Articles by Eva Nieto McAvoy
Convergence, 2023
Digital recreations of the past, and of the deceased, are part of the Internet's present. They ci... more Digital recreations of the past, and of the deceased, are part of the Internet's present. They circulate within social networks where logics of connection and connectivity underpin increasingly performative memory work. In this article we explore these developments through a case study of the MyHeritage deep learning feature, Deep Nostalgia. Our analysis is informed by a close critical study of Deep Nostalgia creations, and discourses circulating around them, shared on Twitter during the two-week period following its launch, February 2021 (n.6935). We examine how memory is evoked, framed, reworked and distorted through algorithmic processes, and within social networks in particular, and explore what this tells us about peoples' need to connect with their pasts. First, we analyse how the shift from photo to video 'revives' the dead via a process that we have termed 'remediated memory'. Second, we explore the affective dimensions and resonances of Deep Nostalgia creations. In doing so, we introduce the concept of 'algorithmic nostalgia' to describe the ways nostalgia is generated, organised and exploited through Deep Nostalgia's automated and recursive algorithmic mechanisms. Third, we interrogate the ways social media logics shape the use and influence of these outputs. Our study's scholarly contribution is at the intersection of memory, automation, and algorithms. We highlight the importance of studying the ambivalence of emerging media at their nexus with memory studies and, critically, of attending to the ways corporate interests increasingly shapeand assimilatethese activities.
This article is based on multilingual research that analyses the British Council Shakespeare Live... more This article is based on multilingual research that analyses the British Council Shakespeare Lives programme. Based on a study of the global Twitter campaign to promote the programme, and a manual coding and analysis of 4,722 tweets in five languages, we investigate the key Twitter actors, topics and types of engagement generated by the campaign. We reflect on two topics that still largely remain absent in the field of cultural diplomacy: first, global audience reactions to a cultural diplomacy programme, and second, the potential of cultural relations organisations to generate intercultural dialogue, at the same time as measurable returns both on investment and influence. Our findings demonstrate that audiences like to engage with activities that invite their participation in ways that reflect their knowledge of Shakespeare, allowing them to compare his works with their own national/local literary figures and to share ideas about universal themes. While the Twitter campaign garnered significant positive attention from members of the public around the globe, the ambition to boost ‘Brand Britain’ did not appear to materialise. We conclude that dialogic forms of cultural diplomacy that stress the value of open cultural democracy, even if difficult to achieve in practice, are more likely to succeed.
Cultural Trends, 2022
This article examines the impacts of COVID-19 on the digital work of museums and galleries in the... more This article examines the impacts of COVID-19 on the digital work of museums and galleries in the UK, 2020-2021. Focusing on social media activity, we explore two questions: (1) How did approaches to, and institutional perceptions of, social media shift during the pandemic? and (2) Looking to the future, what practical and theoretical challenges do social media present for museums and galleries, and what are the related policy implications? The discussion draws on a mixed-methods study including an analysis of 9000 tweets, and reflective semi-structured interviews with 19 digital workers. Our findings can help shape global digital heritage practices as we emerge from the pandemic, enabling more dynamic and meaningful forms of cultural participation, and underpinning more confident and ethical social media trajectories.
Cosmopolitanism in Conflict: Imperial Encounters from the Seven Years' War to the Cold War, 2017
The history of the BBC World Service is intimately connected to the history of late imperial Bri... more The history of the BBC World Service is intimately connected to the history of late imperial Britain. This chapter sheds light on the way metropolitan, imperial and diasporic intellectuals interacted on the radio in a period of intensive collaboration which began with the Second World War and continued into the Cold War era. In this period, intellectuals and broadcasters such as George Orwell and Zulfaqar Ali Bokhari became ‘cosmopolitan brokers’ in a common struggle against fascism, but they also fulfilled the strategic and propaganda needs of the British Foreign Office. In nuanced reconstructions of the effects of translation and cultural ‘ventriloquism’, the chapter draws out the rich and complex interplay between centripetal and centrifugal forms of cosmopolitan thinking which emerged on air as well as off air. In this process, the voices of Indian and Caribbean intellectuals such as Mulk Raj Anand and Una Marson are contextualised in their interactions with intellectuals from eastern European Jewish, African and English origin in a way which highlights that a common presence on the radio did not always reflect common political ambitions or social experiences.
The Routledge Handbook of Soft Power, 2016
Critiques of soft power have often remarked on Joseph Nye’s agent-centred approach (e.g. Lukes 20... more Critiques of soft power have often remarked on Joseph Nye’s agent-centred approach (e.g. Lukes 2007; Lock 2010). Nye himself has recognized and subsequently tried to tackle this issue (Nye 2007, 2011), albeit with limited success. This chapter, particularly interested in the performative aspects of soft power (Hayden 2012, p. 31, building among others on Stefano Guzzini) and the need for an approach that places mutuality and reciprocity at the heart of international communication and cultural relations, seeks to understand how the ‘audiences’ of soft power figure in the UK’s foreign policy discourse and practices. It traces the rhetoric (Hayden 2012) that is used by government to define the scope and mechanisms of British soft power, focusing particularly on the 2014 House of Lords report on soft power and the UK’s influence, Persuasion and Power in the Modern World (House of Lords 2014). This chapter also analyses the official rhetoric of the British Council (BC) and the BBC World Service (BBCWS) about their value and purpose. Long regarded as foundational institutions of British soft power, for over eight decades these institutions have acted in concert to expand their global networks and attract overseas citizens to learn the English language, enjoy British culture, benefit from its education and business opportunities and deepen their understanding of the British way of life, as well as aiming at exerting political influence among elites across the world (Gillespie and Webb 2012; Gillespie et al. 2014).
Relaciones en conflicto: Nuevas perspectivas sobre relaciones internacionales desde la historia/ coord. por Enrique Bengochea Tirado, Elena Monzón Pertejo, David G. Pérez Sarmiento, 2015
Eight years after the end of the Second World War, well into the Cold War, Salvador de Madariaga ... more Eight years after the end of the Second World War, well into the Cold War, Salvador de Madariaga wrote about Arturo Barea: “Ni que decir tiene que la honorabilidad personal y profesional de Barea no están en causa ni para nada entran en las consideraciones que siguen. Considero su elección un grave error por parte de Vds. En este país [Gran Bretaña] está considerado (y poco importa que sea justa o injusta esta consideración para los fines prácticos que se proponen Vds.) como un bevanista, y en último término, un neutralista.”These lines were addressed to the “Comité de Honor” of the journal Ibérica in the context of an “anti-neutralist” campaign led by Republican anti-communists through the Cuadernos del Congreso por la Libertad de la Cultura, a publication of the Congress for Cultural Freedom. Madariaga’s accusation is that Arturo Barea had, over the years following the end of the Second World War, failed to fully embrace the anti-communist cause. Given how Barea’s principal network in the early 1940s had been in the Non Communist Left, this is surprising. But given how Arturo liked to emphasise that he was “anti-capillista” it is less so. The main question, however, has to be whether the implicit accusation of a failure to take a clear political position in the post-war period is tenable. Where did Barea stand in the polarized political spectrum, and where with regard to Republican exile culture? Through a a close reading of a sample of Barea's broadcasts for the BBC Latin American Service, this paper argues that his supposed “neutralism” was more than just an equidistant position between the US and the USSR (which, in the understanding of Madariaga, favoured the Soviet stance by not attacking it aggressively enough). It was in reality a very clear position linked, especially from 1945, with the politics of the British Labour Party’s left wing leading up to the “Third Force” movement of the so-called Bevanists.
The ‘Tweeting the Olympics’ project (the subject of this special section of Participations)must b... more The ‘Tweeting the Olympics’ project (the subject of this special section of Participations)must be understood in the context of efforts by host states, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other actors involved in the Games to cultivate and communicate a set of meanings to audiences about both the Olympics events and the nations taking part. Olympic Games are not only sporting competitions; they are also exercises in the management of relations between states and publics, at home and overseas, in order to augment the attractiveness and influence or the soft power of the states involved. Soft power is most successful when it goes unnoticed according to its chief proponent Joseph Nye. If so, how can we possibly know whether soft power works? This article reviews the state of the field in thinking about public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy and soft power in the period of this project (2012-14), focusing particularly on how the audiences of soft power projects, like the London and Sochi Games, were conceived and addressed. One of the key questions this project addresses is whether international broadcasters such as the BBCWS and RT used social media during the Games to promote a cosmopolitan dialogue with global audiences and/or merely to integrate social media so as to project and shape national soft power. We argue first that the contested nature of the Olympic Games calls into question received theories of soft power, public and cultural diplomacy. Second,strategic national narratives during the Olympics faced additional challenges, particularly
due to the tensions between the national and the international character of the Games. Third, the new media ecology and shift to a network paradigm further threatens the asymmetric power relations of the broadcasting paradigm forcing broadcasters to reassess their engagement with what was formerly known as ‘the audience’ and the targets of soft power.
