‘Other desires perish in their gratification, but the desire of knowledge never: the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled by hearing. Other desires become the occasion of pain through dearth of material to gratify them, but not the desire of knowledge: the sum of things to be known is inexhaustible.’

A.E. Houseman, Introductory Lecture, University of London, 1892

Since the early 1970s, when he co-founded Toronto’s second ‘free school’, SEE, James M. Bradburne has been actively involved in the field of self-initiated, self-directed and self-sustaining learning. This commitment to learning has taken many forms, from designing interactive learning environments to working with educators around the world, in places including Reggio Emilia, Beijing, Shanghai, Amman, Bath Sheeva, Nairobi and Addis Ababa. James has taught in several European universities, lectures extensively, and is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Education’s London Knowledge Lab. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London, looking at the complex interactions that make up the visitor’s experience of an exhibition. A detailed look at James’s approach to informal learning can be found in his book, Interaction in the museum: observing supporting learning ISBN: 3-89811-635-2 EAN: 9783898116350 Libri: 5095247

The past two years James has been Director of the Next Generation foundation, a foundation he created for Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, CEO of LEGO. A private non-profit initiative, the Next Generation Foundation supports three ‘P’s - Platform, Projects and Placements. The NGf provides a platform for advocates of a ‘creative society’ with its Map of Creativity, initiates projects such as Making Playful Learning Visible, and finds placements for innovative educators. The Next Generation Foundation was launched on March 20th 2004 in London. The NGf mission is to help create a world in which creativity in all its forms is recognised as a central human value: as an essential part of psychological well-being, as preparation for a change-driven economy, as a fundamental skill of democratic society and as a defining characteristic of humankind. The political and economic dimensions of creativity are central to the NGf mission.

James continues to organise informal seminars on informal learning at the London Knowledge Lab on a regular basis. Recent seminars have included 'the museum of learning', interactivity and hands-on science, internet safety, and ubiquitous learning. If you would like to be invited to these seminars, please contact James directly.

James continues to organise informal seminars on informal learning at the London Knowledge Lab on a regular basis. Recent seminars have included 'the museum of learning',

interactivity and hands-on science, internet safety, and ubiquitous learning. If you would like to be invited to these seminars, please contact James directly.

In addition to his work on museums and museum management, James often writes on other subjects. His writings include a series on Gastronomy for the Russian journal Imperial, children’s stories, and occasional essays. These writings not only help to ease the ennui of bleak rainy days and long winter nights, but often add new dimensions to his writings on learning, museums and art.

James continues to organise informal seminars on informal learning at the London Knowledge Lab on a regular basis. Recent seminars have included 'the museum of learning', interactivity and hands-on science, internet safety, and ubiquitous learning. If you would like to be invited to these seminars, please contact James directly.

Since September 2006 James M. Bradburne has been Director General of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy (www.palazzostrozzi.org). The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi is responsible for programming the public spaces of the Palazzo Strozzi - Florence's largest temporary exhibition space. One of the world's finest examples of Renaissance domestic architecture, the Palazzo Strozzi has hosted some of Florence's most famous exhibitions since it was re-opened after the War, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (1949), Singer Sargent (1966) and more recently Botticelli and Filippo Lippi (2003) The Fondazione's first exhibition, Cezanne a Firenze (2007) attracted over 250,000 visitors, and 2008 has seen exhibitions on the Tang Dynasty, Impressionist painting techniques, the Medici Queens of France, Chinese contemporary art and the contemporary art market . The Palazzo Strozzi opened a modern café in November 2007, a free permanent exhibition on the Palazzo and its history, and installed video information screens in the courtyard to alert visitors to events in the Palazzo Strozzi and in Florence’s other major cultural venues. In March 2009 an innovative museum shop will complete the Fondazione’s initiatives to revitalise the Palazzo Strozzi’s public spaces. The Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina now hosts a comprehensive programme of exhibitions, events, lectures and activities throughout the year. In 2009 the Palazzo Strozzi will host a major exhibition on Galileo as the key event in Italy’s celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Galile’s observation of the moon (March 13 – August 30), an exhibition on the art of Trompe l’oeil illusions (October 16 – 24 January, 2010), Emerging Talents, Green Platform and an exhibition of contemporary photography, Manipulating Reality. From April ‘till July the courtyard will host a site-specific installation by Yves Netzhammer. The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi aims to revitalise the Palazzo, which will be open year-round and host a wide variety of activities including exhibitions, events, lectures and programmes designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of users of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds. Its cultural strategy is ‘visible listening’, and it aims to not only respond to, but recognise and support, the widest possible variety of voices at the Palazzo Strozzi. Already after two years the Palazzo Strozzi is becoming a much-loved cultural piazza at the heart of Florence, a place that both local people and visitors come back to again and again. James continues to work with the Centro Internationale Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia, and with institutions in London, Germany and Holland, including the Photographers' Gallery, the Courtauld Institute and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum. Since Spring 2006 he has been a member of the International Advisory Committee for the new 100,000 sq. metre National Science and Technology Museum which opens in Fall 2009 in Beijing and the Advisory Board for Informal Learning at Channel 4 in London.

