Lorraine Lim Prize

• Lorraine Lim, an inspirational Lecturer in Arts Management in the former Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies since 2010, died in September 2017, aged 37, following complications from cancer.
• As a young scholar she had quickly established herself as an internationally respected cultural policy researcher with truly global aspirations, promoting intercultural exchange and creative justice.
• Born and raised in Singapore, she went on to study Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne before completing her education with an MPhil in Dramaturgy from the University of Glasgow and gaining a PhD in Cultural Policy from the University of Warwick in 2009. At the same time, she worked as an arts reviewer in Singapore and stage manager for performances at the International Fringe Festivals in Adelaide and Melbourne. Having secured an early career fellowship with the Warwick’s Institute for Advanced Study in 2009, she subsequently joined the Arts Management team at Birkbeck in 2010. She was the leading force in establishing a Foundation Degree in Arts and Media Management, and taught Cultural Policy and Arts Management from Foundation to PhD level. She was a gifted scholar and educator and her students knew her as a passionate, fair and hard-working tutor, who would encourage academic potential with humorous rigour.
• Early on, with her doctoral research in the global field of Cultural Production, she investigated the aspirations of her birthplace Singapore as an international player in the Arts. Subsequently, her interest in cultural flows in inter-Asian cultural productions, as well as her exploration of variations in understanding creativity between Europe and South East Asia, gained attention in numerous publications, including a collection on Cultural Policies in East Asia (2014) and the forthcoming Asian Cultural Flows (2018).
• She excelled in bringing people together, developing projects and successfully applying for grants. Her tireless dedication to work allowed her to challenge employment conditions for graduates in the creative sector by developing curricula that prepare and equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge.
• Lorraine enjoyed arts and culture in the broadest sense, exploring new playwrights with the same enthusiasm as she visited Harry Potter film sets, taking friends and colleagues along. She was on the waiting list for the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth and partied through Eurovision every year. She was energetic and caring, and we all appreciated her no-nonsense approach to living life at a fast pace. Her research will go on to be read by students and professionals for years to come, but we will forever miss her sharp wit and wisdom in all she did.

Obituary written by Lorraine's colleagues Sophie Hope, Justin Schlosberg and Simone Wesner

Lorraine Lim, an inspirational Lecturer in Arts Management in the Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies since 2010, died in September 2017 aged 37, following complications from cancer.

As a young scholar she had quickly established herself as an internationally respected cultural policy researcher with truly global aspirations, promoting intercultural exchange and creative justice.

Born and raised in Singapore, she went on to study Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne before completing her education with an MPhil in Dramaturgy from the University of Glasgow and a PhD in Cultural Policy from the University of Warwick in 2009. At the same time, she worked as an arts reviewer in Singapore and stage manager for performances at the International Fringe Festivals in Adelaide and Melbourne. Having secured an early career fellowship with the Warwick's Institute for Advanced Study in 2009, she then joined the arts management team at Birkbeck in 2010. She was the leading force in establishing a Foundation degree in Arts and Media Management and taught Cultural Policy and Arts Management from foundation to PhD level. She was a gifted scholar and educator and her students knew her as a passionate, fair and hard-working tutor, who would encourage academic potential with humorous rigour.

Early on, with her doctoral research in the global field of Cultural Production, she investigated the aspirations of her birthplace Singapore as an international player in the Arts. Subsequently, her interest in cultural flows in inter-Asian cultural productions, as well as her exploration of variations in understanding creativity between Europe and South East Asia, gained attention in numerous publications: for example, in a collection on Cultural Policies in East Asia (2014) and the forthcoming Asian Cultural Flows (2018).

She excelled in bringing people together, developing projects and successfully applying for grants. Her tireless dedication to work allowed her to challenge employment conditions for graduates in the creative sector by developing curricula that prepare and equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge.

Lorraine helped to create and implement a paid internship policy at Department level that raised awareness of this issue for the wider creative sector internationally.

Lorraine enjoyed arts and culture in the broadest sense, exploring new playwrights with the same enthusiasm as she visited Harry Potter film sets, taking friends and colleagues along. She was on the waiting list for the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth and partied through Eurovision every year. She was energetic and caring, and we all appreciated her no-nonsense approach to living life at a fast pace. Her research will go on to be read by students and professionals for years to come but we will forever miss her sharp wit and wisdom in all she did.