El exilio republicano de 1939: viajes y retornos / coord. por Manuel Aznar Soler, José Ramón López García, Francisca Montiel Rayo, Juan Rodríguez, , 2014
La raíz rota de Arturo Barea es una novela que trata de dos regresos: el
regreso imposible de An... more La raíz rota de Arturo Barea es una novela que trata de dos regresos: el
regreso imposible de Anntolín, un exiliado republicano que vuelve a España a finales de los cuarenta para encontrar un país que le decepciona; y su regreso final al exilio en Inglaterra. Propongo explorar los dos movimientos de ida y vuelta en conjunto, contrastando la crítica que Barea hace de la España de posguerra con su defensa de la Gran Bretaña laborista y subrayando el estatus transnacional del Barea exilado. Con La raíz rota, el retorno al exilio gana cada vez más importancia frente al retorno del exilio; y esta tensión, más que una disfunción, constituye un aspecto central para la comprensión de la obra y vida de Barea.
Wasafiri (Special Issue: Writers at Bush House) Volume 26, Issue 4, 2011
Reports by Eva Nieto McAvoy
AHRC Policy and Evidence Centre, 2022
This discussion paper offers an introductory overview of and reference guide to crypto art, inclu... more This discussion paper offers an introductory overview of and reference guide to crypto art, including how it is supported by non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It is intended to inform researchers, those working in cultural institutions in the public, private or non-profit sectors, and artists who wish to better understand what is at stake as blockchain technologies and logics are introduced within arts and cultural contexts. We present a number of key emergent debates about crypto art in relation to [1] its value, [2] business models [3] scarcity, authenticity and ownership, [4] sustainability, [5] collections, storage and archives, and [6] hybridity. Although not wholly new considerations within arts and culture,
technological developments and the intensification of crypto art’s appeal
within the consumer market mean these debates are likely to escalate in the short to medium term. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research, and a full reference list as a resource for anyone wanting to know more
AHRC Policy and Evidence Centre, 2021
his discussion paper details findings from interviews carried out one year on from the first Covi... more his discussion paper details findings from interviews carried out one year on from the first Covid-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom. It reports our investigation into the challenges presented for digital practitioners in UK galleries and museums by the rapid and extended shift to operating in the online environment (the so-called digital
’pivot’)
, and considers what the longer-term legacies of that period should be for institutional approaches to digital work, and for research in related fields. Reports from sector bodies and allied agencies were quick to document these changes,
1
and researchers are now reflecting on their significance.
2
The particular aim of this study has been to complement that activity by developing our understanding
of the pandemic’s impact on the professional lives and outputs of those working at
the sharp end of digital development and delivery at that time. The stories we have been told through this research help us make sense of other data that have been (and continue to be) collected, documenting changes in working practices, content strategies, and the delivery of programmes during this period. Our findings show that there have been many digital 'pivots'.
There was a pivot in terms of strategies and practices, as institutions negotiated the sudden centrality of their online presence. There was the intense challenge of re-thinking online engagement with a now exclusively digital audience. There was the need to respond thoughtfully and urgently to the Black Lives Matter protests, and there was a desire to be active and present within local communities, even if doing so remotely. But the pivot to digital approaches also affected the ways (all) organisations were operating behind the scenes of course; people were adapting to working remotely, and ensuring good communications and workflows within and between teams was paramount
AHRC Policy and Evidence Centre, 2022
This paper explores the ways that cultural institutions used social media to continue engaging wi... more This paper explores the ways that cultural institutions used social media to continue engaging with the public during the Covid-19 lockdowns. This research is an analysis of a six-week snapshot of Twitter activity from March-May 2020. The researchers examined 9000 tweets associated with the hashtags #CultureInQuarantine and #MuseumAtHome. As this paper shows, cultural institutions used social media to maintain relationships with their audiences, and in particular, offered them virtual access to their collections, performances and experiences. Many museums, for example, created content that gave audiences a look ‘behind the scenes’ of their collections, offering both a new perspective on the objects that they look after, and a more intimate understanding of how they do their conservation and curation work. Similarly, many theatres moved their performances entirely online, and some used the opportunity of having to work with digital technology to experiment with developing novel creative formats. We wanted to find out what kind of content was gaining traction on social media, and what sort of ideas and values were being generated through digital engagement with cultural institutions. The analysis found that there were two main categories for type of engagement; ‘art as a way of coping’ and ‘art as education’. Underpinning these themes was a strong sense that ‘place’ was important to audiences, and content that referenced local areas and communities was particularly resonant.
Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 2019
Interest in immersive experiences in museums and heritage sites has increased in recent years in ... more Interest in immersive experiences in museums and heritage sites has increased in recent years in response to challenges faced by the sector and the potential of emerging technologies. Arts and heritage institutions hope immersive experiences will lead to increased visibility and a culture of innovation, new audiences, more meaningful participation, better engagement, and additional revenue. This is reflected in the Industrial Strategy and the Creative Industries Sector Deal. Cultural institutions have been important early testbeds for immersive approaches and have – often in partnership with research institutions and partners – benefited from investment through UKRI, the Arts Councils and National Heritage Lottery Fund. But attempts to find straightforward connections between investment and outcomes have been inconclusive or resisted.
British Council and Goethe-Institut, 2018
The Cultural Value Project (CVP) is a joint research project commissioned by the British Council ... more The Cultural Value Project (CVP) is a joint research project commissioned by the British Council and the Goethe-Institut (January 2017-June 2018). It aims to build a better understanding of the value of cultural relations (CR) in societies facing difficult challenges – in particular, in Egypt and Ukraine. The project identified the difference cultural relations activities make to important international challenges, including supporting stability and prosperity in societies going through substantial change. The findings contribute to current political, policy and academic debates about the role of culture in conflict, diplomacy and development.
British Council and Goethe-Institut, 2018
Findings of the Literature Review
The term ‘cultural relations’ refers to interventions in f... more Findings of the Literature Review
The term ‘cultural relations’ refers to interventions in foreign cultural arenas with the aim of enhancing intercultural dialogue and bringing about mutual benefits connected to security, stability and prosperity. There is no universally agreed definition of cultural relations. The conceptual confusion can lead to differences in practice, though it can also enable flexibility.
Just as there is no common definition of cultural relations, there is no one correct approach to good cultural relations, or simple method of evaluating them
Just as there is no common definition of cultural relations, there is no one correct approach to good cultural relations, or simple method of evaluating cultural relations. Practitioners face very different cultural and geopolitical contexts. Effective cultural relations necessarily involve flexibly adapting programmes in ways that resonate with these contexts.
‘Cultural relations’ is primarily a practitioners’ term and often regarded as synonymous with ‘cultural diplomacy’, ‘public diplomacy’ and - for some - as contributing to their country’s ‘soft power’. These terms belong within the same broad semantic field and share many common features, but it is important to distinguish them. Cultural relations practitioners aspire to genuine reciprocity and mutual understanding, while cultural and public diplomacy, and soft power, sometimes bear connotations of instrumentalism and self-interest.
The emphasis on the intrinsic versus instrumental value of culture varies between different institutions and countries. Some tend to eschew overt instrumentalist ambitions and instead stress intrinsic value, while others are more comfortable with a balancing act between intrinsic and instrumental goals. The intrinsic value of cultural projects should remain paramount. But instrumental goals, when defined in ways that express mutual benefit, can and should be included for pragmatic purposes, and in response to changing funding regimes and requirements.
German cultural relations are founded on a ‘strong’ conception of culture (where culture is closely tied to national history, language and identity). In contrast, British cultural relations are based on a ‘weak’ conception of culture, emerging from a tradition of liberal individualism and British empiricism
Assessing the value of cultural relations in different countries and for different actors requires a range of methodologies that take diverse perspectives into account. It is important to situate the strategies and practices of cultural relations organisations like the Goethe-Institut and British Council within the wider histories of their countries to understand their distinctive approaches. German cultural relations are founded on a ‘strong’ conception of culture (where culture is closely tied to national history, language and identity). In contrast, British cultural relations are based on a ‘weak’ conception of culture, emerging from a tradition of liberal individualism and British empiricism. Germany and the UK have very similar goals in deploying culture relations to assist societies in transition. But they have different modi operandi.
The complex and nuanced nature of cultural relations suggests that attempts to evaluate them will themselves have to be sophisticated, nuanced, and sensitive to the different contexts in which they are taking place and different actors involved.