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No website can fully capture the breadth of interest of an active professional, nor keep pace with his output. In addition to his work on exhibitions, museums and learning, James M. Bradburne continues to work on a variety of other projects related to the history of art, science and technology, such as research into the lives of the Dutch alchemist and inventor, Cornelis Drebbel (1572-1633) and the Huguenot garden architect Salomon de Caus (1573-1626). In recognition that museums are still largely short of material for children and young adults, he has written several children’s/young person’s catalogues to accompany exhibitions he has designed. These include The Lost City on the Silk Road (Villa Favorita, 1993), The Merchants of Light (Prague 1997) and Theatre of Reason/Theatre of Desire (Frankfurt, 1999). His work as a designer, architect, exhibition maker and museum director have also resulted in several exhibition reviews and articles on space, museums and contemporary art.

James continues to organise informal seminars on informal learning at the London Knowledge Lab on a regular basis. Recent seminars have included 'the museum of learning', interactivity and hands-on science, internet safety, and ubiquitous learning. If you would like to be invited to these seminars, please contact James directly.

James M. Bradburne is a British-Canadian architect, designer and museum specialist who has designed World's Fair pavilions, science centres, and international art exhibitions. Educated in Canada and England, he developed numerous exhibitions, research projects and symposia for UNESCO, UNICEF, national governments, private foundations, and museums worldwide during the course of the past twenty years. In 1994 he was invited to join newMetropolis Science and Technology Center in Amsterdam as Head of Design, Research and Development, and was responsible for the planning of new exhibits, exhibitions, programmes, and products for newMetropolis. From January 1st, 1999 until the end of 2002 he directed the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (mak.frankfurt) in Frankfurt am Main. He currently directs the Next Generation foundation (NGf), an independent foundation to promote innovation in informal learning initiated by the president of LEGO, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. He currently sits on several international advisory committees and museum boards, and recently curated and designed exhibitions including Rudolph II and Prague (Prague Castle 1997) and Blood: perspectives on art, power, politics and pathology (mak.frankfurt/Schirn Kunsthalle 2001). He lectures internationally about new approaches to informal learning, and has published extensively.

James continues to organise informal seminars on informal learning at the London Knowledge Lab on a regular basis. Recent seminars have included 'the museum of learning', interactivity and hands-on science, internet safety, and ubiquitous learning. If you would like to be invited to these seminars, please contact James directly.

