John Knell - Resources

The reports and presentations featured here give you a flavour of some of my work over recent years.

The Art of Dying and The Art of Living
Both of these essays were commissioned by Mission, Models, Money. The Art of Dying explores how might arts organisations live a little better? The Art of Living – a follow up rather than a sequel – surveys the challenges and opportunities facing funding practice across the whole arts and cultural sector.

‘Personalisation, Porousness, and Promiscuity’
This is a presentation that I gave at an Audiences Central event in 2008 – but offers a good summary of some of the key issues around personalisation, user generated content, and new forms of cultural production and distribution. The presentation explores how arts and cultural organisations can place the public at the centre of what they do and how they run their organisations.

APACA Annual Conference 2010
John was invited to give the keynote address at the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (APACA) annual conference in Melbourne in 2010, which is a provocation about the essential elements of creative cultural policy.

London’s Creative Economy: An Accidental Success?
This piece of work was commissioned by Creative London, and written with Kate Oakley. It was published by the The Work Foundation in 2007, and explores the key challenges in maintaining the success of London’s creative economy.

Confronting the Skills Paradox
This piece (with Kate Oakley and Duncan O’Leary) was written for a City and Guilds funded research project at Demos, exploring the likely shape of skills provision post the Leitch review, and mapping the key policy issues in the years ahead.

Artistic Leadership in producing theatres
This presentation, given at a symposium on artistic leadership hosted by ACE and The Theatrical Management Association in 2008, explores the issue of what do we want from the artistic leadership of our producing theatres? And what should be the structures within which they carry out that role?

'Whose art is it anyway?'
This piece was commissioned by Arts Council England, and discusses the accountabilities and responsibilities of publicly funded arts organisations – and how innovation might recast public engagement across our cultural landscape.

‘Western Australia’s Cultural Ecology: A Very Relaxed Sort of Crisis’
I undertook a residency in Western Australia in 2007, working with the Department of Culture and Arts, and local artists and arts organisations, to help identify how they might best foster a more vibrant arts and cultural ecology for WA in the future. This piece is a short summary of the outcomes, and perhaps should be read alongside the attached powerpoint presentation – ‘Ambition’ which was the public lecture I gave at the end of the residency.

Manchester’s Cultural Ambition 2010
John recently drafted a new cultural strategy for Manchester, adopted by the City Council, in their recently published Cultural Ambition document.

Transforming Scotland's Creative Economy
The Creative Scotland Transition Project (CSTP) commissioned John Knell and Tom Fleming to work with their internal teams, and key partners, to develop a shared understanding of the role and position of the creative economy in Scotland, and the key issues in ensuring its future growth. This report outlines our response.