerset House
Those who are reasonably well informed know that Raqqa (also known as Al-Raqqah, Rakka, Ar-Raqqah) is the city in Syria that is the ISIS stronghold and focus of Western forces’ air strikes. It currently holds immense symbolic power – a successful military campaign in Raqqa would be a major defeat for the Islamic State. But … Continue reading Raqqa: The Cultural History of the ISIS Stronghold
This video presents highlights from Schauwerk Sindelfingen, an art gallery I discovered recently while traveling in south Germany.
As a cultural professional working in a research-intensive university, I’m keenly interested in the interplay between arts and sciences: How can artistic creativity inspire scientific problem solving? How can we use art to articulate scientific principles and discoveries? How can scientific techniques inform new modes are artistic representation? How do we balance the abstract with … Continue reading Alexander Calder at Tate: Balancing Science and Art