The Literature Review draws on a detailed investigation of the existing academic literature in German and English on cultural relations, soft power, and related concepts.
Blog posts by Eva Nieto McAvoy
creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 2019
Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 2019
Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 2019
Arturo and Ilsa Barea’s archive and library have been kept in a terrace house near Finsbury Park ... more Arturo and Ilsa Barea’s archive and library have been kept in a terrace house near Finsbury Park for the past 40 years. Their niece Uli Rushby-Smith inherited this large collection in the 1970s and has taken upon herself the daunting task of looking after the estate and ensuring that the Bareas’ legacies are kept alive by promoting several new editions of their work. It was through Arturo Barea’s biographer Michael Eaude that I came into contact with Uli, the terrace house, the papers and the books in 2011. I was interested in writing a PhD thesis on Arturo Barea and having access to the archive was a wonderful oportunity. Aside from researching for my thesis ‘A Spaniard in Hertfordshire: The Intellectual Exile of Arturo Barea’, I catalogued the papers and, in the process, became personally involved in this wonderful story. When I first arrived, about twenty boxes of articles, letters, drafts, newspaper cuttings and scrapbooks belonging to Arturo and Ilsa, and several walls covered with the books of five generations (from Ilsa’s parents to her great nieces) were awaiting me. The results of the organizing and cataloguing can now be enjoyed by users for the Weston Library, the new home of Arturo and Ilsa Barea’s papers.
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Articles by Eva Nieto McAvoy
due to the tensions between the national and the international character of the Games. Third, the new media ecology and shift to a network paradigm further threatens the asymmetric power relations of the broadcasting paradigm forcing broadcasters to reassess their engagement with what was formerly known as ‘the audience’ and the targets of soft power.
regreso imposible de Anntolín, un exiliado republicano que vuelve a España a finales de los cuarenta para encontrar un país que le decepciona; y su regreso final al exilio en Inglaterra. Propongo explorar los dos movimientos de ida y vuelta en conjunto, contrastando la crítica que Barea hace de la España de posguerra con su defensa de la Gran Bretaña laborista y subrayando el estatus transnacional del Barea exilado. Con La raíz rota, el retorno al exilio gana cada vez más importancia frente al retorno del exilio; y esta tensión, más que una disfunción, constituye un aspecto central para la comprensión de la obra y vida de Barea.
Reports by Eva Nieto McAvoy
technological developments and the intensification of crypto art’s appeal
within the consumer market mean these debates are likely to escalate in the short to medium term. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research, and a full reference list as a resource for anyone wanting to know more
’pivot’)
, and considers what the longer-term legacies of that period should be for institutional approaches to digital work, and for research in related fields. Reports from sector bodies and allied agencies were quick to document these changes,
1
and researchers are now reflecting on their significance.
2
The particular aim of this study has been to complement that activity by developing our understanding
of the pandemic’s impact on the professional lives and outputs of those working at
the sharp end of digital development and delivery at that time. The stories we have been told through this research help us make sense of other data that have been (and continue to be) collected, documenting changes in working practices, content strategies, and the delivery of programmes during this period. Our findings show that there have been many digital 'pivots'.
There was a pivot in terms of strategies and practices, as institutions negotiated the sudden centrality of their online presence. There was the intense challenge of re-thinking online engagement with a now exclusively digital audience. There was the need to respond thoughtfully and urgently to the Black Lives Matter protests, and there was a desire to be active and present within local communities, even if doing so remotely. But the pivot to digital approaches also affected the ways (all) organisations were operating behind the scenes of course; people were adapting to working remotely, and ensuring good communications and workflows within and between teams was paramount
The term ‘cultural relations’ refers to interventions in foreign cultural arenas with the aim of enhancing intercultural dialogue and bringing about mutual benefits connected to security, stability and prosperity. There is no universally agreed definition of cultural relations. The conceptual confusion can lead to differences in practice, though it can also enable flexibility.
Just as there is no common definition of cultural relations, there is no one correct approach to good cultural relations, or simple method of evaluating them
Just as there is no common definition of cultural relations, there is no one correct approach to good cultural relations, or simple method of evaluating cultural relations. Practitioners face very different cultural and geopolitical contexts. Effective cultural relations necessarily involve flexibly adapting programmes in ways that resonate with these contexts.
