S2:E10 Curating a cultural powerhouse – Simon Cane in conversation with Stephanie Fortunato
Guest
Simon Cane
In conversation with
Stephanie Fortunato
In this episode, our host Stephanie Fortunato speaks with Simon Cane, Director of Cultural Engagement at UCL, and Chair of the King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter. They talk about the ingredients and deep understanding of context required to shape cultural and educational powerhouses that promote inclusive growth, diversification within the sector, and community engagement.
Date of Recording
25 October 2022
Date of Publication
24 November 2022
[00:00:00]
[THEME MUSIC]
[00:00:05] Stephanie Fortunato: Hello and welcome to The Three Bells. This podcast is one of a series brought to you by AEA Consulting and the Global Cultural Districts Network, in which we explore what's happening around the world at those busy, and sometimes congested intersections of culture and urban life.
You'll find the series and supporting materials at www.thethreebells.net. And if you like our content, please tell your friends, subscribe and give us a positive review on your podcast listening platform of choice. Today I'm speaking to you from Rhode Island, the ancestral land of the Narraganset, the Wampanoag, the Pokanoket, and other indigenous peoples.
I pay my respects to those who have and continue to live here and to all First Nations people of the many lands on which we are listening from today. My name is Stephanie Fortunato and I'm the Director of Special Projects for the GCDN, and I am super excited about today's episode – an interview with a GCDN member from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, whose work I've had the chance to learn more about over the past few months.
Simon Cane is Executive Director of UCL Culture, a multifaceted department that uses cultural assets in the form of historic and contemporary collections, performance spaces, public art, and know-how to engage and connect UCL research with the world. His background is rooted in material culture and its preservation.
His work today encompasses a mix of placemaking, public art, and coalition building, and he is equally interested in the power of knowledge and culture, their production and their sharing and impact, all of which we will no doubt come through in our conversation today. And with that, hello Simon.
[00:01:44]
Simon Cane: Hi Stephanie. How are you doing?
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External Links
H is for Hostile Environment - moving image piece by Edward Mingard and Keren Weitzberg that explores migration and asylum seeking in East London
Simon was part of an international research project funded by AHRC a few years back on iconoclasms – which resulted in this book
Just Stop Oil's Van Gogh soup stunt is the latest streak of radical art protest by women
The great women's art bulletin: each fortnight Katy Hessel discusses an artwork made by a woman which speaks to today's news agenda
4 museum curators around Boston who are shaping what we see next, and how we see it
LA Vanguardia: An L.A. Times project celebrating the Latino vanguard transforming our cultural landscape
About Our Speakers
Simon Cane is Director of Cultural Engagement at University College of London (UCL) and Chair at King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter (KQ). Whilst his background is rooted in material culture and its preservation he is equally interested in the power of knowledge and culture, their production, their sharing and their impact. +
Stephanie Fortunato is Director of Special Projects of the Global Cultural Districts Network. Her expertise sits at the intersection of cultural planning and urban development, collaborating with local communities on creating policies and partnerships to strengthen neighbourhoods and transform public spaces. +
