The Three Bells

In her latest Reflections , Hilary Knight asks how we should train the people who will run cultural institutions in an age of AI, and explores the technical fluency, critical judgement and governance literacy they will need. [TRANSCRIPT] External references:  UNESCO – Artificial Intelligence and Culture UNESCO – Report of the Independent Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence and Culture Rhode Is...

Hilary Knight speaks with Matthew Niederhauser, Managing Director of Onassis ONX, and Prodromos Tsiavos, Head of Digital Development and Innovation at the Onassis Foundation, about what it takes to build a transatlantic platform to support artists working at the edge of art and technology. [TRANSCRIPT] External links: Onassis ONX ONX Relay ONX Screens Onassis ONX at Under the Radar 2027 / TECHNE B...

In this latest Reflections , Adrian Ellis looks at the maintenance challenge facing cultural institutions, the funding structures that have allowed backlogs to grow, and the consequences of building without planning for upkeep. [TRANSCRIPT] External references:  Stewart Brand,  Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One French Senate – Christophe Leribault on the future of the Louvre Sénat Cour des comp...

Adrian Ellis speaks with cultural strategist Jorge Pinto about a career spent creating the conditions for culture to thrive – and what decades of cultural investment in the Gulf can teach us about moving from buildings to institutions, ecosystems and human capacity. [TRANSCRIPT] External Links European Commission – Culture and Creativity Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Cultu...

In her latest Reflections , Hilary Knight explores the recent trend of Gen Z turning to analogue experiences, and asks whether it represents a true rejection of digital life or a search for a more meaningful relationship with it. [TRANSCRIPT] External Links Why Gen-Z Is Bringing Back Physical Media – Forbes ‘I spent a week in 2004, and here is what I found’: On Gen Z’s obsession with going analogu...

Hilary Knight speaks with Mutanu Kyany’a, Director of Research & Programs for African Digital Heritage about using technology to reclaim and preserve African histories – and why questions of consent, ownership, access, and power need to come before digitisation, especially in the age of AI. [TRANSCRIPT] External references: African Digital Heritage: https://africandigitalheritage.org/ Mutanu K...

In this latest Reflections , Stephanie Fortunato asks what arts and culture can learn from sport about participation, belonging, and civic life – and how to widen the circle of participation. TRANSCRIPT THE BEAUTIFUL GAME... BY GREG SCARPELLA

Stephanie Fortunato speaks with Kristina Newman-Scott, VP of Arts at Knight Foundation, about engaging artists as civic partners, building durable cultural ecosystems, and what people increasingly seek from the cities they call home. External references:  Knight Foundation – Arts Kristina Newman-Scott:  The Arts Are Not a Luxury: They’re a Blueprint for Thriving Cities Creative Cities Initiative S...

In this latest Reflections , Stephanie Fortunato reflects on visits to the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and the Studio Museum in Harlem, exploring how museums can root themselves in place, build living relationships with artists and communities, and practise relevance rather than simply declare it. TRANSCRIPT

Adrian Ellis speaks with Kendra Whitlock Ingram, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, about stewarding a 14-block cultural district, balancing the roles of presenter, property owner, and neighbourhood curator, and opening Arts Landing as a new civic space for Pittsburgh. TRANSCRIPT External references: Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Pittsburgh Cultural District Arts Landing: The new outd...

In her second Reflections of Season 6, Hilary Knight explores how digital twins are moving from engineering and urban planning into museums, galleries, and heritage sites – supporting everything from access and conservation to research and climate resilience. Transcript: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ffdc6706aed0b20d49b81e9/t/6a32f8f6a929e500c8bc523b/1781725430731/3bells_Transcript_S6Ed6...

In this special roundtable episode marking the tenth edition of AEA Consulting’s Cultural Infrastructure Index , Stephanie Fortunato speaks with four members of the research team – Natalia Vartapetova, Luna BuGhanem, Jess Nickelman, and Laura Gildenstern – about what ten years of data can tell us about how cultural infrastructure is changing. Transcript: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ffd...

