Samuel Jones
Researcher
Samuel Jones is a researcher at Demos. His research interests include culture and the arts, museums and galleries, creativity and the communication of ideas and knowledge through the cultural sector. In particular, he is interested in cross-cultural communications and the role of culture in international relations. In other work, he has focused on Global English and conversations. Recently, he has undertaken research in both the US and China.
- The Cultural Age - Integration and Cohesion Earlier this week, we held the second of our two seminars on The Cultural Age.It focused on integration and cohesion. One of the most interesting things to emerge was that much is going on in the cultural sector, policy-making and academic research but, often, each is unaware of what is going on in the other. At the very least, some of those ends could be tied up in conversations between participants of Monday's session. Another area of debate was long-term change. ... continue reading on 27th June 2008 in The Cultural Age
- Cultural and Artistic Practice and Democratic Participation Last week, I spoke at the launch of Peckham Space, a project run by Camberwell College of Arts that looks at the role or participation in contemporary art.The speech covered a range of topics, in particular that of creative and artistitc production as a democratic space and its potential in relation to politics. You can read a text of the speech, here ... and a podcast of the event will follow soon. continue reading on 27th June 2008
- Social Capital and the Material World Last week, I spoke at a summit on Conservation Education convened by the Textile Conservation Centre. I presented the interim thinking from our project, Saved for the Nation.I've put the speech and the presentation I gave on the website. They outline one of the ideas we are developing in the project, which is about the symbolism of caring for the material world, and what it means in relation to wider agenda, from identity and communities, to building cultural literacy. continue reading on 20th June 2008 in Saved for the Nation
- Contemporary Art and Social Change A couple of months ago, I wrote a review of Provoking Democracy, a book about the role of artisitc production in a democracy.We'll be revisiting this, and other topics, when we speak at the launch of Peckham Space in a couple of weeks. It's a project run by Camberwell College of Arts and promotes participation in contemporary art as a means of social expression.It's at 7.30 pm at Camberwell School of Art ... you can find out more details here and here continue reading on 9th June 2008
- The Cultural Age Last week, we hosted the first of our Cultural Age Seminars. It addressed education for the cultural age. We've put a transcript of the opening speech on the website - it's available for download here.The next seminar will be held on 23rd June and will address Integration and Cohesion in the Cultural Age. Speakers include Rushanara Ali Associate Director of the Young Foundation, Kim Knott - Head of the AHRC Diaspras, Migration and Identites Programme and Moira Sinclair -... continue reading on 9th June 2008 in The Cultural Age
- Book Review: 'Provoking Democracy: Why we Need the Arts' I've just written a review of Caroline Levine's book, Provoking Democracy: Why we Need the Arts. Overall, it encourages constructive discussion of the relationship between the arts and democracy that goes beyond territorialism and, even if it does leave questions unanswered, that is part of its value, flagging up areas to which policy-makers and cultural professionals must pay greater attention. continue reading on 28th March 2008
- Caring for the Material World Simon Jenkins wrote an article in Good Friday's Guardian in which he made the case that 'the dazzling walls of medieval England deserve a bold restorer'. It's good to see conservation getting coverage. As discussion of identity intensifies, culture and heritage are increasingly being looked to as sources for that identity, and points around which we can commune. However, what is often forgotten in this debate is that much of that culture and heritage exists only because it is cared... continue reading on 25th March 2008 in Saved for the Nation
- Future in the Scales Conservation tends only to figure in the media, and hence the public imagination, when individual cases throw the spotlight on the restorative skill of conservators. The Qing vases at the Fitzwilliam Museum provide a good example. Today, this example of how to restore a Stradivarius violin after it had been crushed figured on the BBC's homepage, no less.The point about conservation, however, is that much of it focuses on preventive work - 'how do you stop vases getting smashed' etc. -... continue reading on 14th February 2008 in Saved for the Nation
- Reactions to Cultural Interventions in Russia In the wake of recent events involving the British Council's offices at Yekaterinburg and St Petersburg, it's interesting to see commentators once again pointing to the importance of culture in international relations, the theme of our Cultural Diplomacy pamphlet last year. I thought it was worth posting a selection. In last week's Guardian, Simon Jenkins argued that 'culture and lifestyle are the diplomacy of the 21st Century' - very much an echo of his earlier article in response to our... continue reading on 21st January 2008 in Cultural Diplomacy Comments (1)
- Ever so Hidden Dragon Literature, the arts and cultural production are one of the most crucial means by which we learn about norms, behaviours, outlooks and attitudes. In Cultural Diplomacy, we argued that we need to start thinking about cultural literacy, and how we build not only greater awareness of the many cultures that we encounter, but also to take that beyond simply informing of facts to providing skills to accommodate and respond to them in every situation, everyday or institutional, in which... continue reading on 17th January 2008 in Cultural Literacy