‘Cultural relations’ is primarily a practitioners’ term and often regarded as synonymous with ‘cultural diplomacy’, ‘public diplomacy’ and - for some - as contributing to their country’s ‘soft power’. These terms belong within the same broad semantic field and share many common features, but it is important to distinguish them. Cultural relations practitioners aspire to genuine reciprocity and mutual understanding, while cultural and public diplomacy, and soft power, sometimes bear connotations of instrumentalism and self-interest.
The emphasis on the intrinsic versus instrumental value of culture varies between different institutions and countries. Some tend to eschew overt instrumentalist ambitions and instead stress intrinsic value, while others are more comfortable with a balancing act between intrinsic and instrumental goals. The intrinsic value of cultural projects should remain paramount. But instrumental goals, when defined in ways that express mutual benefit, can and should be included for pragmatic purposes, and in response to changing funding regimes and requirements.
German cultural relations are founded on a ‘strong’ conception of culture (where culture is closely tied to national history, language and identity). In contrast, British cultural relations are based on a ‘weak’ conception of culture, emerging from a tradition of liberal individualism and British empiricism
Assessing the value of cultural relations in different countries and for different actors requires a range of methodologies that take diverse perspectives into account. It is important to situate the strategies and practices of cultural relations organisations like the Goethe-Institut and British Council within the wider histories of their countries to understand their distinctive approaches. German cultural relations are founded on a ‘strong’ conception of culture (where culture is closely tied to national history, language and identity). In contrast, British cultural relations are based on a ‘weak’ conception of culture, emerging from a tradition of liberal individualism and British empiricism. Germany and the UK have very similar goals in deploying culture relations to assist societies in transition. But they have different modi operandi.
The complex and nuanced nature of cultural relations suggests that attempts to evaluate them will themselves have to be sophisticated, nuanced, and sensitive to the different contexts in which they are taking place and different actors involved.
The Literature Review draws on a detailed investigation of the existing academic literature in German and English on cultural relations, soft power, and related concepts.
Blog posts by Eva Nieto McAvoy
due to the tensions between the national and the international character of the Games. Third, the new media ecology and shift to a network paradigm further threatens the asymmetric power relations of the broadcasting paradigm forcing broadcasters to reassess their engagement with what was formerly known as ‘the audience’ and the targets of soft power.
regreso imposible de Anntolín, un exiliado republicano que vuelve a España a finales de los cuarenta para encontrar un país que le decepciona; y su regreso final al exilio en Inglaterra. Propongo explorar los dos movimientos de ida y vuelta en conjunto, contrastando la crítica que Barea hace de la España de posguerra con su defensa de la Gran Bretaña laborista y subrayando el estatus transnacional del Barea exilado. Con La raíz rota, el retorno al exilio gana cada vez más importancia frente al retorno del exilio; y esta tensión, más que una disfunción, constituye un aspecto central para la comprensión de la obra y vida de Barea.
technological developments and the intensification of crypto art’s appeal
within the consumer market mean these debates are likely to escalate in the short to medium term. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research, and a full reference list as a resource for anyone wanting to know more
’pivot’)
, and considers what the longer-term legacies of that period should be for institutional approaches to digital work, and for research in related fields. Reports from sector bodies and allied agencies were quick to document these changes,
1
and researchers are now reflecting on their significance.
2
The particular aim of this study has been to complement that activity by developing our understanding
of the pandemic’s impact on the professional lives and outputs of those working at
the sharp end of digital development and delivery at that time. The stories we have been told through this research help us make sense of other data that have been (and continue to be) collected, documenting changes in working practices, content strategies, and the delivery of programmes during this period. Our findings show that there have been many digital 'pivots'.
There was a pivot in terms of strategies and practices, as institutions negotiated the sudden centrality of their online presence. There was the intense challenge of re-thinking online engagement with a now exclusively digital audience. There was the need to respond thoughtfully and urgently to the Black Lives Matter protests, and there was a desire to be active and present within local communities, even if doing so remotely. But the pivot to digital approaches also affected the ways (all) organisations were operating behind the scenes of course; people were adapting to working remotely, and ensuring good communications and workflows within and between teams was paramount
The term ‘cultural relations’ refers to interventions in foreign cultural arenas with the aim of enhancing intercultural dialogue and bringing about mutual benefits connected to security, stability and prosperity. There is no universally agreed definition of cultural relations. The conceptual confusion can lead to differences in practice, though it can also enable flexibility.
