Building Cultural Futures

C.I.S. editorial summary

Sam Bompass describes how Bompas & Parr developed from experimental work with jelly into an international experiential-design studio. The episode examines the infrastructure behind imaginative work: research, pitching, budgeting, risk management, public relations and multidisciplinary collaboration. It connects cultural inspiration and commercial opportunity without treating them as opposites.

Listen for

• How a small experiment can become a distinctive enterprise
• Why bold ideas still require operational credibility
• How to pitch ambitious work while protecting budgets and trust
• Ways to transform a studio archive into reusable knowledge
• What remains distinctly human as AI enters creative production

C.I.S. editorial summary

Adrian Carroll reflects on building D8 through 26 years of technological, economic and cultural change. Rather than presenting longevity as resistance to change, he describes how a studio can adapt while protecting the qualities that give its work value. Human relationships, trust and professional intuition remain central.

Listen for

• How independent studios navigate prolonged industry change
• Why relationships remain critical to creative business
• The importance of trust between clients and teams
• How ownable assets strengthen differentiation
• What leaders should preserve during disruption

C.I.S. editorial summary

Ciaron Wilkinson discusses Manchester Museum’s values-led redevelopment and its efforts to make belonging, partnership and co-curation part of institutional practice. Community relationships can influence interpretation, collections, exhibitions and the organisation’s understanding of its public role.

Listen for

• Consultation versus genuine co-curation
• How belonging can become an organisational value
• Community influence on interpretation
• Maintaining trust after a project ends
• Reconsidering museums’ civic responsibility

C.I.S. editorial summary

Artists Hetain Patel and Yasmin Falahat discuss artistic practice, money and commercial value, including online sales, galleries, self-worth and the practical need to sustain a creative life. The episode neither romanticises insecurity nor treats every artwork like a conventional product.

Listen for

• Confidence in pricing work
• Self-worth and monetary value
• Direct sales and gallery representation
• Social media and access to buyers
• Income and creative exploration

C.I.S. editorial summary

This episode explores culture and creativity as instruments of international connection, diplomacy and intercultural dialogue. It places cultural projects within national interests, institutional relationships and global challenges, showing how artistic exchange can create understanding that formal diplomacy may struggle to achieve.

Listen for

• Cultural exchange and international understanding
• Culture and soft power
• Reciprocal international partnerships
• Artistic practice and political questions
• Youth, climate and cultural diplomacy

C.I.S. editorial summary

Three leaders discuss generational changes in cultural leadership and the realities of managing people within arts organisations. They present leadership as a contextual practice built through learning, listening, feedback and responsibility.

Listen for

• Leadership as learned practice
• Curiosity alongside authority
• Care versus avoiding feedback
• Board support for senior leaders
• Staff conditions and mission

C.I.S. editorial summary

The episode examines how cultural organisations can move beyond performative commitments to inclusion and access. It considers bilingual advertising, disability justice, accessible participation and leadership informed by lived experience.

Listen for

• Bilingual audience development
• Translation beyond advertising
• Lived experience in accessibility leadership
• Community partnerships and decisions
• Inclusion across the audience journey

C.I.S. editorial summary

Jonathan Stafford reflects on leading New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet. Stewardship does not mean preventing change; leaders must identify what is essential within an institution’s history while allowing practices and public relationships to evolve.

Listen for

• Stewardship versus preservation without change
• Artistic vision and responsibility
• Responding to digital behaviour
• Managing risk and imposter syndrome
• Staff wellbeing and artistic excellence

C.I.S. editorial summary

Dr Max Nathan and Eliza Easton examine how creative industries contribute to urban performance, discussing productivity, employment, innovation and the conditions that allow creative businesses to cluster and grow. The evidence challenges simplistic claims that culture automatically regenerates a place.

Listen for

• What a creative cluster means
• Creative industries and productivity
• Skills, networks and workspace
• Uneven growth between cities
• Evidence versus regeneration rhetoric

C.I.S. editorial summary

Co-programmed by young people at V&A Dundee, this conversation discusses the many roles people assume while developing creative careers and grassroots organisations. It offers practical knowledge about resourcefulness, mutual support and the infrastructure emerging creatives need.

Listen for

• The multiple roles of grassroots creatives
• Surviving with limited resources
• Peer networks and mutual support
• Young creatives’ priorities
• Locally embedded practice