The British Academy Ideas Festival - Exhibits
Immerse yourself in a world of new ideas from our inspiring researchers.
Dragons in the sky: the northern lights and medieval imagination
Professor Marilina Cesario, Queen's University Belfast
Reading Room - Ground Floor
People once believed the northern lights were dragons, omens and fire in the sky. Step into a world seeking explanations, where the heavens felt dangerous and stories shaped reality. Through this immersive encounter, our researchers bring medieval manuscripts, modern astronomy and sensory elements together to explore how humans turned fear and wonder into meaning.
British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship
Selling on the edge: how to survive as a street vendor
Dr Swati Dhingra and Lachi Singh, London School of Economics and Political Science
Reading Room - Ground Floor
No storage. No shelter. No safety net. Just constant decisions that can make or break a working day. Use real data, images and interactive challenges to put yourself inside the lives of street vendors – and ask what ‘fair work’ really means when systems aren’t built to support you.
British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant
Choreographing inflatables: place, politics, performance
Professor Alexandra Kolb, University of Roehampton; Professor Derek McCormack, University of Oxford; Dr Michael Shaw, Loughborough University
Music Room - First Floor
Inflatables aren’t just playful – they create history. From moon landings to protest movements, soft structures have shaped how our bodies move, gather and resist. Explore their artistic, scientific and environmental stories of inflatables and rethink choreography as a tool for imagination and change.
British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant
Seeking dignity: menstrual health & homelessness
Dr Stephanie Barker, Frances Greenway, University of Southampton, Gabriella Orsini, Loretta Shaw, OutcomeHome
Council Room - First Floor
Periods don’t stop when housing disappears. Through lived experiences and tangible materials, discover what it means to experience/face/manage periods without privacy, safety or security. Confront how stigma, silence and systems shape everyday life — challenging us to think differently about dignity and care.
British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant
Fair or unfair? When AI meets the law
Dr Jingxi Liu and Dr Xiaojun Luo, independent scholars
Council Room - First Floor
Algorithms influence our decisions about jobs, money and healthcare – but are they fair? Guided by our researchers, step into everyday AI dilemmas, test ideas like equality and discrimination, and judge where the law should draw the line between data, power and people.
British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant
Can photos speak? Visual encounters of tourism, culture, and environment
Dr Jamie Mcphie, Dave Clarke and Lisa Fenton, University of Cumbria; Dr Trần Hoài, Vietnam National University; Dr Myles Lynch, VinUniversity
Beatrice Webb Room - First Floor
How do photographs change meaning as they move between people, places and cultures? Our researchers work with photographs and stories from tour guides in Vietnam to explore what gets noticed, misread or lost when lived moments are turned into tourist images.
Official Development Assistance International Interdisciplinary Research Projects Grant
I speak therefore I think: what is the language of thought?
Dr Yael Benn, Manchester Metropolitan University; Professor Rosemary Varley, University College London
Beatrice Webb Room - First Floor
Does thinking depend on language – and what happens when our language is disrupted by conditions such as aphasia? Test ideas, solve puzzles and rethink your own bias about intelligence, reasoning and capacity - questioning how the mind really works.
British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant
Interactive Learning Trail
Soundship
Dr Tin Cugelj
Start in the Waiting Room
Explore life aboard crowded pilgrim ships travelling between Venice and Jerusalem over 350 years ago. Drawing on travel diaries, letters, ship records and early music, follow a hands-on journey across all floors of the Academy to reveal how sound shaped communication, safety and fleeting communities at sea – and what these journeys can teach us about coexistence across cultures today.
British Academy Early Career Researcher