In May 2010, the UK Coalition Government set itself the objective of becoming the ‘Greenest Government yet’. But in July 2010 it  announced it was disbanding the Sustainable Development Commission.

By May 2011 it was being criticised in an open letter from 15 diverse organisations of losing its way on environmental issues and the ‘green economy’ and by May 2012 it had still failed to produce a new sustainable development strategy.

Moreover, while the Government appears fixated on using the term ‘sustainable’ regularly, it does so with little regard to the long term health of the planet preferring instead to focus on the ‘sustainability’ of the economy.

In her talk, Andrea Ross picks up on this lack of leadership for sustainable development at the UK level. She then explores various ways of challenging short term thinking as well as promoting and supporting concern for the Earth’s limits.

Kindly hosted by the cafe at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum for this free talk that will last approximately one hour. Not ticketed.

Everyone welcome.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. The McManus remains open all day up to the start of this event.

Tasty hot snacks, hot and cold drinks, wine and beer are all available from the Cafe before the talk starts.

The Humanities tradition in British Universities is facing a serious challenge with regard to its relevance and financial viability within contemporary society. This talk offers some critical reflections on how the Humanities have become so badly misunderstood and what might be done to remedy this.

Join us at the McManus Cafe for this free talk that will last approximately one hour. Not ticketed.

Everyone welcome.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. The McManus remains open all day up to the start of this event.

Tasty hot snacks, hot and cold drinks, wine and beer are all available from the Cafe before the talk starts.

Professor Tracy Mackenna and Edwin Janssen’s diverse and creative practice is a site for production, social engagement, participation and reflection. They focus on key issues that affect our daily lives and will talk about projects such as:

WAR as Ever! that combined a unique set 16^th century collection of prints about a 400 year old war and news coverage of the Iraq war,

http://www.mackenna-and-janssen.net/mackenna-and-janssen/WAR_AS_EVER!.html

The Poem Pedlar, a specially developed character based on the historical figure of a street vendor engaging a range of publics through visual responses to poems for StAnza 2012, Scotland’s poetry festival hosted in St. Andrews.

http://www.mackenna-and-janssen.net/mackenna-and-janssen/The_Poem_Pedlars_Blog/The_Poem_Pedlars_Blog.html

Join us at the McManus Cafe for this free talk that will last approximately one hour. Not ticketed.

Everyone welcome.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. The McManus remains open all day up to the start of this event.

Tasty hot snacks, hot and cold drinks, wine and beer are all available from the Cafe before the talk starts.

Should we be ‘designing against rioting’ or designing more inclusive communities?

This talk draws directly on research, undertaken for government departments, that examines design’s contribution to crime reduction and counter terrorism, and presents a new vision for design and the city.

Join us at the McManus Cafe for this free talk from Prof Mike Press, DJCAD, University of Dundee that will last approximately one hour. Not ticketed.

Everyone welcome.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. The McManus remains open all day up to the start of this event.

Tasty hot snacks, hot and cold drinks, wine and beer are all available from the Cafe before the talk starts.

This short talk will identify and discuss a number of examples of digital media productions that have harnessed the online audience to contribute to the co-creation, performance or dissemination of the work, such as Life in a Day, a documentary produced by Ridley Scott which was made from over 1000 user submitted videos.

Gregor will also explore the potential of collaborative creativity and the contribution of online communities including social phenomena in virtual worlds and social games.

Join us at the McManus Cafe for this free event that will last approximately one hour. Not ticketed.

Everyone welcome.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. The McManus remains open all day up to the start of this event.

Tasty hot snacks, hot and cold drinks, wine and beer are all available from the Cafe before the talk starts.

Visit our You Tube channel and subscribe. We will be uploading more videos soon!

On the other, less reputable hand, governments themselves have found it useful to claim the status of humanitarian intervention for military actions with suspect motives.  If Kosovo and Libya were humanitarian interventions, what about Afghanistan – or even Iraq?   Perhaps all interventions are driven ultimately by self-interest?

It’s no surprise then that it’s often not clear exactly what ‘proper’ humanitarian intervention is – nor whether it serves any useful purpose.  In short, before we can say whether it works, we need to know what ‘it’ is.  And, of course, we need to know what we mean by ‘works’.

This event covered H.G.Wells’s most famous story The Time Machine and a range of his other short stories.

Dr. Keith Williams from the University of Dundee discussed how each text imagined the visual technology of the future. Drawing on the cutting-edge science of the late 19th Century, Wells was able to predict the development of new media including cinema, television, virtual reality…..even the internet!

In particular Wells’s writings on how we observe the World influenced one of Britain’s pioneering film-makers, R.W.Paul at the very dawn of the cinematic age.

This event was proud to be part of the 2011 Dundee Science Festival programme.

Come along to The McManus at 6pm on 4th October 2011 to join Philip Long, recently appointed director of the V&A at Dundee, in conversation with James Brining, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Dundee Rep Theatre. Philip and James will discuss the cultural collaboration underpinning the V&A at Dundee, and how cultural institutions can work together in innovative ways to strengthen and grow the City’s cultural offering for the benefit of all.

The recently opened exhibition ‘Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee’ – the first in a series of partnership projects between The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London as part of the pre-opening programme for the V&A at Dundee -will also be discussed. The exhibition will be open at the end of this event, with the building closing at 8pm.

This event is free, open to everyone and will last approximately one hour.

Contrary to reports in the media this event is non-ticketed and non-bookable. There is limited seating that will be allocated on a first-come first-serve basis.

Please arrive early to avoid disappointment. The McManus remains open all day up to the start of this event.

By the first world war Dundee was one of the most economically globalized cities in the world, above all because of its striking dependence on one industry, jute, which drew its raw materials from Bengal and found its markets across the globe.  But as jute declined the city’s dependence on the rest of the world decreased, and there followed a long process of ‘de-globalization’, most recently evident in the huge rise in employment in the public sector. This means that today Dundee’s economic fortunes rest much more on political decisions in London and Edinburgh than on international events.  This talk will explore how and why this change came about, and ask what significance it has for the city’s prosperity in the face of the current world economic crisis

This talk will take place on Tuesday 6th September at 6pm in the McManus Cafe, Albert Square.

Dundee Arts Cafe talks are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 6pm in the McManus Cafe, inside the McManus at Albert Square, in the City Centre of Dundee. The McManus is Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum, and the cafe is located at the entrance and will be open before and throughout the talk serving hot drinks, wine or beer and snacks.

This is a FREE talk and everyone is welcome, there is no requirement to book, but there is limited seating for 60 people so please arrive early to ensure a seat.

The McManus Cafe will be open before the event serving hot meals and snacks. If you want to have a meal in the McManus before the talk you have to pre-book by calling 01382 307 201. You can view the menu at http://www.themcmanus-dundee.gov.uk/sites/default/files/cafemenu.pdf