CRSAAT Mag Issue 5

A Central RSA Academies Trust Publication

It is believed that this was the factor that As we all know, the Great Exhibition was a huge
secured Prince Albert’s support for the idea. success. An amazing six million people visited it
Cole proposed to Albert that they should think in only a few months, around a quarter of the
even bigger and go international. This appealed, population! One of the reasons was that it was
partly as it would unite the nations to compete funded entirely by ‘the people’, from donations,
in a peaceful contest, rather than in battle, thus rather than heavy taxes, and so the masses felt
promoting free trade and peace. And so the ownership, which excited them. The Society
‘Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations’, which of Arts was now placed at the centre of the
became known as the Great Exhibition of 1851, movement to make Britain competitive.
was born. Cole and the Society began fundraising.
It is because the funds were not rolling in swiftly The funds made from the exhibition went to
enough that Prince Albert then appointed a Royal building the Victoria and Albert Museum, the
Commission to accelerate the project. Cole and world’s leading museum of art and design, and so
the others involved with the society remained at the legacy impact of Cole, beyond the RSA itself,
the centre of the project, for instance choosing can be enjoyed by us all today. Spare a thought
the famous design of the enormous greenhouse for them the next time you visit, and for our staff,
(which became known as the Crystal Palace) by when arranging student visits to the V&A, the
Joseph Paxton, to house the exhibition in Hyde Park. connection to our sponsor is worth making. When
our children in school present their powerful
thinking and turn them into practical actions, we
continue to encourage them to exhibit these in
a myriad of ways. Our exhibitions and sharing of
success build very much on the traditions of the
now Royal Society, whose powerful thinking and
practical action led to one of the great moments
in our country’s history.

Many thanks to Anton Howes, Historian of Innovation and
Historian in Residence, both for sharing his research
to enable this article, but also for his excellent
speeches bringing to life the history of the RSA
to the young people in our schools who
visited the RSA for takeover day.

Image Credit: Thanks to the RSA
and Cognative for use of the

image from Rawthmells Coffee
House Mural 2019 by Cognitive

www.wearecognative.com

51

TRADITIONALLY, LIFE HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO
TWO MAIN PARTS: A PERIOD OF LEARNING
FOLLOWED BY A PERIOD OF WORKING.
VERY SOON, THIS TRADITIONAL MODEL WILL
BECOME UTTERLY OBSOLETE, AND THE ONLY
WAY FOR HUMANS TO STAY IN THE GAME WILL
BE TO KEEP LEARNING THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES
AND TO REINVENT THEMSELVES REPEATEDLY.

-YUVAL NOAH HARARI

BIRMINGHAM REVOLUTIONS – POWER TO THE PEOPLE
7th December - 4th September 2020
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Exhibition
This event is free

A Central RSA Academies Trust Publication
Issue 5 Winter Term 2019 / 20

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