Creativity and education
November 2011
There are only two things that matter in the 21st century world: one is whether we can live with our planet; the other is whether we can live with each other. On a planet that could one day be home to up to nine billion people, there’s plenty of space...
Invest in your creativity – get a job!
November 2011
‘Plays bass alone!’ This three- word description of a young person’s creative endeavours was once sent to me in my capacity as manager of the New Deal for Musicians (NDfM) programme. At first, I was miffed, to say the least, at the brevity of the statement; yet when taken in...
There’s no divide between love and skills
November 2011
As a child, I found myself moved to tears at an exhibition of abstract art. It was an inexplicable, visceral sort of feeling that I had encountered before when walking through spiritual architecture of places of worship. I knew no words powerful enough to capture the sense of integration, fusion...
Good enough jobs and good enough workers
November 2011
Many of us who work in education, working with the graduates that will staff the cultural industries, would see it as our role to produce critical practitioners. This means not only having the skills and knowledge required to follow this type of work, but an ability to reflect on that...
Why an arts degree really is worth less than the paper it's written on
November 2011
For the creative industries to thrive, from the first scribblings at playgroup, to the most sophisticated innovations of our Masters students and beyond, we must ensure that all those with the innate talent and potential are able to access careers in our sector and flourish. Whilst there are any number...
From a ripple to a tsunami
November 2011
20 or 30 years ago, specialist disability programmes such as BBC’s From the Edge or ITV’s Link provided practically the only route into the media for disabled people. In these somewhat protected environments, virtually any access issue could be surmounted with the right support and adaptation. I still remember The...