The British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund has appointed Laura Searson as Senior Programme Manager, Culture in Crisis, as it takes over the initiative from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Laura built and led the Culture in Crisis programme for a decade at the V&A as well as being the museum’s lead for crisis management, emergency planning and response. She is a board member of ICOM UK and member of the International Advisory Board for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Conference on Cultural Property Protection. She brings all the experience of running Culture in Crisis alongside her creative vision for how to develop and grow the programme further at British Council.
The appointment follows the news of the Cultural Protection Fund’s three-year renewal earlier this year, with Culture in Crisis now included its next phase. While the programme’s event series and its world’s largest database of heritage preservation activities will continue, as Stephanie Grant, CPF Director, said ‘What we have is an opportunity to nurture and grow the Culture in Crisis network, programme and portal under the stewardship of the CPF.’
‘I’m thrilled to be joining the British Council to lead the Culture in Crisis programme within its new home,’ begins Laura Searson. ‘The move represents a real opportunity, against a context of increasing and evolving threats to heritage globally, to expand the programme’s work, engage new audiences, and broaden its impact.’
Laura will begin her new role in late July.