International Journal of Cultural Policy tribute

Hye-Kyung Lee and Simone Wesner tribute written in the International Journal of Cultural Policy

• Read Lorraine's publications on Biron

• Relevance and interest in the broad and inclusive understanding of Cultural Policy. We welcome submissions that explore the issues of cultural flows, cultural work and labour, equality, justice, inclusion and giving voices to marginalised communities (0-5 marks) 
• Originality of the essay (0-5 marks) 
• Potential contribution to discussing broad cultural policy implications or identifying areas for policy intervention   (0-5 marks) 
• Meeting of academic style guidelines, including spelling, grammar, citation and referencing (0-5 marks) 

• The prize is open to postgraduate and undergraduate Birkbeck students (university-wide)

• The work is judged by a panel with the following members:
  • Hye-Kyung Lee (King’s College London)
  • Simone Wesner (Arts Management, Brikbeck)
  • Janet McCabe (Birkbeck)
  • Sophie Hope (Guildhall School of Music and Drama)
  • Leonard Lim (Lorraine’s brother)

• £600 to be distributed between the winners

Judges congratulate the winner of the 2023/24 Lorraine Lim Prize. Continuing the legacy of our colleague, a respected cultural policy researcher with truly global aspirations, promoting intercultural exchange and creative justice, our winner tackles her chosen areas with a similar spirit. Politically engaged, culturally relevant and germane, breaking new ground for cultural policy.

First Prize

The winner is Menna Williams with her essay What role does cultural memory play in understanding current arts policies.

Judges congratulate the winners of the 2022/23 Lorraine Lim Prize. Continuing the legacy of our colleague, a respected cultural policy researcher with truly global aspirations, promoting intercultural exchange and creative justice, our winners tackle their chosen areas with a similar spirit. Politically engaged, culturally relevant and germane, each work breaks new ground for cultural policy and studies.

Joint First Prize

Eibhlin Jones with What are the implications on the roles, responsibilities and systems of arts organisations when they become community youth work service providers?

Beth Gillings Pattison with Unpicking The Practitioner’s Perspective: Value-Creation of Crafts Expertise And Repair As An Act Of Care Within The UK Crafts Industry

The judges said:

Eibhlin Jones

This dissertation offer a judicious and balanced understanding of arts organisations involved in delivering community youth services, primarily based in London. It critically and carefully considers the implications of the increasing youth work carried out by the arts sector for artistic labour and delivers a novel and thoughtful intervention into the wider reaching implications such work could have on the infrastructure of arts organisations and the arts sector itself.

Important questions for the future of arts organisations are raised at a time of severe cuts in arts and youth provision. It is rare for people working in the sector to have the time and opportunity to do the extensive, reflective work it requires. Jones’ research thus provides a rigorous, nuanced investigation which can offer valuable insights for those busy doing the work. The thesis is very political, in that it provokes deeper questions about the politics behind the civic duties of publicly funded arts organisations, but also how the reality of limited funds push community arts to think about their practice and adopt strategies, such as participatory art, socially engaged practice, education programmes or outreach and inclusion projects. The thesis offers a valuable contribution to the field, informing debates about arts organisations providing youth services, with direct implications for not only cultural but also social policy.

Beth Gillings Pattison

This dissertation was judged as an intellectually thoughtful and critically rigorous piece of research on craft expertise, repair and value-creation. It demonstrates exceptionally well how theoretical concepts and practical findings can be woven together into a relational pattern to address the craft threshold through participants voices including craft practitioners. The dissertation deals with cultural value and value-creation of the craft industry related to garment repair, as it assiduously explores the care ethics behind repairing clothing items, to address wider questions related to craft and labour, the consumer and how they value the mend.

What impressed the judges most about this unique project was its reflexive and nuanced writing, as well as close engagement with theory and analysis. The thesis provides rich data and careful analysis, which Pattison uses to consider how expertise and craft is appreciated, and how this appreciation translates into the valuing of clothing items as part of a value chain of creation, skill and craft. The thesis is articulate and well researched with a breadth of reference points and understanding of the field, the history of the craft industry, making and repair in the UK. The work is pertinent to the textile industry and circular economies, connecting care, labour and the crafts industry. It offers data for cultural policy which could help broaden understanding of cultural value and how it is created, as well as provide a valuable contribution to the craft and textile sector.

Special mention

Wafa Jadallah with Through Thick and Thin: A Study on Cultural Hegemony in Palestine and Israel – A Comparative Analysis

The judges said:

This comparative study of the cultural policies within Israel/Palestine could not be timelier, given that the paper was written before the escalation of the recent conflict in Gaza. Drawing heavily on the work of Antonio Gramsci and his concept of hegemony, the thesis assesses the work of NGOs working in the region to preserve and conserve cultural heritage and historical sites. The thesis ties dynamic hegemonies of Palestine’s and Israel’s wider political struggles together, as it discusses practical cultural policy actions in a passionate and a pertinent manner.

