The Sociology of the Arts Study Group Presents:

‘unpacking art’

ANalysing the Social consumption & production of art

On Friday 11 September 2015, from 1.30pm-4.30pm

The London College of Fashion, UAL, 272 High Holborn Room 302

In recent years there has been growing sociological interest in the consumption and production of art. This afternoon event launches the BSA Sociology of the Arts Study Group, and in bringing together academics from across the social sciences explores the factors which motivate our consumption of visual arts and asks ‘What can the sociology of art and culture learn from other disciplines?’

Registration: £5 BSA Members, £10 Non-BSA Members.

To register please visit: http://portal.britsoc.co.uk/public/event/eventBooking.aspx?id=EVT10438

Registration will start at 1.30pm. Refreshments will be provided.

The programme:

The afternoon will be divided in to two parts. The first, led by Professor Tak Wing Chan, University of Warwick, focuses on the consumption of the arts and specifically the concept of cultural omnivorousness. Tak Wing Chan questions explanations which center on social mobility and instead stresses the importance of education in increasing individuals’ consumption of visual arts.

The second part focuses more closely on the production of art, and involves a panel discussion which brings together academics working outside the discipline of sociology, in the areas of art history, psychology, geography and visual culture. The panel highlights the interdisciplinary nature of research exploring cultural production and consumption and asks, ‘What can the sociology of art and culture learn from other disciplines?’

Keynote Speaker: Professor Tak Wing Chan  

Professor Tak Wing Chan is Chair of Sociology and Quantitative Methods at Warwick University, and has extensively researched social stratification and consumption of the arts. His paper ‘Where do cultural omnivores come from?’ uses data from a large-scale and nationally representative UK survey to investigate and critique the association between social mobility and cultural omnivorousness.

Panel Speakers:

Dr. Allan Watson is Senior Lecturer in Human Geography in the Department of Geography at Staffordshire University. His research centres on the economic geographies of the creative and media industries, and the cultural economy of cities, with a particular focus on the music and film industries.

Dr. Richard Clay is Senior Lecture in History of Art at the University of Birmingham. Richard’s research considers aspects of late eighteenth-and-early nineteenth-century French and, to a lesser extent, British visual cultures.  

Dr. Rachel Souhami is a museum consultant and exhibition maker. Rachel has over fifteen years of experience working with museums and design companies and has previously taught Museum Studies at Imperial College, London. Rachel advises on vision, strategy and planning for exhibition projects, and encourages creative and innovative approaches to content and design development. ​

Dr. Victoria Tischler is a Chartered Psychologist whose key interests are art/science collaboration and public engagement activities. Her research focuses on the use of creativity and creative outputs to improve health and well-being in people with mental health problems.