Redesigning creative education for the 21st century; interdisciplinarity involving the creative sector Chaired by Deborah Bull, Culture Institute at King’s
Bruce Mackh, Mellon Research Project Director, a2ru,University of Michigan
Bruce Mackh, Director of the Mellon Research Project, earned his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA from Tulane University, and PhD in Critical Studies in Fine Art from Texas Tech University. Mackh’s current research focuses on the importance of arts integration in the research university.
Venka Purushothaman, Vice-President (Academic) & Provost at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
Venka Purushothaman is an academic, arts and cultural manager and writer/researcher with a distinctive career in the cultural and creative industries. Lived experiences in Singapore, Toronto and Melbourne coupled with extensive travel across the globe – researching the cultural differences in the management of arts festivals and biennales –has provided him with a rare insight into the world of cultural flow and sensitivity to the place of art in societies and communities.
Venka is currently Vice-President (Academic) & Provost at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore - a leading institution in contemporary arts and design practice and education in Southeast Asia. He is responsible for steering curricular development, academic operations, international partnerships and academic quality assurance. His pedagogic philosophy is to ensure that contemporary Asia is given appropriate place and voice in arts curriculum thereby representing the voice of a new generation of artists. Venka is highly regarded for his research and insights in the cultural and creative industries in Asia and has lectured internationally on issues in contemporary art; festival cultures and cultural policy in Asia; and arts and design education. Today, he continues to speak on arts policy, leadership and education and serves as an expert on many professional committees and has chaired important portfolios such as funding committees for theatre, cultural awards committees and committees dedicated to developing youths. He remains one of the few arts leaders in Southeast Asia who is adept in working seamlessly across the visual arts, performing arts, and design; and education sectors.
Venka has also researched and published extensively. These include essays on artists such as Pierre & Gilles (France), Nathalie Junod Ponsard (France), Parvati Nayar (India); and, artist monographs: The Art of Sukumar Bose: Reflections on South and Southeast Asia (2013); Dance Me through the Dark: The Photography of Tan Ngiap Heng (2008); and Salleh Japar: Gurindam dan Igauan. (2004). His books on culture and cultural policy includes Making Visible the Invisible: Three Decades of the Singapore Arts Festival (2007) and Narratives: Notes on a Cultural Journey, Cultural Medallion Recipients, 1979-2002 (2002).
Venka is a member of the Association of International Art Critics, France (AICA) and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, UK (RSA).
Venka is currently Vice-President (Academic) & Provost at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore - a leading institution in contemporary arts and design practice and education in Southeast Asia. He is responsible for steering curricular development, academic operations, international partnerships and academic quality assurance. His pedagogic philosophy is to ensure that contemporary Asia is given appropriate place and voice in arts curriculum thereby representing the voice of a new generation of artists. Venka is highly regarded for his research and insights in the cultural and creative industries in Asia and has lectured internationally on issues in contemporary art; festival cultures and cultural policy in Asia; and arts and design education. Today, he continues to speak on arts policy, leadership and education and serves as an expert on many professional committees and has chaired important portfolios such as funding committees for theatre, cultural awards committees and committees dedicated to developing youths. He remains one of the few arts leaders in Southeast Asia who is adept in working seamlessly across the visual arts, performing arts, and design; and education sectors.
Venka has also researched and published extensively. These include essays on artists such as Pierre & Gilles (France), Nathalie Junod Ponsard (France), Parvati Nayar (India); and, artist monographs: The Art of Sukumar Bose: Reflections on South and Southeast Asia (2013); Dance Me through the Dark: The Photography of Tan Ngiap Heng (2008); and Salleh Japar: Gurindam dan Igauan. (2004). His books on culture and cultural policy includes Making Visible the Invisible: Three Decades of the Singapore Arts Festival (2007) and Narratives: Notes on a Cultural Journey, Cultural Medallion Recipients, 1979-2002 (2002).
Venka is a member of the Association of International Art Critics, France (AICA) and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, UK (RSA).
