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British Science Festivals European Festivals Research Project workshop Poznan, Poland 24-25 April 2010

British Science Festivals European Festivals Research Project workshop Poznan, Poland 24-25 April 2010. Christopher Maughan De Montfort University, Leicester ccm@dmu.ac.uk , Tel: 0044116 250 6131. British Science Festivals. 350 years of history – Royal Society

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British Science Festivals European Festivals Research Project workshop Poznan, Poland 24-25 April 2010

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  1. British Science FestivalsEuropean Festivals Research Project workshop Poznan, Poland 24-25 April 2010 Christopher Maughan De Montfort University, Leicester ccm@dmu.ac.uk, Tel: 0044116 250 6131

  2. British Science Festivals • 350 years of history – Royal Society • 1831 – British Association established, now known as the British Science Association • 1860 – debate by Huxley/Wilberforce • 1959 – CP Snow: The Two Cultures (a PR man for the scientific establishment?)

  3. British Science Festivals • 29 festivals reviewed – most are less than 10years old and therefore younger than many arts festivals we discuss Development of science festivals • Edinburgh International Science Festival est. 1989 • Orkney International Science Festival 1990 • BSA – National Science and Engineering Week, 1994 • All the others have been established since 2000

  4. British Science Festivals • Organisers • FE colleges/Universities, 31% (predominantly with a science focus) • City/town authorities, 28% • Independent organisations, 41% Budget range incl. support costs €20K - €600K

  5. British Science Festivals • Target markets • 0-18 (schools prog), 23 = 79% • Family, 23 = 79% • Adult/specialist, 11 = 38% Audience range 2K to 15K to 100K (EISF claims)

  6. British Science Festivals • No arts content, 5 = 17% • Arts content, 24 = 83% Arts Content • Complementary, 2 = 3% • Illustrative, 20 = 69% • Integrated, 8 = 28%

  7. British Science Festivals Complementary (5) – arts events of a general nature – Orkney and Shrewsbury Darwin Illustrative (82) – film, exhibition, arts and crafts, museums events, lectures, comedy/cabaret, music, animation, literature/poetry Integrated (27) – broad range of theatre, dance, music events, plus arts and crafts, film/multimedia, literature/poetry

  8. British Science Festivals • Illustrative approach • Arts input helps through: • Entertainment value • Alternative perspective: surprise • Communication • Source of data

  9. British Science Festivals • Integrated approach: • Arts input is critical not just for its illustrative potential but because it • Integrates a scientific or engineering theme as a core part of the choreography, writing/performance, composition, exhibition

  10. British Science Festivals SScience festivals which embrace a fully integrated arts/science concept are: Brighton Science Festival Edinburgh International Science Festival See Further: The Festival of Science + Arts Oxfordshire Science Festival

  11. British Science Festivals • Opportunities exist for arts organisations to: • Offer arts specific content • Extend their own networks • Engage with new audiences • Engage with ‘the other culture’ • Collaborate internationally e.g. EUSCEA and its members/networks; USA, Australia etc

  12. British Science Festivals • Challenges: • Is there a real basis for arts/science to be equal partners • Is the danger of ‘instrumentalism’ one that will compromise artistic vision • Do enough artists comprehend science/engineering well enough to overcome the other two challenges?

  13. British Science Festivals Views of organisers: Art offers greater capacity for communication ‘The arts provide a familiar and oftentimes persuasive set of communication tools and hooks for engaging the public culturally. The familiarity makes them approachable – where science may not be. The thousands of years that have gone into honing them as ways of telling stories / getting people’s attention, make them potent tools for telling our own stories from the world of science.’

  14. British Science Festivals Views of organisers: We rarely get the opportunity to commission work with the art and science on an equal footing – normally the art is serving the science.

  15. British Science Festivals • Views of organisers: • My gut reaction is that this is true – the two communities do not understand each other. My feeling is that their processes of working are so different that they find it hard to relate to each other. Scientists are evidence based, open and peer reviewed. Their work must be reproducible by others and the wider community of scientists judges the quality of their work. Artists, in my view, find their reference points internally. • Having said all this I recognise that I know very little about this subject. I could easily see that at a deeper level, the real engine of both art and science is a combination of creativity and technical skill and that in this regard they may be very similar.

  16. Next Steps? • Deeper engagement with organisers and artists to: • Understand motivation • Identify scope for collaboration • Follow through on some projects to establish impact on all parties: organisers, artists, scientists and audiences • Discover what artists can learn from scientists and vice versa e.g. Prof Brian Cox

  17. Any questions/comment Christopher Maughan De Montfort University, Leicester ccm@dmu.ac.uk, Tel: 0044116 250 6131

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