Artfully Said

This episode of Artfully Said brings together Irving Finkel (British Museum curator and Assyriologist) and Sarah Burles (museum educator and collections specialist). Together, these Arts Society accredited lecturers embark on in-depth conversation about collecting, museum collections, and what drives humans to gather, preserve, and care for objects. Well known for his work on cuneiform tablets, ancient Mesopotamia, and the hidden stories of the British Museum, Irving Finkel explores the philosophy and history of collecting at every scale, from global institutions to deeply personal collections. Sarah Burles brings examines educational and curatorial perspectives, focusing on accessibility, learning, and how collections are interpreted for the audiences of today.Together, they discuss the origins of museum collections, the role of collectors in shaping public institutions, the difference between collecting and hoarding, and how to balance preservation, display, ethics, and relevance in the modern world.Irving Finkel is a British philologist and Assyriologist. He is currently Senior Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages and cultures in the Department of the Middle East in the British Museum, where he specialises in cuneiform inscriptions on tablets of clay from ancient Mesopotamia. He also studies the history of board games, and among his breakthrough works is the determination of the rules of the Royal Game of Ur. Irving founded the Great Diary Project, a project to preserve the diaries of ordinary people. In association with the Bishopsgate Institute, he has helped to archive over 20,000 personal diaries. Irving has written a number of works of fiction for children, including The Princess Who Wouldn't Come Home and Swizzle de Brax and the Blungaphone. Sarah Burles studied History of Art at Cambridge University before doing a master’s degree at University College London. She went on to have a career in museum and gallery education, establishing new services in three different museums before working at the Fitzwilliam Museum for many years. Sarah is the founder of Cambridge Art Tours, which runs tours and courses in and around East Anglia, as well as online. She is a Tour Director for an award winning travel company and has led tours to Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and America. Artfully Said is a video podcast brought to you by The Arts Society.The Arts Society brings arts education and culture to a network of over 64,000 members. With over 300 Arts Societies across the UK and beyond, there is a local Arts Society ready to welcome you, wherever you are.Become a member of an Arts Society for monthly expert arts lectures, special events, and a community of art lovers near you.All guest viewpoints are independent and do not necessarily reflect The Arts Society’s perspective.

What made the 1970s such a defining decade for both music and fashion? In this episode, Arts Society accredited lecturers Steve King (music historian) and Scott Schiavone (fashion curator) explore how sound and style collided to create one of the most inventive eras in modern culture. From disco’s sweltering dance floors and punk’s raw rebellion to glam rock’s theatrical excess, they trace how identity, politics, and creativity reshaped what people listened to and what they wore while doing it.From Barry White, George McCrae, and Donna Summer’s electronic revolution to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s punk provocation, the episode unpacks how the 70s mixed rebellion with glamour. They trace disco’s roots in marginalized communities, the rise of designers like Halston, Scott Barrie, and Diane von Fürstenberg, and the way icons like David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and Jimi Hendrix5 blurred boundaries between performance, art, and identity. From Studio 54 to Northern Soul, funk, and New Wave, Steve and Scott reveal how the decade’s fearless creativity still shapes today’s music, fashion, and culture.The Arts Society brings arts education and culture to a network of over 64,000 members. With over 300 Arts Societies across the UK and beyond, there is a local Arts Society ready to welcome you, wherever you are.Become a member for monthly expert arts lectures, special events, and a community of art lovers near you.All guest viewpoints are independent and do not necessarily reflect The Arts Society’s perspective.

What really makes great art great? In this week's episode, Arts Society accredited lecturer and art historian Leslie Primo joins James Payne (Great Art Explained) to debate everything from Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to myths about Van Gogh and the role of patrons, critics and power in shaping the art world. They explore originality vs. refinement, technique vs. emotion and why even controversial figures like Rothko, Hirst and Emin may stand the test of time. From old masters like Caravaggio and Van Eyck to modern movements like Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism and the Young British Artists, this episode asks how what ends up in the canon - and who gets to decide. With stories of gatekeepers, conservation debates, Cold War Politics and today’s art market, this is a deep dive into how art’s meaning and value evolve in the public eye.Further Reading: Great Art Explained by James PayneThe Foreign Invention of British Art by Leslie Primo The Arts Society brings arts education and culture to a network of over 64,000 members. With over 300 Arts Societies across the UK and beyond, there is a local Arts Society ready to welcome you, wherever you are.Become a member for monthly expert arts lectures, special events, and a community of art lovers near you.All guest viewpoints are independent and do not necessarily reflect The Arts Society’s perspective.

Welcome to Artfully Said, a new podcast developed and produced by the team at The Arts Society. Tune in every month to hear from two experts with a shared passion. Some of our guests are Arts Society accredited lecturers, and some are leading voices in their field. Many are both. Happy listening!All guest viewpoints are independent and do not necessarily reflect The Arts Society’s perspective.