As part of Museums and Galleries Month, the IoI, National Portrait Gallery
and the Estorick Collection have convened the following two debates on
history and community. I thought that they would be of interest to the list.

Best wishes,

Sara

Friday 17 May at 6:30pm
Going Back to our Roots
National Portrait Gallery
St Martin’s Place
London

Museums, and to some extent schools, have been signed up to the campaign to
reclaim and retell histories as a key to our contemporary identities.
Similarly, what is considered heritage has been widened from historically
significant buildings to places, areas or buildings that create a sense of
local belonging and identity-formation. Both English Heritage’s Power of
Place and the DCMS’s The Historic Environment document looks at how the
historical environment can be used as a tool in social inclusion policies

What explains the growing interest in the past? Is there such a thing as a
universal history that is relevant to us all? How can history help us
understand the present? And how valid is the use of history for the purposes
of social cohesion?

Speakers:
Liz Forgan chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund
Frank Furedi author, Mythical Past, Elusive Future
Tristram Hunt associate fellow, Centre for History and Economics, King's
College, Cambridge
Greg Neale editor, BBC History Magazine
Chaired by Tiffany Jenkins Institute of Ideas

Nearest tube is Charing Cross
Tickets and information: £7/5 for each debate.
Available from 020 7269 9220 or from the booking form on
www.instituteofideas.com


Monday 20 May at 7:30pm
Stamping on Tradition
The Estorick Collection
39a Canonbury Square
London

When Tony Blair assumed the reins of power many of the old customs and
traditions of government and national culture were regarded with hostility.
'New' Labour made a point of celebrating anything that could be labelled as
innovative or fresh. And many of the emerging initiatives across policy
fields demanded that the old way of doing things be dumped in favour of a
modernising agenda. In the cultural sphere there is continual talk of
modernisation, the avant garde and distancing new work from old - whether it
is the recent controversial production of Verdi's A Masked Ball at ENO, or
revolutionising stuffy displays in museums.

Are we in danger of destroying or modernising customs from the past just for
the sake of it? What is the role of tradition in culture and politics now
that the old certainties are gone?

Speakers:
Mark Fisher MP
AC Grayling reader in philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London
Alan Hudson director of studies in social and political science, Oxford
University Department for Continuing Education
Julian Spalding author, The Poetic Musuem
Chaired by Tiffany Jenkins Institute of Ideas

Nearest tube is Highbury and Islington
Tickets and information: £7/5 for each debate.
Available from 020 7269 9220 or from the booking form on
www.instituteofideas.com



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