Everyone agreed that this is a significant piece of work which gives an overview of the backdrop to the cultural landscape in relation to State power through the cultural policy contexts of Israel and Palestine. The fact that it was written prior to the events of 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza made this a very moving read. The judges urge Wafa to continue researching this area, to find a way of updating the work given the current crisis.

The Judging Committee for the Lorraine Lim Prize is delighted to announce the winners for the academic year 2021/22. We’d like to congratulate the students for their rich, innovative and insightful dissertations. Both prize winners this year were students on the MA Arts Policy and Management at Birkbeck.

First Prize

“For me, it’s life or death”: How working-class origins shape the lived experiences and career trajectories of theatre actors by Liron Shekel

The judges said:

It is really impressive to hear very candid voices of the interviewees about their experiences and reflections. I think Liron deals with a familiar topic but presents surprisingly rich and in-depth analysis. What a great achievement!

Liron does a great job of focusing on the experiences of actors who have working-class origins, which are often missing from research on career trajectories in the arts. Her work is extremely well written and brings new insights to challenge assumptions about precarious conditions in the sector. The subject matter of theatre work is close to Lorraine’s research and practical experience, having had a background in theatre herself. The dissertation is a great example of how the students on the MA Lorraine used to teach on are continuing to explore issues of equality and careers in this sector.

Second prize

Networking Nuances: Analysing systemic racism in the arts by Vanessa Mirza

It is very interesting to see how Vanessa’s personal (and professional) journey informs her research journey. This dissertation also nicely weaves two of Lorraine’s core research interests – social justice and network.

This is an innovative approach to researching arts policy and management which brings autoethnography into an analysis of racism in the dance sector. Vanessa has produced an important piece of work which boldly explores her own experiences and sets an example of how students can bring their voice into academic research. The role of networking that provides the theoretical framework for Vanessa’s dissertation also connects to Lorraine’s research into changing social networks of arts and creative workers.

Postgraduate prize

It is with great pleasure to announce Francesca Danesi as this year’s winner of the Postgraduate MA Lorraine Lim Prize for her dissertation Cultural diversity, Italian brava gente, and everyone else: Exploring discourses around second-generation youth within the 2015-2018 government-led MigrArti initiative that she wrote for the MA in Arts Policy and Management. The Committee unanimously agreed that this thesis was well-researched and fluently written, and emerged as the strongest of the MA submissions, in terms of its depth of analysis and critical insight.

Undergraduate prize

The Committee award Dalma Tarnok as this year’s winner of the Undergraduate Lorraine Lim Prize for their final project, Evaluating Inclusion and Accessibility in Museums for School Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This excellent undergraduate dissertation written for their BA Arts and Media Management about museum access for children on the autism spectrum is a timely topic about a much often overlooked disability and the findings offer practical solutions for museums looking to support children with a range of conditions, such as sensory sensitivities and a lack of social skills, during their visit.

Runner up

The runner-up prize goes to Ellen Kemp for her essay London’s Independent Cinemas and COVID-19 Restrictions: Responses, online solutions and impacts on the UK film exhibition sector. It represented the best of the film submissions, with a solid and comprehensive report about the impact of lockdown on the activities of independent film exhibition in London. This essay was written for the MA Film and Screen Media with Film Programming and Curating.

First prize

It is with great pleasure to announce Fernando ESPINACH as this year's winner of the Lorraine Lim Prize for his dissertation Shedding Skins: Curating Central American women filmmakers’ minor cinema after 2010 that he wrote in the summer 2019 for the MA in Film Curating. Fernando’s work throws light on a cinema which is little known and precarious but full of intellectual ambition in advocating for and intervening into culture.

Runner up

The runner-up prize goes to Carolyn Ehman for her dissertation Gatekeeping at the Intersection of Time & Care: Exploring the Role of Hire Managers in Charitable Performing Arts Organisations in which she draws attention to an important but often ‘hidden’ profession. This dissertation was submitted for the MA in Arts Policy and Management.

First prize

We are proud to announce Karla Paulina Gudiño Yañez as the first winner of the Lorraine Lim Prize for her essay The human rights-based approach in cultural heritage policy: comparing international and local standards in Jalisco, Mexico that she wrote in the summer 2018 for the module Comparative Cultural Policy.

Runner up

The runner-up prize goes to Adelheid Russenberger for her essay in which she asked if the National Pavilion Structure of the Venice Biennale is still relevant in 2017-18?. This essay was submitted for the module Art Museums in a Global Age.