July 21, 2017

Gail Lord Makes Museums A Soft Power Factor in Latest Top 30 Rankings

The third annual Soft Power 30 index has been released by Portland Communications in partnership with Facebook. The Index is the world’s most comprehensive comparative assessment of global soft power, it combines objective data and international polling to build the clearest picture of global soft power to date. This year’s index features the article “The soft power of museums” by Gail Lord, President and co-founder of Lord Cultural Resources, in which she emphasizes how cultural institutions leave their mark. Gail also discusses the rise of museums as prominent soft power platforms through the amplification of civic discourse, accelerating of cultural change and contribution to cultural intelligence.

“Cities have long understood that place-making and a strong cultural brand is essential to their soft power. Many museum have been planned at the epicenter of ambitious urban development project with the goal of repositioning their cities on the global scene and improving quality of life.”

These developments strengthen the arguments made in Cities, Museums and Soft Power published in 2015, co-authored by Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg, forefronting museums and other cultural organizations in the accumulation of soft power.