CULTURAL CONSTELLATIONS

Cultural Constellation: Communities and Publics in the Union Street area of Plymouth is the title of my PhD thesis. Using practice-based research methods I aimed to understand how various forms of national and local discourse constitute the interactions between communities of cultural practice in the Union Street area of Plymouth. With a focus on the period between 2010 and 2022,  I asked how rhetorical uses of language found in planning and policy discourses feed, stimulate or hinder interaction in the area.

The area saw significant shifts in this decade including the formation of Nudge, a community benefit society, and the opening of KARST, a contemporary art gallery. By focusing on a specific location, this research aimed to understand how various national and local discourses affect a specific urban context, and how cultural policy and local cultural practices affect a specific public.