Shift Happens…

…well it does doesn’t it? Or it certainly did last week. Shift hit the fan on March 30th and as a result we now have a different funding landscape. For some this shift is an upheaval and for others a new fertile ground. Either way - shift has happened, change has occurred, and like many aspects of our life, we are not able to turn back the clock. We are not going to go back in the analogue box. Our only options are to move forwards, and seek the opportunities that these challenges throw at us. We have to innovate to survive, be creative with the tools and resources we have and forge ahead. We have to work at the limit of our capabilities and find like minded people to share our ideas and work with them to achieve our goals. We have been adapting to survive as a species for thousands of years. We are not about to suddenly stop doing that

I started to shift my ways of thinking after first visiting TED in 2007. Following this I set up the Shift Happens Conference to share thoughts and ideas across the Arts / Learning and Technology spectrum. So basing Shift on that model we had speakers and talks from people working at the edges of their respective practice. Ideas were shared and it provided a networking hub of activity and new ways of thinking. The key for this to me was that it allowed talks and presentations from outside our ‘sector’ and new and creative approaches to be brought into the realms of our work. Over the time we had speakers including Sir Ken Robinson, Jonathan Harris, Lyn Gardner, Alice Greenwald, Charles Leadbeater, Josie Rourke, Julie Borchard-Young, David Sabel, DK, Andy Field, Alan Lane and Bill Thompson all present at Shift in York.

So after three years of running the Shift Happens programme I decided to extend the breadth of activity and now TEDxYork is part of this initiative. The theme of this event is ‘A New Steam Age’ where the ‘A’ of the Arts fits into the ‘STEM’ subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) to create STEAM and a new innovation framework for making shift happen. This places the Arts centrally in the area of innovation and creativity, where it belongs. This is vital to highlight now as Arts and Humanities courses are being downgraded in importance in the curriculum and within Higher Education in terms of priority, due to the Government’s agenda.

People make things happen. Often against the odds. I know this from my recent visit to the TED conference and to South by Southwest (SXSW) At both events I had the privilege of seeing people working to the limits of their ability in all fields. People generating new ideas, thinking the unthinkable, being brave and above all being creative. Creativity is where ideas have value, and where they can create change. The intersection between the Arts and Science are where true shifts can really happen.

Where else could you possibly see Dr Anthony Atala 3D ‘printing’ a human kidney, using stem cells as ‘ink’ to make a transplantable human kidney? Combine this with a talk of the beautiful spoken word poetry of Sarah Kay? Or the passion and vision of the outdoor artist JR?

It was in fact the talk by JR, who won the TED prize, that was one of the most inspiring. Here the question was, ‘Could Art change the World?’ He is setting out to test that. I do believe that art has the ability to change the world and the way we perceive it. If you have time, maybe watch his talk. It may change the way you perceive your work. It may even have the ability to change the world.

After all, that is why we do this stuff, right? … Join us on July 7th for TEDxYork

The QR code for the event is above. Scan it with your smartphone – using a QR reader – and in no time at all you will be seeing these all over posters, and print materials in the very near future.

Shift Happens…