How do cities and urban environments nourish creativity? Network is collaborator to a European research project that aims to study the role of cultural places and creative networks in generating and sustaining the dynamics of local areas. The project will compare three geographical areas: the North of Paris / Seine-Saint-Denis, East London (Hackney Wick / […]
Karina Poli, visiting researcher at Network, and Prof. Morag Shiach have collaborated to produce this comparative analysis of ten creative hubs located in London, Birmingham, and São Paulo. It explores how cultural policies in the UKand Brazil constitute the boundaries between ‘culture’ and ‘innovation’ in distinct ways. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of ‘field’, ‘habitus’, and ‘capital’ […]
Durga Puja is a major festival that takes place every year in West Bengal. Network was commissioned to undertake research into the creative economy and ecology in 2019 in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, on behalf of the British Council, India, and in partnership with the Department of Tourism of the Government […]
Too many cooks spoil the broth? Then how many do we need? In July 2021 Network commissioned The Change Collective to host a feast of ideas about working collectively in the creative industries. In liaison with Professor Lois Weaver, and the collective of drama students, called Air Supply, that she works with to curate the […]
Network supported four QMUL second year drama students, with Dr Maggie Inchley and mentored by Professor Ali Campbell, to make a documentary film of The Mending Room in collaboration with Tony Cealy, theatre practitioner. The undergraduates are: Folasade Shonibare; Regina Agard-Brathwaite; Morayo Okungbowa; Jasmine D’Arcy Johnson-Cole. The Mending Room is a cornerstone project of 81 […]
“What does home feel like, look like, smell like, sound like?” Words taken from spoken word piece by Grace Deveer, project participant. An exhibition of works made by Brixton residents in collaborative knowledge exchange with Dr Jessica Jacobs, QMUL School of Geography, will be on display at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, Railton Road, SE24 […]
In collaboration with Hackney Wick & Fish Island Community Trust, and Hackney Wick and Fish Island Creative Enterprise Zone, Network commissioned The People Speak to talk to local residents about the Hackney Wick they know. A mobile Screen Test Booth popped up in the area throughout July 2021, and an open space Talkaoke – a […]
Monday, 12 April: 2-3.30pm Network Centre is delighted to present an online conversation as part of the QMUL Arts & Culture Conversations Week for 9-16 April 2021. Our panel will draw on international perspectives to explore contemporary craft practice and economy. Facilitated by feminist craftivist practitioner and researcher Dr Katja May they will consider the role […]
Digital platforms for craft was an 20-month project that aimed to map out the use, features and potential of digital platforms in craft sectors in the UK and China. It was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK and supported by the Crafts Council, and was a partnership between researchers at […]
In January 2020, Professor Morag Shiach, Director of Network, gave a lecture in Paris that analysed the development of policies for the creative economy in the UK over the past ten years. The lecture has been published here. The diversity of creative economy policies across different parts of the UK is foregrounded, as well as […]
Network Centre has brokered a small knowledge exchange project between QMUL Reader in Management Practice / Deputy Director of Education, Patrick McGurk, and local Hackney based enterprise, Echo (economyofhours.com) to analyse the social value of its project, The Match. Echo is a network which connects community projects, many of them within the creative industries, and […]
Network Centre has brokered a small knowledge exchange project between researcher Jessica Jacobs and 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning in Brixton. Brixton has undergone rapid regeneration, redevelopment and gentrification since the 1981 Brixton riots. Many of the impacts of this for local, long-term residents are controversial. Building on previous work with Brixton Housing Co-op and […]