The Historical Presence

Until we claim the future with positivity and hope, the past will always be our stumbling block. The story of Robert Aske, The Royal Africa Company, profits from slavery, and how they funded the Haberdashers’ Aske’s schools.

Telling history like it is

A conversation with Professor Corinne Fowler of the University of Leicester, and Director of ‘Colonial Countryside: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted’

Home

The time is right to unravel the meaning of ‘home’ for our changing times. Why, and how?

The Dark Months Seventeen

As we reach the shortest day of the year with the Winter Solstice, it seems all hope is extinguished. But is it really?

The Dark Months Eight

Remembrance of things past, grows an appreciation of things present and future in the eighth in the series, ‘The Dark Months’

Journalism writes the headline of history

Art and creativity go beyond headlines. These human acts speak from the human soul far better than journalism ever can. And they present a challenge to museums and archives.

Get back to work

With threats that our city centres will become ghost towns, and that working from home is killing the economy, there’s a cataclysmic tone ringing around conversations about work. The simple truth is, commuters are revolting. Why does this matter?

Knowledge

Knowledge is power. While that’s true, those who choose a deliberate blindness to facts, suggests that a lack of knowledge is also a comfort, and empowering for some at the expense of others. It’s that liberality with other people’s existence which is under challenge, and which should be challenged. Now, I know there will be […]

English Passive Aggression

This piece grew out of a gently amusing thread I’d posted to Facebook on the subject of English passive aggression. Why?

Taking Positive Actions

We’re at a point in time where taking positive actions has become a conscious choice. We need change. In three short months we’ve gone from a situation where there was widespread support for Government actions to one where the exact opposite applies. This lack of faith carries across our social spaces – whether arts organisations, […]