Just as there is no common definition of cultural relations, there is no one correct approach to good cultural relations, or simple method of evaluating them
Just as there is no common definition of cultural relations, there is no one correct approach to good cultural relations, or simple method of evaluating cultural relations. Practitioners face very different cultural and geopolitical contexts. Effective cultural relations necessarily involve flexibly adapting programmes in ways that resonate with these contexts.
‘Cultural relations’ is primarily a practitioners’ term and often regarded as synonymous with ‘cultural diplomacy’, ‘public diplomacy’ and - for some - as contributing to their country’s ‘soft power’. These terms belong within the same broad semantic field and share many common features, but it is important to distinguish them. Cultural relations practitioners aspire to genuine reciprocity and mutual understanding, while cultural and public diplomacy, and soft power, sometimes bear connotations of instrumentalism and self-interest.
The emphasis on the intrinsic versus instrumental value of culture varies between different institutions and countries. Some tend to eschew overt instrumentalist ambitions and instead stress intrinsic value, while others are more comfortable with a balancing act between intrinsic and instrumental goals. The intrinsic value of cultural projects should remain paramount. But instrumental goals, when defined in ways that express mutual benefit, can and should be included for pragmatic purposes, and in response to changing funding regimes and requirements.
German cultural relations are founded on a ‘strong’ conception of culture (where culture is closely tied to national history, language and identity). In contrast, British cultural relations are based on a ‘weak’ conception of culture, emerging from a tradition of liberal individualism and British empiricism
Assessing the value of cultural relations in different countries and for different actors requires a range of methodologies that take diverse perspectives into account. It is important to situate the strategies and practices of cultural relations organisations like the Goethe-Institut and British Council within the wider histories of their countries to understand their distinctive approaches. German cultural relations are founded on a ‘strong’ conception of culture (where culture is closely tied to national history, language and identity). In contrast, British cultural relations are based on a ‘weak’ conception of culture, emerging from a tradition of liberal individualism and British empiricism. Germany and the UK have very similar goals in deploying culture relations to assist societies in transition. But they have different modi operandi.
The complex and nuanced nature of cultural relations suggests that attempts to evaluate them will themselves have to be sophisticated, nuanced, and sensitive to the different contexts in which they are taking place and different actors involved.
The Literature Review draws on a detailed investigation of the existing academic literature in German and English on cultural relations, soft power, and related concepts.
Manuel Chaves Nogales (1897-1944) was a prolific Spanish journalist and witness to the troubled 20th century who wrote on aviation, contemporary politics in Spain and the Soviet Union … and bullfighting!
A confirmed liberal and anti-fascist, he nevertheless felt estranged by the more far left factions on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. In 1936 he went into exile in Paris, and then in 1940 to London, where he continued to write for the press and the BBC Overseas Service, before his premature death in 1944. He was one of many distinguished Spaniards to seek refuge in the British capital, along with his fellow writer and journalist Arturo Barea and the poet Luis Cernuda.
As an exhibition about Chaves Nogales opens in London, enjoy an evening of talks in English on his life and times and his powerful legacy and on the role of London as a place of refuge for him and other Spanish anti-Francoists, together with readings from his works in Spanish and English. The works of Catalan writer and journalist and contemporary of Chaves Nogales Josep Pla, who spent some of his exile in England, are also under discussion.
The exhibition brings together a selection of documents from Arturo and Ilsa Barea's archive, by researcher Eva Nieto McAvoy and a video installation by the artist Sonia Boué.
This inaugural event will be an opportunity to hear talks by our expert guest speakers : Prof. Tom Buchanan (The impact of the Spanish Civil War in the United Kingdom), Dr. Nigel Townson (Life as an exile), Dr. Eva Nieto McAvoy (A voice for the Americas, the talks by Arturo Barea in the BBC) and the editor Uli Rushby-Smith (Arturo Barea, a personal memory).
A production of the Instituto Cervantes and IC Communication, with the collaboration of the Bodleian Library and Spanish Studies at Oxford.
The Open University adapted the Cultural Value Model for this research – a participatory approach which brings together diverse perspectives on a programme and assesses its value according to expectations forged at the outset. The research involved five in-depth case studies of cultural relations programmes. The data gathering process included participatory workshops at British Council and Goethe-Institut offices in Cairo and Kyiv with beneficiaries of the programmes, the staff delivering the programmes, and the strategy and policy teams within those two organisations; stakeholder surveys; and in-depth expert interviews.