current affairs etc

Sources of information about current debates, events and exhibitions in your subject area

Some Ideas

1. Journals – library and web-based. All list events likely to be of interest to the readership and exhibitions, talks, seminars etc, alongside articles.

Most journals now also have an online presence and mailing lists, which you can join to be kept up to date.

2. Local venues – for example the Arnolfini, Watershed, Cube Cinema, Royal West of England Academy, Spike Island, ICIA Bath, Knowle West Media Centre, Picture This, Fashion Museum – Bath, Holbourne Museum of Art – Bath, Royal Photographic Society – Bath

You can join their mailing lists to be kept up to date with events and exhibitions.

3. In addition to the websites for specific local venues, you can also

find information on websites including:

Bristol Creatives http://www.bristolcreatives.co.uk/

South West Design Forum http://www.swdf.co.uk/

Paintworks Bristol http://www.paintworksbristol.co.uk/

Bristol Media http://www.bristolmedia.co.uk/

Bristol City Council Arts Development http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/leisure-and-culture/arts-and-entertainment/arts---information-and-advice/

And

http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/leisure-and-culture/exhibitions/

And in local listings magazines including:

Venue magazine, published weekly (available in the library and in local newsagents)

Evening Post – Arts Listings Pages, published weekly (available in the library and in local newsagents)

4. Nationally, there are specialist museums, galleries, organisations etc that you might want to join the mailing lists for. Also, some offer an RSS service which you can link to your blogs (the Victoria and Albert Museum does this, so does the Design Museum).

5. For national events, shows and exhibitions etc – read the Saturday and Sunday papers and their supplements – all available in the library. These list details of lots of events, talks etc and often review specific exhibitions, alongside interviewing practitioners.

The Guardian/Observer, The Times/Sunday Times and The Independent/Independent on Sunday are my preferred papers – but have a look at them all & see which you like.

6. Time Out Magazine is the London Listings magazine. Published fortnightly – it is a fantastic resource for what’s on in art, design and photography in the major spaces and in the smaller and artist-led spaces. The library always has the most recent copy of it & for reference – take a photocopy of the pages relevant to your subject to have a browse through so you know what sort of things are detailed.

7. New Exhibitions is a good website for exhibitions and talks and events. It is Fine Art biased, but does include other subject information and is always worth a look. See: www.newexhibitions.com

8. Professional bodies and associations exist in all areas of professional creative practice. Some examples include the Association of Illustrators, D&AD, BIMA etc

All will have links pages from websites to events and exhibitions etc that they deem to be interesting to their members.