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Higher education and the creative economy - a Love Story?

11 Feb 2014

A special Twitter debate this week - on 14 February (11am-1pm) - will collect data, opinions and content from academics and creatives on the relationship between HEI and the creative sector, which will directly feed into a stand at the AHRC Creative Economy Showcase in London on 12 March.

Researchers and creative practitioners working with the AHRC-funded network 'Beyond the Campus: Connecting Knowledge and Creative Practice Communities Across Higher Education and the Creative Economy' will attend the AHRC Creative Economy Showcase event on 12 March at King’s Place, central London. Led by Dr. Roberta Comunian (Kings College) with Dr. Abigail Gilmore (Manchester) the network has been exploring collaborative partnerships and relationships between Higher Education and the Creative Economy in the UK and internationally, and what policy makers, funders, local agencies and other stakeholders within the sectors think of them.

At the Showcase, the network will present the case studies, findings and debates identified during network activities in a number of ways. At the centre, the animated film, A Love Story, by visual artist Alys Scott-Hawkins, tells the tale of two protagonists in an academic and creative partnership - Claudio and Hedda - and their trials, tribulations and successes. The film explores the main themes of the network through the narrative of love, romance and relationships.

A tweetchat themed around on the relationships between higher education and the creative economy will be held between 11am-1pm on Valentine's Day using the hashtag #LoveCreate.

The tweetchat will hosted by Claudio and Hedda, the two protagonists from A Love Story, and will be the culmination of a social media campaign to encourage participation from targeted audiences on the relationship between higher education and the creative economy. The outcomes of the tweetchat will be presented as concept visualisation and illustration produced by data illustrator Robin Schneider.

The film and social media campaign posits that the relationship between higher education and the creative economy is rather more human, both intellectual and emotional, than simply being a matter of knowledge transfer / exchange or a triple helix.

Both of these creative elements have been commissioned specially for the AHRC Showcase and are themselves the product of collaborations between creatives and academics.

A breakout session at the Showcase will involve showcasing A Love Story and data visualisation from the tweetchat as the basis of an interactive workshop with delegates. It will further examine the emotional, intellectual and affective aspects of these relationships by hosting a conversation between the practitioners involved in the project, leading to a wider discussion on the priorities and pitfalls of collaborative work.

The outcomes of this breakout session will be written up in a summary report for the research network website and contribute to existing research findings.

Further information