Arts and culture

Images of Notre-Dame on fire have brought home the importance of the building as a symbol, of cultural heritage in general, and of the vital need to protect that heritage.

Alison Baily looks at the findings of a new report examining the value of culture in post-conflict recovery.

Research report: this study examines the contribution that literature can make in large scale cultural interventions and urban policy more broadly.

Insight looks at the aftermath of the fire that recently devastated the Brazilian National Museum, to ask what lessons can be learned.

Research report: exploring the role that culture can play in building sustainable peace in communities recovering from conflict.

Read Culture and International Development: Towards an Interdisciplinary Methodology, a literature review on culture and development and a proposal for a future methodology.

A discovery in the British Council’s archives throws new light on its relationship with Orwell.

With global affairs are increasingly influenced by populism and identity politics, Paul Smith examines the vital importance of culture in international relations.

Research series: Diba Salem looks at Dubai, its architecture and what is ‘public’ in the middle east.

September 2018: This essay explores libraries and youth takeovers in three cities in the North of the UK, with youth challenging who owns ‘public’ – if interior – space.