Creative Economy Knowledge Hubs: pathways and models of engagement
Chaired by Judy Simon, DeMontford University
Morag Shiach, Vice-Principal and Executive Dean (Humanities and Social Sciences) at Queen Mary, London
Morag Shiach is Director of Creativeworks London, and Vice-Principal and Executive Dean for the Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. She has an MA in Drama and Philosophy from the University of Glasgow, an MA in Communications from McGill University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Cambridge. Her research expertise is in the cultural history of modernism; cultural representations of labour; theorisations of ‘popular culture’; and feminist readings of cultural texts. Her publications include The Cambridge Companion to the Modernist Novel (2007), Modernism, Labour and Selfhood in British Literature and Culture (2004), Feminism and Cultural Studies (1999), Hélène Cixous: A Politics of Writing (1991), and Discourse on Popular Culture (1989), as well as numerous articles on aspects of modernism and cultural history.
Dr Leon Cruickshank, Reader in Design, University of Lancaster
Dr Leon Cruickshank is a Reader in Design in ImaginationLancaster, the cross disciplinary design lab in Lancaster University. He specialises in processes and activities that draw many different participants into creative and collaborative processes. This encompasses projects in co-design, design and innovation, open design, the design of knowledge exchange and human to human interaction. He is Director of Knowledge Exchange for the £4 million AHRC funded Creative Exchange Knowledge Exchange Hub.
Georgina Follett, Deputy Principal for Knowledge Exchange, University of Dundee
Principal-Investigator and Director of Design in Action, an Arts and Humanities Research Council, industry supported, Knowledge Exchange Hub, (£6.7 million) 1 of 4 in the UK, building knowledge exchange strategies for higher education, public and private sectors, to achieve sustainable growth, using design as a strategy for business. Her portfolio includes delivering an operational partnership between University and the V&A at Dundee project, as the individual who identified, conceived and led the project in its initial stages of development.
Previously Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design 2006-2010, throughout this period DJCAD was rated as the lead Art and Design institution in Scotland - university league tables and in the top 10% for colleges of Art and Design within the UK.
Georgina is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, a visual craft practitioner of 40 years experience researching into models of practice; a jeweller specialising in plique-de-jour enamelled jewellery, using enamel to give a stained glass effect. She is the only practitioner of this in the UK and one of a handful in Europe. Her work is held in many private collections as well as the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Roy Strong collection - Victoria and Albert, and the National Museums of Scotland.
Georgina has had experience of working with manufacturing companies and has worked collaboratively on a number of projects and consultancies between Higher Education and industry, including the establishment of “Dundee by Design” and “IDEAS” (Industry Design, Education Action Scotland). Her recent research focused on craft, an AHRC project – Past, Present, Future Craft Practices 2005-2010.
Georgina Follett is a panel member and reviewer for the Arts and Humanities Research Council, has been involved in numerous advisory committees and is an indexed member of the Crafts Council. Georgina served on the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council 1998-2006, Chair of the SHEFC's (Scottish Higher Education Funding Council) Learning and Teaching Committee, Chair of the Higher Education Quality Working Group (SHEFC) and Chair of the Quality Assessment Committee (SHEFC) and a member of QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) Scotland Board, The Robert's Committee on the RAE and has held the Chair of the National Association of 3D Design Education and has been a previous Vice President of the Chartered Society of Designers. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturers, The Chartered Society of Designers and a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Contemporary Scotland. In 2006 she was a founding member of the Institute for Capitialising on Creativity, Universities of St Andrews, RSAMD, Abertay and Duncan of Jordanstone, University of Dundee.
Georgina Follett was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2007 for services to Design and Higher Education.
Previously Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design 2006-2010, throughout this period DJCAD was rated as the lead Art and Design institution in Scotland - university league tables and in the top 10% for colleges of Art and Design within the UK.
Georgina is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, a visual craft practitioner of 40 years experience researching into models of practice; a jeweller specialising in plique-de-jour enamelled jewellery, using enamel to give a stained glass effect. She is the only practitioner of this in the UK and one of a handful in Europe. Her work is held in many private collections as well as the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Roy Strong collection - Victoria and Albert, and the National Museums of Scotland.
Georgina has had experience of working with manufacturing companies and has worked collaboratively on a number of projects and consultancies between Higher Education and industry, including the establishment of “Dundee by Design” and “IDEAS” (Industry Design, Education Action Scotland). Her recent research focused on craft, an AHRC project – Past, Present, Future Craft Practices 2005-2010.