In this latest Reflections, Adrian Ellis draws on a recent panel at the Hong Kong International Cultural Summit to outline six tests for cultural districts today – and what happens when background issues become foreground pressures. Transcript: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ffdc6706aed0b20d49b81e9/t/6a0e42a62c1a2f6d1e711660/1779319462679/3bells_Transcript_S6Ed5.pdf External references: H...

Stephanie Fortunato, speaks with Danielle Brazell, Executive Director of the California Arts Council, about the state’s cultural districts programme, California’s first creative economy strategy, and why public investment in culture should be measured not only in economic impact, but also in imagination, innovation, and inspiration. Transcript: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ffdc6706aed0b...

In this new episode of Reflections from The Three Bells , Adrian Ellis marks the 10th edition of AEA Consulting’s Cultural Infrastructure Index by asking what slowbalisation, geopolitical volatility, and changing public expectations mean for the future of cultural infrastructure. External references:  AEA Consulting’s 2025 Cultural Infrastructure Index (10th edition) AEA Consulting’s Cultural Infr...

Ahead of the opening of V&A East on 18 April 2026, Adrian Ellis speaks with its Director, Gus Casely-Hayford, about involving young people in shaping the institution, widening access, and creating the kinds of transformative opportunities that can change futures. External references: V&A East: https://www.vam.ac.uk/east/ V&A East Storehouse: https://www.vam.ac.uk/east/storehouse/visit...

In this latest Reflections , Stephanie Fortunato draws on her experience reviewing letters of support as part of California Arts Council’s process to select new cultural districts for its state program, reflecting on what those letters reveal about community pride, local identity, and the futures people hope to build through cultural districting. About our Contributor Stephanie Fortunato is Direct...

Our host, Hilary Knight, speaks with Alex Costas of Bloomberg Connects about the nonprofit’s history and mission – and how its free platform and dedicated support team help institutions and districts worldwide tell their own stories through thoughtful digital storytelling. External references:  Bloomberg Connects: https://www.bloombergconnects.org/   Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts: https://www.bloo...

In her first Reflections of Season 6, Hilary Knight explores the idea that luxury brands could replace museums as sites of cultural trust for Gen Z – and why she doesn’t buy it. External Links ‘Enshittification’ is coming for absolutely everything – FT article by Cory Doctorow  Brand Valued: How socially valued brands hold the key to a sustainable future and business success – by Guy Champniss &am...

Stephanie Fortunato, speaks with Conrado Uribe about the power of networks to break cycles of isolation – and to make “collective imagination” a practical force in how cities evolve. Moving from Medellín to Barcelona to a Latin America-wide network of cultural districts, Conrado reflects on collaboration, governance, and why the real foundations of a district are its people, not its buildings. Ext...

In this first Reflections of Season 6, Stephanie Fortunato looks back on the curatorial choices that shaped our 2025 season. Reflecting on a year that deliberately centred women and non-binary leaders, she considers what the data on gender inequality tells us, why progress cannot be taken for granted, and how storytelling can help expand our collective imagination of leadership, belonging, and cul...

In the first episode of Season 6, Adrian Ellis speaks with Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, about how art fairs shape cities and cultural ecosystems. Their conversation explores the evolving role of Art Basel as a cultural platform operating at the intersection of culture, capital, and place – and what that means for the cities that host them. External references: Art Basel : Global art fair platf...

In this last Reflections from The Three Bells of our 2025 season, a mural becomes the starting point for a deeply personal exploration of the quiet ways individual stories slip into collective narrative. Through the story of a tiny knit hat, Stephanie Fortunato reflects on Providence as an adopted home, the threads that bind people to place, and the communities we call home. External Links AS220,...

Adrian Ellis speaks with Charlotte Burns, Founder of Studio Burns, about how the art world constructs its stories – and what happens when data complicates them. From representation and market dynamics to institutional culture, they explore how research can surface patterns that would otherwise remain invisible and help inform future practice. External references:  Studio Burns – Independent editor...

In this episode of Reflections from The Three Bells , Hilary Knight explores how WEIRD bias shapes AI – and how artists are challenging algorithmic monoculture with radical acts of cultural imagination. External references:  “The Weirdest People in the World?” – Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan (2010) Stephanie Dinkins – Not The Only One Ameera Kawash – Tatreez Garden Minne Atairu – Artist using AI...