Cultural Development
Literacy and Cultural Development
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declares that literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for cultural development. It has drafted the following definition: “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy [...]
RSA at London – Turning Enlightened Thinking into Action
From its very beginnings in 1754 through to the current day, the RSA at London has remained relevant and at the forefront of social, economic, political and creative thinking. It has always been a catalyst for constructive, practical change, rather than change for change’s sake.
Architectural Heritage – Integral to Cultural Development
The intellectual ideas of every period in world history have always been reflected in its architecture. It is important we consider well the consequences of the decisions we make in tearing down our living heritage, even in regard to modern buildings of great merit.
National Cultural Policy
Some months ago The Culture Concept Circle completed a submission to the Australian Government as a contribution to the debate on putting in place a new National Cultural Policy. This policy is vital in gaining government support for arts, culture, creativity and cultural development for the next decade. They were apparently so overwhelmed it has [...]
The Christmas Message – Caring, Courage, Compassion and Love
The future relies on each and every one of us embracing the Christmas message – caring, courage, compassion and love. It requires that we gain an empathy with each other, by learning how to have a regard for each other’s ideas and opinions and how to respect other people and their beliefs, religious or otherwise.
Early Civilisations – In the Beginning
All cultures on earth, just like individuals, have distinct modes of existence. Creation stories are something they all have in common in a logical attempt to rationalize the presence of humans on earth.
Alchemy – Magically Transmuting Baroque Music into Xmas Joy
Communicating ideas and feelings to someone else is made possible through the beauty of music. Festive music is meant to be cheerful, joyous and performed in a mood of celebration. Brisbane based ensemble Alchemy will celebrate Christmas 2011 by performing stunning pieces of Baroque style music, featuring the superb vocal athletics of soprano Shelli Hulcome. They will be inspirational performances, filled with energy, passion and joy.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina – Faces, Muses, Arts and Culture
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, or new library of Alexandria was inspired by the enormous repository of knowledge lost when the ancient library caught on fire during a battle with Roman General Julius Caesar and burned to the ground. This all-new library of Alexandria opened its physical doors to the world in 2002. Since then it has become an important focal point for the sharing of knowledge as a practical means of aiding an understanding between world cultures.
Meissen Porcelain – Princely Power and Prestige
Today we have our morning cup of tea, or latte, from a cup, or mug without much thought about the ‘China’ we drink it from, because it has become such an integral aspect of twenty first century lifestyle. However, as a commodity, the ceramic ware it derived from, known as porcelain, aided the growth of both the east and western world’s economies and benefited their social and cultural development for centuries.
Palladio – In Pursuit of the Perfect House
A villa by architect Andrea Palladio was a place where the owners could feel happy, secure and content, which is after all, what most of us still require and aspire to, a place where one can cultivate the head, heart, body and the soul.
A Passion for Gothic Decoration
The decorative arts were never considered secondary by Augustus Welby Pugin. As an architect he might design the structure of a house, church or institution, but he conceived of the building, its fittings and furnishings as a ‘complete work of art.’
Flash Mob to Smart Mob – Enjoying Random Acts of Culture
A musical Flash Mob provides people from all walks of life and all backgrounds with an opportunity to come together on the spur of the moment to create a memory that when remembered, will for a long time in their lives cause them to smile.
Fashion, is it more than a Frock?
From skinny self sacrificing super models to those demanding the use of ‘real people’, costume accommodates a desire to be noticed. It is the look at me, look at me syndrome, which has been in play for thousands of years. Today it collectively reflects a western society in which privacy has been stripped completely bare. But is fashion about more than a frock?
A ‘Compleat’ Gentleman, more than a leader of style
In London much of the development in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century was in the hands of aristocratic landowners. But were they ‘compleat’ gentlemen?
Kafka’s Letters of Consequence & Culture at Oxford in Autumn
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford in England have announced the newly acquired letters of renowned Czech author Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) to his favourite sister Ottla, who died in the death camp at Auschwitz during World War II, are on public display for the first time.
Martha Nussbaum’s Call – Hug the Dragon for Social Profit
American Philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Philosophy Department, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago. In her short and powerful new book called Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities she makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education. She challenges us all to strive be truly human – ‘to remain childlike, to keep an open mind, to refine an ability to remain humble, to eschew pride and arrogance and to be reverent towards other people and towards the natural world’.
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