In March 2020, as offices and teaching moved online, I left Scotland for my native country of Sweden and haven’t been back since. In my research, I’m looking at the social and economic effects of festivals in Paisley, Scotland. On-site events research is, unsurprisingly, not the best line of work right now.
Continue reading “A Postcard from Normality…”
A couple of weeks ago, in October, CCSE premiered the latest instalment of #CCSEConversations series. On this occasion, CCSE Director Professor Gayle McPherson spoke with Gitte Zschoch – Director of EUNIC the network of European Union National Institutes for Culture.
Given the UK Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis you might expect an article about the COVID-19 circus to be another piece hammering the test and trace system or the confusing messaging.
Continue reading “A Glimpse of Normality. Notes from the Covid-19 Circus”
Nearly 6 months on from when our country was first put into ‘lockdown’, I reflect on working at Kibble throughout this unprecedented time; I’m left with a smile, a sense of nostalgia and an overwhelming feeling of togetherness!
Continue reading “Lockdown 2020 – A view from Kibble”
The 2020 festival would have been our 19th in a row! Our festival started as a small afternoon event and grew into a multi event 23-day festival. They say that timing is everything and for the 2020 festival that was a very true comment! The scope of the festival can be seen I the list of events.
Continue reading “Lochwinnoch Arts Festival 2020: The Festival That Never Really Was!”
In the early spring, plans for our upcoming Annual Symposium – to be hosted at the University in May, 2020 – we well underway. And then, the COVID19 pandemic arrived.
Continue reading “CCSE, A Year in Review through the Lens of our Blog: part II”
The Director of CCSE Professor Gayle McPherson and two members of the CCSE research team Dr Sandro Carnicelli and Dr Emma Reid from the School of Business and Creative Industries are the Scottish leads for a major new transnational project about live music experiences and you can help, by completing a simple short survey! We are seeking views from people in Scotland, England, Germany and New Zealand as part of the study.
Continue reading “Share your thoughts on live music experiences!”
Pre-covid time seems so distant and different now on reflection. Back in February, when I first met with the Renfrewshire Council Events team to discuss the role of creative producer for Sma’ Shot Day 2020, little did any of us consider that the all of the exciting plans and ideas for this year would have to be re-imagined so dramatically and suddenly.
Continue reading “SMA’ SHOT DAY 2020”
Exploring what arts and culture have to offer efforts to prevent loneliness is the focus of my PhD research. Loneliness is a subjective feeling of a gap between the relationships a person wants and what they have.
Continue reading “Arts and Loneliness: Reflections from Lockdown”
In growing up in Paisley, it felt very easy to be ushered into a world of culture. Once, I remember being told by my Glaswegian grandfather that Paisley was “Glasgow’s artsy little sister” and in fairness, I think he may have had a point.
Continue reading “The Sporty Sister”
I have been reading ‘Funny Weather – art in an emergency’ by Olivia Laing (almost required reading for our times) and was struck by her use of the word ‘hospitality’ in the introduction, in relation to what artists do and can do for us.
Continue reading “Use or ornament? Finding a role and relevance for Learning during Lockdown”
While formal, officially sanctioned social gatherings were banned during lockdown, more localised and creative responses to the restrictions associated with COVID-19 were evident, across the world.
Continue reading “‘Stories from the Streets’: COVID-19 and (hyper) local collective responses”
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe not taking place for the first time in its 73 year history was a huge professional and personal blow to the thousands of individuals and organisations who make up the festival.
Continue reading “The Impact of Lockdown: A View from the Fringe”
Being able to use public space is something we routinely take for granted. However, in recent months governments have actively sought to control and restrict access to, and use of, public space.
Continue reading “Commemorative events and the COVID-19 pandemic”
After our own recent experience of hosting a virtual conference, CCSE Director – Prof Gayle McPherson – spoke this week at the 7th Biennial Symposium on Cross-Sectoral Social Interactions.
Continue reading “CCSI 2020: 7th Biennial International Symposium on Cross-Sector Social Interactions”
The Carnegie UK Trust works to improve personal, community and societal wellbeing. Many of the issues that we work on, and the partners and groups who we work with, are deeply affected by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Continue reading “From Community Empowerment to Community Power – what COVID-19 is teaching us about the relationship between citizens, communities and the state”
As part of its remit, the Centre for Culture, Sport and Events (CCSE) is committed to hosting conferences, symposia and seminars which promote knowledge generation and exchange, providing a platform for scrutiny, discussion and debate of the issues that frame and influence the sectors of culture, art, sport and events locally, nationally and internationally.
Continue reading “Festivals, events & COVID19: Navigating a global pandemic – a glimpse to the future 🗺️ 🧭”
Instagram Live, Zoom quiz nights, podcasts, at home workouts. In the last few months these forms of connections have skyrocketed into the public consciousness with everyone and their granny (literally) logging on to connect with the world. It makes sense, now more than ever we all are desperate to grasp onto as much human connection as we can.
Continue reading “The Future Paisley Podcast 📻 🎧”