In this case study, we hear from Jack (Wei-Chieh Tsai), a doctoral student from History of Art and Geography who examines how cultural intermediaries, including artists, curators, and cultural organisations, have contributed to urban development.
My PhD research examines the role of artistic interventions in transforming post-industrial Birmingham between 1986 and 2016. The project examines how cultural intermediaries, including artists, curators, and cultural organisations, have contributed to community development, cultural policy, and the reshaping of urban space in a city marked by industrial decline and demographic diversity. The thirty-year period covered by this study represents a particularly significant moment in Birmingham’s urban history. During these decades, cultural policy in the UK emphasised the creative economy and promoted the arts as a means of encouraging social inclusion and urban regeneration. My research investigates how cultural practitioners navigated relationships with both public and private sectors while responding to wider challenges such as social inequality, gentrification, and changing urban identities.
Methodologically, the project combines organisational case studies with qualitative interviews conducted with artists and cultural practitioners working in Birmingham, focusing specifically on Digbeth and its adjacent areas within the context of a cultural quarter. These interviews form a central part of the research, offering valuable insight into how cultural actors understand their own role in shaping the city’s cultural and urban landscape. However, they also produce a large volume of audio material that must be transcribed before it can be analysed systematically. Accurate and appropriate transcription is essential for identifying recurring themes, interpreting narratives, and examining how participants describe and reflect on cultural change within the city
To generate transcripts efficiently, I run Python-based codes on the high-performance computing resources provided by BlueBEAR. By submitting audio files to the cluster via the command line, I am able to process multiple recordings simultaneously, making use of its powerful CPUs and scalable computing environment. This significantly reduces the time required to produce transcripts and enables the research workflow to keep pace with ongoing fieldwork. As a result, I can devote more time to analysing the material and developing a deeper understanding of how artistic practices and cultural intermediaries have shaped Birmingham’s evolving urban landscape.
We were so pleased to hear of how Jack was able to make use of what is on offer from Advanced Research Computing, particularly to hear of how they have made use of the BEAR compute – if you have any examples of how it has helped your research then do get in contact with us at bearinfo@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
We are always looking for good examples of use of High Performance Computing to nominate for HPC Wire Awards – see our recent winner for more details.