Member Article

Brighton University partners with two major organisations to support cultural growth

The Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, and the University of Brighton has teamed up with the aim of fostering opportunities to work together – through education, research, arts and heritage.

The three organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote collaborations across areas including humanities, education, business and engineering, and business functions including marketing, communications, fundraising and IT.

The aim is to form a national and international model of excellence in university/cultural sector collaboration, to build on existing relationships and to maximise partners’ roles and the city’s cultural assets.

Ambitions for the development of the Royal Pavilion Estate and nearby Circus Street are one of the catalysts for the partnership and will provide potential for exploring some of the proposed ideas.

In a joint statement, the partners said: “Together, we offer the biggest arts festival in England, the largest gallery spaces in the city, a wide ranging public programme spanning high-quality performance, music, dance, fine art, history, and public debates.

“While the city is big enough to foster vibrant arts culture, we are small enough to build on local networks without being overwhelmed.

“This partnership is exceptional in bringing together a strong research base, an historical site rich in collections, archives and venues, and a wide-ranging public programme of arts and heritage events which presents us with a set of unique opportunities both for joint research and novel ways to share the impact of our work.”

Janita Bagshawe, director of Royal Pavilion and Head of Museums, said: “We are entering a new phase of planning around the role we all play in the city, both geographically and in terms of our public programmes. This partnership between the Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival, and the University of Brighton, is central to that strategy.

Andrew Comben, chief executive, Brighton Dome and Festival, said: “By working more closely together across education and research, a public arts programme, and world-class heritage sites and collections, we hope to make the cultural heart of the city an even better place to live, work, study and visit. “This isn’t just about working on exciting new activities, though that is a large part of the partnership – it’s also about the nuts and bolts of how we can work together on our infrastructure and the way we do things. We believe that we can only benefit from a much closer way of working, both publicly and behind the scenes.

“Brighton and Hove has so much going for it, and so much going on, that it can be hard to know where to start. Our aim is to work together to make sure that we are doing the most valuable work with students and schools, putting on the most engaging arts events, and showcasing the city’s significant cultural assets in the best way that we possibly can.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .