LCACE: what we do

London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange encourages and supports our partners to develop collaborations with the arts and cultural sectors.

We do this by:

• Fostering and encouraging dialogue and debate between higher education and the arts and cultural industries
• showcasing excellence in higher education research, teaching and consultancy in arts and cultural enterprise
• nurturing and rewarding enterprise in academic staff and students
• advocating the role of higher education in the arts and cultural sector

In practical terms, LCACE and its partners undertake the following kinds of work:

• Produce networking and information-based events to highlight formal Knowledge Transfer initiatives such as those supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
• Produce events where academics are invited to share their research expertise with the arts.
• Respond to the arts/cultural sector’s need for advice, research or consultancy.
• Provide information via our website and our monthly e-newsletter on events, conferences and learning or professional development opportunities of relevance to those working in our partner institutions and those working in the arts/cultural sector
• Provide advice to enquiries about partnership and collaboration with our partner universities.

LCACE strives to be recognised in London and beyond as a centre of excellence, characterised by our:

• high quality partner institutions;
• high quality events and projects
• creative and collaborative approach; and
• responsiveness to stakeholders

Why we do it

The LCACE consortium is committed to supporting the development of sustainable relationships with the arts and cultural sectors and believes that encouraging greater collaboration between higher education and these sectors can bring benefits on both sides. The benefits include the following:

• Providing a high profile and co-ordinated point of access to the combined knowledge, expertise, and talents of eight leading edge higher education institutions for the arts and cultural sector.
• Enabling academic departments to understand better how the arts and cultural sectors operate
• Enabling academics to work with arts and cultural sector organisations through formal Knowledge Transfer schemes, such as those run by the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) and other research councils. Examples of these include: Knowledge Catalyst Scheme and Knowledge Transfer Fellowship Scheme.
• Creating the ability to respond more swiftly to arts and cultural sector needs.
• Ensuring research is disseminated with peers in the sector, who, in turn, often engage directly with public.
• Enabling the arts and cultural sector to gain a better awareness of the vast pool of research expertise that resides in the consortium.
• Providing a platform whereby the research and knowledge that is generated in the arts and cultural sector is, in turn, shared with the academic community.

Who we work with

LCACE university partners and our core team have recently worked with, or are currently working with, a wide range of arts and cultural sector organisations in London on both short and long-term projects. A selection of such organisations include: Arts Council England (London) Artangel, The Art Fund, The Barbican, bfi southbank, British Library, British Museum, Bubble Theatre, Clod Ensemble, The Crafts Council, Create Kings X, ENO, Geffrye Museum, ICA, Space Media Arts, The Glass House, The Illustrious Company, Live Art Development Agency, MLA, Museum of London, National Portrait Gallery, Shakespeare’s Globe, Southbank Centre, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, UK Film Council, V&A.

For more details on partner activities, please see LCACE Partners.