Its all about the cities and Brighton has a lot to offer!

I have just completed and handed in my second assignment for my module 'creative industries'. I was given the task of reading a speech by James Purnell and then writing a response to it. The speech was called "making Britain the worlds creative hub". Within the speech Purnell talks of making a national policy to make the nation a global hub.

 But within his speech Purnell forgets about creativity emerging within spaces and the importance of cities within creative industries. Instead he focuses more on how creativity starts at school talking of the specialist arts colleges in England.  One of the issues that I took up with Purnell was that he completely missed out Brighton within his speech and how it has much to offer to the global modeling of creative industries. Below I have highlighted some of the points that i made concerning this issue.

• Brighton has many distinctions and differences
• It is already the most famous seaside resort in the UK.
• There are many different venues within Brighton for the hosting of different events with it's diverse mix of pubs and clubs and Brighton dome and centre.
• Brighton already has a successful music industry with many different diverse genres.
• Brighton is the home of a range of different sporting clubs including football, cricket and rugby.
• Brighton is easily accessible from all over the world with there being a fast service from London.
• There are a high proportion of ethnic minorites and religions within Brighton.
• There have been a number of small independant films that have both been been made and set in Brighton.
• Brighton is a very tolerant city which is an important quality in which creativity can continue to flourish.

These are just some of the points that I mentioned in my letter which are relevant to Brighton. It is all of these things which make me feel enthusiastic and excited about living in Brighton. I have provided a link below to the speech 'Making Britain the worlds creative hub'.

James Purnell Speech- 'Making Britain the worlds creative hub'.

 

Photography and Brighton!

As a creative industry photography is particularly on the increase within Brighton. The regional development agency for photography, 'photoworks' ia based in Brighton as is is The Brighton photo Bienial which has provided showcase for many local photographers. The university also has a very popular editorial photography course which is thought very highly of.

More info at www.creativebrighton.com

The visual arts in Brighton!

The visual arts are one of the currently fast growing creative industries within Brighton, and with such a diverse mix of people living in Brighton there is a very diverse mix of work being produced. There are several smaller and medium sized galleries within Brighton and also several established studio groups. Studio space within Brighton is constantly growing within Brighton with their being much demand from aspiring artists to showcase their work. The university of Brighton is very supportive of new artists and offers space to host artists work at it's studios at Phoenix and Grand Parade.Below there is a video of Brighton museum and art gallery.

more info at www.creativebrighton.com

Popular Music within second tier cities such as Brighton!

This week In Creative industries I have been studying Popular music, and have also been looking at why Brighton has been so successful within the music industry. Brighton being a second tier has worked in its favour, with some of the benefits of second tier cities being that Musicians have

 more time to develop a distinct sound.

• Second tier cities are sites of difference.
• Second tier cities are places of divergent popular culture
• Second tier cities have different and marketable landscapes.
• Second tier cities such as Brighton possess a certain level of independence.
• Second tier cities have marketable landscapes and identity.

The diverse genres of music in Brighton have been successful, and I think that it's distance from London has been of an advantage allowing it to gain its own unique identity.It is a fact that often the great music cities are often not the capital cities of their nation. Below I have included a video of fatboy slim playing at Brighton beach.This concert attracted 250,000 people to the area.

The Knowledge and the Know how!

This week in creative industries I have been learning about the knowledge economy and how it is very relevant to the creative industries. I have been learning about the importance of education within the creative industries and how its role is to develop knowledge that is the basis of intellectual property. 

It is not the creativity that needs to be taught but rather the commodification of creativity into the creative industries. There are more and more people who are making their money out of knowledge and ideas than ever before hence the great rise within the creative industries particularly within the South East, Brighton included! I have provided some links below to a couple of articles by a couple of theorists who I have found to be very interesting and have done a lot of work on the creative industries and the knowledge economy.

 Charles Leadbetter

Richard Florida

Architecture in Brighton

Architecture is listed as one of the 13 different sectors which are classed as part the creative industries by the DCMS.The Royal Pavillions are a great example of some of the beautiful architecture in Brighton.Great architecture can have great benefits on the public in many different ways by educating,and adding cultural value to a region. The Royal Pavillions in Brighton play a part in boosting the local economy within Brighton by opening itself up for visitors to the town during the summer months and also locals during the winter.

Fashionable Brighton!

This week I have been learning about Fashion as being one of the creative industries which is the most frequent example of the new economy. Fashion particularly plays an important part within the creative industries within the South East of England, with The City of Brighton being no exception. Brighton has a great reputation for fashion and it is one of the creative industries which has played a part within the city imaging of Brighton, helping shape it into the trendy,diverse and innovative city that it is. 

Fashion very much makes a statement about social position and identity in society, defining who we are or want to be. Fashion is also a great example of how popular culture is transforming into the workplace with one persons work becoming another persons leisure. 

Many fashion designers started out in Brighton and 

The university of Brighton has produced many successful designers such as Julian Macdonald, Mark Ely, Gresham Blake and Sarah Arnett. There are many opportunities for young aspiring fashion designers in Brighton with there being a number of different companies such as brightonfrocks which help talented individuals in showcasing their talent. With Brighton being such a vibrant, expressive, and also tolerant city, thse are perfect conditions in which the fashion industry can thrive and fully flourish.