‘Cities, Museums and Soft Power’ book Launch review

On the 8th of October 2015 the Knowledge Quarter launched the book ‘Cities, Museums and Soft Power’ at the British Library. The event proved to be very successful arousing strong interest among knowledge Quarter partners and other cultural organisations.

The discussion featured talks by the book’s curators, Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg, on what soft power is and how cultural institutions and museums create soft power today. The Head of Digital at the British Museum, Chris Michaels, stressed the role of digital communication in shaping organisational identity and their influence on society. Interpretation and Cultural Adviser, Yasmin Khan, focused on how the notion of soft power can be used to foster politics of gender equality within an organisations operational structure. The head of Corporate Affair at the British Library, Miki Lentin, argued for the Knowledge Quarter as an innovative model able to exercise soft power invigorating organisations’ presence and contribution to London Global knowledge economy.

Speakers’ talks were followed by a rich debate with many questions from the audience and concluded with drinks and canapés, providing the opportunity network and continue the conversation further.

Knowledge Quarter acknowledged the public strong response and we are planning future events to cultivate the notion of ‘soft power’ as a new strategic direction for museums and cultural organisations in general.