Georgina Follett is a panel member and reviewer for the Arts and Humanities Research Council, has been involved in numerous advisory committees and is an indexed member of the Crafts Council. Georgina served on the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council 1998-2006, Chair of the SHEFC's (Scottish Higher Education Funding Council) Learning and Teaching Committee, Chair of the Higher Education Quality Working Group (SHEFC) and Chair of the Quality Assessment Committee (SHEFC) and a member of QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) Scotland Board, The Robert's Committee on the RAE and has held the Chair of the National Association of 3D Design Education and has been a previous Vice President of the Chartered Society of Designers. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturers, The Chartered Society of Designers and a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Contemporary Scotland. In 2006 she was a founding member of the Institute for Capitialising on Creativity, Universities of St Andrews, RSAMD, Abertay and Duncan of Jordanstone, University of Dundee.
Georgina Follett was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2007 for services to Design and Higher Education.
Jon Dovey, Professor of Screen Media, University of West England
Professor of Screen Media in ACE, Jon spent the first 15 years of his working life in video production, as a researcher, editor and producer in documentary and experimental video, co founding original scratch artists Gorilla Tapes in 1984. He has taught at Plymouth University, UWE and Bristol University teaching a wide range of film, media and digital modules in both practice and theory. In 2008 he launched (UWE’s) Digital Cultures Research Centre which he Directed until 2012. He was a Knowledge Transfer Fellow at Bristol’s Pervasive Media Studio from 2010 – 12 co authoring the Pervasive Media Cookbook (http://pervasivemediacookbook.com/).
In 2012 he became the Director of REACT (Research and Enterprise for Arts and Creative Technologies) one of four Hubs for the Creative Economy funded by the AHRC. Led by UWE and Watershed REACT is an Arts, Technology, and Business Collaboration aiming to produce 60 innovative media prototypes in four years (http://www.react-hub.org.uk/). He is also Co Investigator on the AHRC Connected Communities Creative Citizens Project where he leads a strand on the impact of informal creative economies on communities (http://www.react-hub.org.uk/).
In 2012 he became the Director of REACT (Research and Enterprise for Arts and Creative Technologies) one of four Hubs for the Creative Economy funded by the AHRC. Led by UWE and Watershed REACT is an Arts, Technology, and Business Collaboration aiming to produce 60 innovative media prototypes in four years (http://www.react-hub.org.uk/). He is also Co Investigator on the AHRC Connected Communities Creative Citizens Project where he leads a strand on the impact of informal creative economies on communities (http://www.react-hub.org.uk/).
Engaging creative communities & students on campus: an international perspective chaired by Stephen Foster, John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton
Jenny Bilfield, President & CEO at the Washington Performing Arts Society
Jenny Bilfield was appointed Washington Performing Arts Society’s fourth President & CEO in April 2013. Based in Washington DC, with performances and programs spanning the Capital region, WPAS was founded in 1965. It thrives today as one of the nation’s preeminent multi-disciplinary arts presenters, especially notable for launching and nurturing innumerable performing artists, and sustaining high-impact arts education partnerships with the DC public schools and diplomatic community.
In 2012 WPAS was the first organization of its kind to receive the coveted National Medal of Arts (conferred by President Obama at The White House), as well as a Mayor’s Arts Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts. Early in her tenure at WPAS, Bilfield was recognized among the “30 Key Influencers in the Arts: Movers and Shakers” by Musical America and as one of the “117 Most Powerful Women in Washington” by Washingtonian Magazine (2013).
From 2006-2013 Bilfield was Artistic & Executive Director of Stanford Lively Arts and Artistic Director of Stanford Live (its successor organization) at Stanford University. During this time Bilfield stewarded the organization’s transformation from university presenter to a campus-based arts producer. Hired during the early days of Stanford’s arts initiative, Bilfield collaborated extensively with faculty and program partners to develop new pathways for immersive arts experiences for students and arts-goers in Silicon Valley and the wider Bay area. She was a member of the core planning team for Stanford’s 842-seat Bing Concert Hall (named for Helen and Peter Bing, designed by Ennead Architects, Nagata Acoustics, and Fisher Dachs Associates), which opened to critical acclaim in January 2013.
With a refreshed mission, to “engage artists’ and audiences’ imagination, creativity and sense of adventure,” Lively Arts and Bilfield received early accolades for her programming, including special mention on the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of top 10 Notable Classical Music Developments of the Decade. Her active role in the Silicon Valley community was additionally recognized with the 2012 Champion of the Arts Award, presented by Cantabile Youth Singers with a Proclamation from the Mayor and City Council of Palo Alto, CA.
In 2012 WPAS was the first organization of its kind to receive the coveted National Medal of Arts (conferred by President Obama at The White House), as well as a Mayor’s Arts Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts. Early in her tenure at WPAS, Bilfield was recognized among the “30 Key Influencers in the Arts: Movers and Shakers” by Musical America and as one of the “117 Most Powerful Women in Washington” by Washingtonian Magazine (2013).
From 2006-2013 Bilfield was Artistic & Executive Director of Stanford Lively Arts and Artistic Director of Stanford Live (its successor organization) at Stanford University. During this time Bilfield stewarded the organization’s transformation from university presenter to a campus-based arts producer. Hired during the early days of Stanford’s arts initiative, Bilfield collaborated extensively with faculty and program partners to develop new pathways for immersive arts experiences for students and arts-goers in Silicon Valley and the wider Bay area. She was a member of the core planning team for Stanford’s 842-seat Bing Concert Hall (named for Helen and Peter Bing, designed by Ennead Architects, Nagata Acoustics, and Fisher Dachs Associates), which opened to critical acclaim in January 2013.
With a refreshed mission, to “engage artists’ and audiences’ imagination, creativity and sense of adventure,” Lively Arts and Bilfield received early accolades for her programming, including special mention on the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of top 10 Notable Classical Music Developments of the Decade. Her active role in the Silicon Valley community was additionally recognized with the 2012 Champion of the Arts Award, presented by Cantabile Youth Singers with a Proclamation from the Mayor and City Council of Palo Alto, CA.
Christine Khor, Director, NUS Centre For the Arts, National University of Singapore
Since 2005, Christine Khor has been Director of the NUS Centre For the Arts. With a mission to nurture the performing, visual & literary arts on campus and beyond, CFA is the NUS’ creative cradle as the home of 22 mixed faculty student arts groups, totaling 3,000 students & alumni.
Among its platforms to promote the arts is the Exxon Mobil Campus Concert (EMCC) series. In its 27th year in 2012, the longest running campus arts platform has given, & continues to offer, aspiring & veteran artistes the chance to perform on campus and externally throughout the academic year. Organised by CFA, the annual NUS Arts Festival every March - and exhibitions in NUS Museum, Singapore’s oldest art museum - are other arts platforms contributing vibrancy to campus and public life.
Currently on the Board of EDB Society, she is the first Southeast Asian board member of the University Museums and Collections (UMAC), a global association of university museum directors of the International Congress of Museums (ICOM). In Oct 2012, the UMAC annual conference will be hosted by NUS, the first Southeast Asian university to organize this gathering of university museum professionals.
Prior to helming NUS’ CFA, Ms Khor championed the arts in the press, key government agencies & industry. In Singapore Tourism Board, Ms Khor played key roles in Arts Events & Special Projects and Industry Development. In Economic Development Board, she pioneered the development of the arts business; and with The Straits Times, Ms Khor wore many hats as Arts Editor, Books Editor, Lifestyle & Food Editor etc and was ST’s Dance Critic for over a decade.
Among its platforms to promote the arts is the Exxon Mobil Campus Concert (EMCC) series. In its 27th year in 2012, the longest running campus arts platform has given, & continues to offer, aspiring & veteran artistes the chance to perform on campus and externally throughout the academic year. Organised by CFA, the annual NUS Arts Festival every March - and exhibitions in NUS Museum, Singapore’s oldest art museum - are other arts platforms contributing vibrancy to campus and public life.
Currently on the Board of EDB Society, she is the first Southeast Asian board member of the University Museums and Collections (UMAC), a global association of university museum directors of the International Congress of Museums (ICOM). In Oct 2012, the UMAC annual conference will be hosted by NUS, the first Southeast Asian university to organize this gathering of university museum professionals.
Prior to helming NUS’ CFA, Ms Khor championed the arts in the press, key government agencies & industry. In Singapore Tourism Board, Ms Khor played key roles in Arts Events & Special Projects and Industry Development. In Economic Development Board, she pioneered the development of the arts business; and with The Straits Times, Ms Khor wore many hats as Arts Editor, Books Editor, Lifestyle & Food Editor etc and was ST’s Dance Critic for over a decade.