Dispatches

Senior Consultant – Middle East

AEA is currently seeking exceptional candidates for the position of Senior Consultant to work across our portfolio of projects connected to the cultural and creative industries throughout the Middle East. The Senior Consultant will lead consulting projects, manage client relationships, ensure successful delivery of consulting assignments, and contribute to business development, thought leadership, and AEA's practice methods. 

Read more about the Senior Consultant position. 

Ghanian Curator Nana Oforiatta Ayim on Why the Future of the Museum Must Exist Beyond Art’s Traditional Boundaries

Through curating the Venice Biennale’s second Ghana Pavilion, Nana Oforiatta Ayim asks what is the message or connection the Pavilion is trying to build, saying “it’s the idea of how do we create freedom for ourselves now and in the future? And so the artists are really future-builders.” (Artnet News) 

Orchestral Manoeuvres: Why We Can’t Risk Radio Silence

Public service radio orchestras have played far more than just a cultural role over the last century but they are now under threat, writes Sophia Deboick as governments look to cut funding for public broadcasting. (The New European) 

Restitution and Repatriation: A Practical Guide for Museums in England

Arts Council England commissioned the Institute of Art and Law to develop guidance to support the museums sector in matters related to the restitution and repatriation of cultural objects. The guidance provides a practical framework for museums to consider and manage potential restitution and repatriation cases. (Arts Council England) 

Global Study: Environmental Students from Poorer Regions Rate the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as More Important

In a study by Goethe University Frankfurt, environmental students from countries with lower prosperity indicators rat the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN as more important than environmental students from countries with higher property indicators do. From this, specific recommendations can be derived for university education. (Goethe Universität Frankfurt)

Museum of the Future’s Immersive Experiences Are Ecological Ones Too

The Museum of the Future, which opened in Dubai earlier this year, aims to give its visitors an opportunity to experience the future by visualizing and reimagining it. One of the most immersive experiences is a set of installations that shine light on our planet’s mesmerizing but fragile ecology and the threat to it in the foreseeable future. (Jing Culture & Commerce) 

What Should an LGBTQ Museum Be? Approaches Vary.

An increasing number of institutions in Europe grapple with celebrating and institutionalizing marginalized cultures for the present, and the future. Some spaces tend to focus on local histories, and others take different approaches to balance political advocacy with celebrating diverse genders and sexualities. (The New York Times) 

Five Digital Trends Shaping the Cultural Sector

Senior Consultant Hilary Knight reflects on years of running digital and multiplatform projects in large cultural institutions like Tate, Channel 4, and the BBC, and outlines five digital trends shaping the cultural sector today. (AEA Consulting)

Digital Access to Arts and Culture

Carried out in collaboration with The Space and Arts Council England, Digital Access to Arts and Culture has gathered knowledge about how arts and culture organisations have delivered online and hybrid content in response to the pandemic, and investigated what ‘digital access’ to arts and culture is and how it can be achieved. This report summarises an 18-month study into the role of digital arts and culture in the UK during the pandemic, with a focus on its accessibility implications. (Digital Access to Arts and Culture)

The Immersive Experience Revolution

Co-Founder of REMIX Summits Peter Tullin digs into the trends that are underpinning the growth of the dynamic sector. (Peter Tullin)

The Mission to Rescue Beirut’s Cultural Heritage from Rubble

“There are people in Beirut who are not eating, who are in terrible difficulty – is it really relevant to speak about architecture in this situation?” said artist Annabel Karim Kassar. “The answer is yes, it is. Because especially in countries in deep economic difficulty, you have to keep alive a part of memory, culture and heritage.” (Bloomberg CityLab)

Kentucky’s Floods Took Appalachian History with Them

The staff of Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky are working against the clock alongside some 50 volunteers. Their goal is to recover what Appalshop estimated to be hundreds of thousands of archival pieces from across mediums: film, photographs, artisan crafts, woodworking, musical instruments, magazines, newspapers, posters and personal family archives that have been donated to the group — all depicting life in the Appalachian Mountains. (The New York Times) 

The Cities Encouraging Healing With ‘Trauma-Informed Placemaking’

Places from Providence, Rhode Island to Parkland, Florida, are seizing on the growing movement of trauma-informed placemaking and turning theory into practice. How to do so in an intentional manner, and how to come to shared definitions and examples of good practice, is still very much an open question. In places like Providence, it’s something of an experiment. (Bloomberg CityLab) 

AEA Consulting is a global firm setting the standard in strategy and planning for the cultural and creative industries.

We are known for our candid and impartial advice that draws on deep knowledge of the cultural sector as well as robust research and analytical insight.

Since 1991, we have successfully delivered more than 1,200 assignments in 42 countries, helping clients around the world plan and realize vital and sustainable cultural projects.