Michael Eades
@drmichaeleades.bsky.social
Head of Civic Engagement at Goldsmiths, University of London. Cities, engagement, art, nature, surrealism. Research as practice. Writer and walker www.michaeleades.net
Good funding opportunity here via @migrantfutures.bsky.social. Grants up to £20k available for artists, photographers, filmmakers, and migrants’ organisations to explore how images can reshape public feelings about migration… Timely and urgent! #ukhe #culturalfunding sites.gold.ac.uk/mfi-news/
MFI News
sites.gold.ac.uk
Lovely stuff. Another railway line back in public ownership. This quiet programme of reclaiming vital public infrastructure isn’t getting anywhere near the recognition it deserves… I remember a time when *any* renationalisation seemed unthinkable. #PublicOwnership www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Chiltern Railways renationalised after 30 years as private company
It joins Great British Railways as part of government plans to save money and improve services.
bbc.co.uk
Although the cost of housing in London is insane and makes life difficult for anyone under 50, youngsters are mostly unaware much of the city used to look like this
Colin Smith@colinsmith.bsky.social · 5d agoThe Grove, Ealing, London, 1978–79, by Ian Cole.
This is so depressing to read. Raising fees (yet again) is not going to save #UKHE. Particularly not as a bogus ‘quality’ marker. Sorry to be boring but the answer to the problem lies in good old fashioned state investment in education… #academicsky www.timeshighereducation.com/news/russell...
Russell Group backs higher fees as £3,000 loss per student revealed
Chief executive Libby Hackett says top universities should charge more as scale of teaching deficit is revealed
timeshighereducation.com
Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne. An incredible collection of artworks made by people on the outer fringes of society. A powerful reminder that creativity is a fundamental human trait that ALWAYS finds ways of manifesting, even under the most challenging circumstances.
Basel, city by the Rhine…. Very much enjoying some time in this European Interzone city on the frontier of three different countries, where everyone speaks at least three languages and there seems to be an art gallery on every corner. Louche vibes.
The Migration Museum is partnering with @foodmuseumuk.bsky.social , and seeking 2x Community Curators to explore themes of migration and food as part of an upcoming UK-wide programme.
Just awful. I literally said to someone earlier this week ‘I hope the poor guy doesn’t kill himself’. Shame on everyone involved in this appalling pile on. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jason Arday: Former Cambridge university professor found dead
Emergency services said a man was found "unresponsive" at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon.
bbc.co.uk
Just remember this message is aimed at your children not theirs.
Really enjoyed working with Future Arts Centres & colleagues at Goldsmiths on this report exploring the role of arts centres as catalysts of 'Creative Democracy’. Looking into creative ways both of working with civic institutions and of reimagining them.👇 futureartscentres.org.uk/future-arts-...
Future Arts Centres and Goldsmiths publish Creative Democracy report - Future Arts Centres
What role can arts centres play in connecting communities, public bodies and democratic decision-making? Future Arts Centres and Goldsmiths, University of London publish Creative Democracy report.
futureartscentres.org.uk
Brilliant news here from the Migration Museum. I’ve been lucky enough to work closely with this incredible organisation over the past 5+ years and it’s been inspiring seeing them get closer and closer to their goal of creating the UK’s first permanent museum of migration. Needed now more than ever!
Migration Museum@migrationmuseum.org · 2mo agoMajor funding secured! 🏛️💛 We’re thrilled to share that the @wolfsonfdn.bsky.social has committed £600,000 as a Founding Partner to help make our new permanent home in the City of London a reality. We're one step closer to bringing the UK’s missing museum to life in Spring 2028! 🧵👇 📸 Unknown Works
Interesting article. I don’t agree with the headline, but the underlying argument - that successive govts (Tory and Labour) have damaged the UK HE sector more by neglect and bad policy than Trump has managed in the USA with a full on assault - is grimly compelling: www.ft.com/content/e14d...
Labour has harmed universities as much as Trump, London School of Economics head says
LSE vice-chancellor Larry Kramer points to domestic students’ fees, limits on international students and rise in employers’ national insurance
ft.com
It’s taken me ages to figure out where ‘Number 10 North’ actually is. I thought Heron House rang a bell, and when I looked it up on street view it all clicked into place: the office building on Albert Square above the Slug and a Lettuce… Class 👌
Makerfield election is a good example of what happens when the progressive vote unifies behind a single candidate. Greens and Lib Dems should really have stood aside in this one (as Caroline Lucas said). Luckily the electorate did it for them.
I think this is what Henri Lefebvre was on about when he called for ‘the carnivalisation of everyday life’…
Jay Hulme@jayhulmepoet.bsky.social · 4mo agoThere's a free council-run bus service called the "hop!" in Leicester that runs every ten minutes. It's frog themed. It ribbits really loudly when it pulls up to a bus stop. Also, it's a circular route but only runs anti-clockwise so you have to ride the whole route to get back to your original stop
Wonderful and strange vibes from our Goldsmiths + Nunhead Cemetery late takeover yesterday evening. Mercuralia comes to southeast London 👌
I always enjoy voting. The dusty church halls.The pencil stubs. The badly printed ballot papers. The names ticked manually off lists… Politics is complicated but the actual business of democracy can be endearingly lo-fi.
On the train up to Manchester. Only one song to soundtrack that…. open.spotify.com/track/0XciPb...
Hit the North - Part 1
open.spotify.com
Grim news from University of Nottingham. When I did my MA and PhD there 15 years ago these kind of cuts were unimaginable. It was a mighty, wealthy institution then. Smug, if anything. No one is safe: www.timeshighereducation.com/news/plans-a...
Plans to axe 600 jobs mooted at Nottingham to save £50 million
University says final decision yet to be made after document outlining new redundancy scheme leaked to press
timeshighereducation.com
And very sad to see special (deserved) mention in this article for both the uni at which I currently work and the one at which I did all my postgrad study…
Michael Eades@drmichaeleades.bsky.social · 5mo ago‘Rather than trying to shut down universities, we should be restoring them to their true purpose’… Very insightful piece on the current UK university crisis here: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
‘Rather than trying to shut down universities, we should be restoring them to their true purpose’… Very insightful piece on the current UK university crisis here: observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Why saving universities is far more than academic
Modern Britain needs young people with degrees – here’s how to make sure they still have somewhere to study them
observer.co.uk
The cause of a sizeable chunk of the world’s current problems captured perfectly in this post…
Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 5mo agoThe richest man owns X. The second and fourth richest men control Google. The third richest man owns The Washington Post. The fifth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros. See the problem here?
Everyone knows Brexit was a disaster. Culturally, socially, environmentally and above all economically. Time to come right out and say it. Then proceed quickly to fixing it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK could adopt EU single market rules under new legislation
The move has raised questions over parliamentary scrutiny of future rules to deliver planned EU deals.
bbc.co.uk
Yes!!! Get in the bin Orban you crypto fascist twerp…. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c2...
Hungary election: Viktor Orbán ousted after 16 years in power as opposition heads for landslide - follow live
The long-serving prime minister concedes defeat to Péter Magyar, who has promised closer EU ties and an anti-corruption drive.
bbc.co.uk
And you will suffer all the seasons/ On the sides of municipal buildings… open.spotify.com/track/1uUVzJ...
Bury Pts. 1 + 3
The Fall · Your Future Our Clutter · Song · 2010
open.spotify.com
Finished this beauty/ beast of a book this week by @stuhennigan.bsky.social . If you haven’t read it yet, you NEED to. It achieves the rare feat of being savage and tender at the same time, and being genuinely original in an era of literary blandness. Real, essential writing…. Also…
