The Bristol Festival of Ideas was established in 2005, emerging out of Bristol's bid to be Capital of Culture in 2008. Although this was not successful in terms of winning the bid, the partners behind the project made the commitment to deliver as much of the programme as possible. By 2008 much of the programme had been delivered.

The Festival of Ideas is an initiative of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership (BCDP): Arts Council England, Bristol City Council and GWE BusinessWest. It brings together many of the cultural organisations in the city along with universities and others (it should be said though that the responsibility for the programme is BCDP's alone). It seeks to provide an annual festival of debate and discussion in May with special events through the year. Overall, it is keen to link arts and sciences, as much of BCDP work does. It does not shy away from controversial issues and speakers and seeks to engage widely in the city. We have adopted a freedom of speech policy to show our commitment to debate and discussion, which can be viewed here.

The Festival of Ideas is one of several projects run by BCDP. Others include the formation and management in the early stages of At-Bristol; Brief and Animated Encounters Festivals; Digital Arts Development Agency; South West Arts Marketing; Brunel 200; the Bristol Great Reading Adventure. Coming up are such projects as Darwin 200 in 2009, and BAC 100 in 2010 which will celebrate 100 years of aerospace production in the West of England.

As well as bringing the best speakers to Bristol, the festival has a number of themes annually. For 2009 we will be focussing on three key themes: 30 years of Thatcherism; Darwin and Darwinism; and Arts and Science 50 years after C P Snow's Two Cultures lecture. For 2010 we will be looking at science and technology.

We are always keen to hear from participants in sessions as well as hear suggestions for speakers and subjects for future sessions. Please send comments and suggestions to: ideas@gwebusinesswest.co.uk. If you would like to leave feedback about any of our events, please visit the individual speaker pages where you can post comments.

Andrew Kelly
Director

FREEDOM OF SPEECH POLICY
View our Freedom of Speech Policy here

ADVISORY BOARD
The Festival of Ideas is supported by an advisory board comprising the following members:

Jane Arthurs
University of the West of England (UWE)
Professor Jane Arthurs is Head of the Department of Culture, Media and Drama at the University of the West of England in Bristol. Her teaching and research are in the field of film and television studies and feminist approaches to cultural analysis. Her publications include Television and Sexuality: Regulation and the Politics of Taste (2004), Crash Cultures (2002) Women's Bodies: Discipline and Transgression (1999).  

Julian Baggini
Freelance philosopher, author and journalist
Julian Baggini is a freelance philosopher, author and journalist based in Bristol. His books include What's It All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life and Atheism: A Very Short Introduction. His articles have been published in various newspapers including the Guardian and the Independent, and he has also written for various magazines. In 1997, Julian founded The Philosophers’ Magazine with Jeremy Stangroom, a publication which he continues to edit. Julian is also one of our guest commentators. Visit his comments page here.

Peter Begin
Arnolfini, Bristol
Peter Begin is currently Manager of the Arnolfini bookshop in Bristol.

Mark Cosgrove
Watershed Media Centre, Bristol
Mark Cosgrove has worked in independent cultural film exhibition for 20 years, and is currently Head of Cultural Programme at Watershed Media Centre in Bristol. He is also Creative Director of Encounters Short International Film Festival and has been on the juries of DepicT!, Cork Film Festival, Leuven Kort Short Film festival and The Europa Label at Directors' Fortnight, Cannes Festival, Uppsala International Festival. He produces dispatches from festivals he attends and a monthly cinema podcast.

Paul Gough
University of the West of England (UWE)
Professor Paul Gough is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of the West of England in Bristol. A painter, broadcaster and author, he has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, and is represented in several permanent collections. His monograph on the British painter Stanley Spencer was published in 2006. Visit Paul's website here.

Andrew Kelly
Bristol Cultural Development Partnership (BCDP)
Andrew Kelly is Director of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership. He founded and led At-Bristol; Brief and Animated Encounters Festivals and Digital Arts Development Agency, and is currently Director of the Bristol Great Reading Adventure and the Bristol Festival of Ideas. He is the author of 12 books. He is currently directing projects on Charles Darwin, and BAC 100, which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bristol Aircraft Company in 1910.

Carinna Parraman
University of the West of England (UWE)
Carinna Parraman is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England in Bristol. She is a printmaker and has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. She leads  a European Union, Framework 6 Marie Curie project entitled CREATE, (Colour Research for European Advanced Technology Employment) . The long term objective is to develop with artists, designers, technologists and scientists a cross disciplinary approach to improving colour and print. Visit the CREATE website here.

Suzanne Rolt
St Georges, Bristol
Suzanne Rolt is Director of the concert and recording venue, St George’s Bristol. As part of her previous role, with a national music charity, she coordinated an annual festival of music in London.

Nick Skidmore
Blackwell bookshop, Bristol
Nick Skidmore graduated with a BA in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Durham, after which he worked as a documentary researcher for Mentorn Films. He is currently Events & Marketing Co-ordinator for Blackwell bookshop in Bristol.

Judith Squires
University of Bristol
Judith Squires is Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics, University of Bristol. She is currently Head of Department.

Mike Zeidler
Modoto Ltd., Social Venture Network Europe, Association of Sustainability Practitioners, The Hub Bristol
Since 2003 Mike Zeidler has been running Modoto Ltd., a consultancy helping people to balance social, environmental and economic concerns in their business thinking. He stepped down as a trustee of the New Academy of Business in September 2004 to re-invent it as the Association of Sustainability Practitioners. In 2006, he founded The Hub Bristol and was invited onto the board of the Social Venture Network Europe.

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