'the museum has to function as an institution for the prevention of blindness in order to make works work. And making works work is the museum's major mission. Works work when, by stimulating inquisitive looking, sharpening perception, raising visual intelligence, widening perspectives, and marking off neglected significant kinds, they participate in the organisation and reorganisation of experience, in the making and re-making of our worlds’ Nelson Goodman,1980 The institutions of informal learning – museums, science centres, exhibitions, libraries – have been the core of James’s public and private activities for over twenty years. In addition to consulting for UNESCO, UNICEF, national governments and private foundations, James and his business partner Drew Ann Wake played a key role in encouraging the debate about the effectiveness of hands-on science centres in the 1990s. Their critical approach to the interactive science centre resulted in a series of exhibitions for the newly founded Science Alberta Foundation in 1991, and the Mine Games exhibition at Science World in Vancouver in 1993 (see exhibitions) which called in to question the conventional approach to hands-on exhibits based on the model of the San Francisco Exploratorium. From 1994 James was Head of Design for the newMetropolis, where he led a team of over thirty young Dutch designers and educators to realise a ‘science centre for the 21st century’, based in large part on a rejection of many of the prevailing practices in the science centre field. Opened in 1997, newMetropolis’s exhibitions set new standards for engagement and visitor interaction. James’s approach to informal learning, culminating in the newMetropolis experiment, can be found in his book, Interaction in the museum: observing supporting learning ISBN: 3-89811-635-2 EAN: 9783898116350 Libri: 5095247 In 1999, James left newMetropolis to become Director of the Museum for Applied Art in Frankfurt, Germany (mak.frankfurt). There he relaunched the museum in 2000, with a new emphasis on learning, design and interaction. Of particular importance was the new emphasis on the collection and exhibition of digital ‘artefacts’, which was the focus of a three-year project Digital Craft. As of 2000, the museum offered bilingual interpretation, a first-rate restaurant, a shop featuring contemporary design, and wireless internet throughout the museum. Open until 8pm daily, the result was to double the attendance, and attract a large number of new private sector partners to the museum. Despite the public success, it was hindered by its legal status as a municipal museum, and accountable to a cumbersome cultural bureaucracy, which made it impossible to manage effectively. The experience of managing change at the Frankfurt museum generated a number of key insights into how best to create sustainable institutions.

James continues to organise informal seminars on informal learning at the London Knowledge Lab on a regular basis. Recent seminars have included 'the museum of learning', interactivity and hands-on science, internet safety, and ubiquitous learning. If you would like to be invited to these seminars, please contact James directly.

‘The demoralisation of our … audiences springs from the fact that neither venue nor audience has any idea what is supposed to go on there. […] The one tribute we can pay the audience is to treat it as thoroughly intelligent. It is utterly wrong to treat people as simpletons when they are grown up at seventeen.’ Bertolt Brecht, interview, 1926 James M. Bradburne is an experienced and innovative exhibition maker. Since 1986, when he designed pavilions for Expo ’86, the World’s Fair in Vancouver, Canada, James has developed an international reputation for the quality of his exhibition concepts. Working together with Canadian anthropologist Drew Ann Wake, he designed exhibitions including The Body in the Library, Beyond the Naked Eye (both for the Science Alberta Foundation), and Mine Games (for Science World, Vancouver). For InterCultura, a Texas-based not-for-profit foundation, he played a major role in organising The Wanderers (Dallas Museum of Art et al. 1991), The Gates of Mystery (Walters Art Gallery et al. including the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1992-4)), African Zion (Walters Art Gallery et al. 1993) and The New Barbarians (opened as The Primitive Roots of the Russian Avantgarde, Walters Art Gallery 2002). In 1997, he curated the exhibition The Merchants of Light, part of the international blockbuster Rudolph II and Prague: the Court and the City (Prague Castle 1997). As Director of Frankfurt’s Museum für Angewandte Kunst (mak.frankfurt) he curated Blood: perspectives on art, power, politics and pathology, which opened to international acclaim in November 2001 and ‘I think, therefore I shop’ with Murray Moss in 2002. James M. Bradburne continues to develop exhibitions for museums and foundations around the world, and is currently working on exhibitions including Loot: spoils of war 1618-2003, Infectious! The story of how things spread, and The skies over Baghdad: science in the name of Islam.

James continues to organise informal seminars on informal learning at the London Knowledge Lab on a regular basis. Recent seminars have included 'the museum of learning', interactivity and hands-on science, internet safety.