Society is ever-evolving. New technologies have accelerated this change, and with that there comes a dichotomy. We can start to look at notions of progress and unpick what that really means. In this information age, we have seen a radical shift in the way that news is produced and consumed. We can see that truth can be manipulated to change ways of thinking. Some call for a return to darker days, but through art we can spark conversations that unite rather than pull us apart. Art and culture help us make sense of our world and remember that humanity binds us together. In this welcome address, Cherie Federico, Director of Aesthetica, offers an overview of the 2024 Symposium.

The UK has been living in and out of austerity for over a decade. Public funding has been cut, and university arts departments are being dismantled. It’s easy to feel disheartened in the current landscape. But the truth is, art is everywhere – and so are opportunities. This session asks: how can we, as creatives, develop a new business model and diversify our income streams? There are so many ways to build a brand: collaborations, commercial partnerships, sales, marketing strategies. But where to start? This session will  demystify the process, empowering you to achieve milestones like gallery representation or getting into corporate collections. This is the business of working as an artist.

How do curators make decisions? How does an idea develop into a fully realised exhibition? How can you ensure it is a success? In a world where attention spans have reduced to three seconds, and AI generators make us look twice, how do you captivate audiences and ensure that public engagement is high? What opportunities are there for emerging practitioners in an age defined by footfall and what is “Instagrammable”? Who and what is being exhibited, how and why? This session discusses the role of the curator in all its many forms in the 21st century. The panelists are from some of the UK’s most prestigious galleries, including Turner Contemporary, The Art House, Tate, Harewood House and BALTIC.

London-based Heather Phillipson is a Turner-prize nominee whose multimedia projects include video, sculpture, installation, music, poetry and digital art. She describes her works – including RUPTURE NO 1: blowtorching the bitten peach at Tate Britain, London, and her Fourth Plinth commission, THE END. –  as “quantum thought experiments.” They unfold as absurd and complex systems in which wildly different images and materials collide. The artist explains that her works suggest “received ideas, images and the systems that underpin them may be on the verge of collapse.” Phillipson will discuss her career to date, including the recent Dream Land, which recasts archival BBC wildlife footage as a hallucination. 

AI, particularly generative AI, raises questions about both the history and future of culture and creativity. Some of this plays out in the creative industries but it also has an impact on the role of museums. What would a museum be, born first in the era of AI, without historic baggage, aged ideas of philanthropy, legacy, and human-only perspective? How can AI help museums decentre narratives and expand their relevance? Dr Suzanne Livingston co-curated the exhibition AI: more than Human at the Barbican Centre, which navigated the history and evolution of AI with work from Es Devlin, TeamLab and MIT. It has been on global tour since its launch in 2019, and is currently on show at CCCB Barcelona.

Hannah Lim is a London-based artist whose practice is rooted in her mixed Singaporean and British heritage. Across ornamental sculptures and wall-based works, her work is an exploration into the historical intersections of these cultures, particularly as reflected in furniture, objects and architectural designs. Chinese and Medieval bestiaries, 18th century Chinoiserie and the feminist theories of Anne Anlin Cheng are central to Lim’s vibrant and whimsical sculptures. Underneath the vibrant motifs is a deep-rooted exploration of identity: pushing against fixed, post-colonial notions of race that are often a point of confusion and struggle for those from mixed cultural backgrounds. 

Marcus Lyon is a British artist whose socially charged works on globalisation can be found in the collections of Smithsonian, Art Institute of Chicago and Arts Council. His ambitious project, Human Atlas, celebrates individuals from around the world who are driving social change. The most recent collaboration with Getty focuses on Los Angeles. Each person, nominated by their community, is documented through photographic portraits, oral interviews and DNA maps, resulting in a chronicle of remarkable public servants, activists and scientists. Here, Lyon will speak about what it means to make research-based art, tapping into the intersections of science, anthropology and photography.

Join us to hear from four Aesthetica Art Prize finalists, who take to the stage to share their practice for four minutes each. They will give insights into how they made their shortlisted works. These represent the breadth of creativity, spanning photography, film, installation, sculpture, digital art and more. This is an opportunity to see behind the scenes of the Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition 2024, and to find out more about the creative minds and processes that brought these works to life. This is an inspiring quick-fire session that promises to be full of ideas, spotlighting new talents making waves in the art world today. The perfect session to attend ahead of the evening’s private view at York Art Gallery.

The art world is always changing. In the last decade, we’ve seen the rise and fall of NFTs as well as controversies around AI. Institutions have been reassessing their collections in the wake of important social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, whilst books such as The History of Art Without Men and The New Black Vanguard have put representation front and centre. Creatives continue to respond to pressing socio-political and ecological issues. In this panel, Chair Alexandra Woodall, and artists Hope Strickland, Sadie Clayton, Ori Gersht and Yuri Suzuki discuss: what is it like to make work right now? How do you stay resilient with funding cuts? And what is going to happen next?

Glasgow-based Margaret Salmon is known for creating award-winning filmic portraits that weave together poetry and ethnography. She focuses on family, friends and local subjects, chronicling everyday activities and meaningful connections. Here, Salmon will talk about how she adapts techniques from various cinematic movements, including Cinema Vérité, the European Avant Garde and Italian Neo-Realism, whilst taking an intuitive – and often improvised – approach to both camera and sound. Salmon won the first Max Mara Art Prize for Women and has since been shortlisted for the Jarman Award. She has exhibited at Venice Biennale, Whitechapel Gallery and ICA, amongst others.

The past 12 months have been filled with discussions surrounding the definition of photography. When Boris Eldagsen’s now-infamous AI-generated piece, The Electrician, won a Sony World Photography Award in 2023, it sparked a serious discussion around our trust in images. In this panel, five lens-based artists and curators, Hannah Starkey, Kavi Pujara, Mary Phan,  Tom Hunter and Edgar Martins, speak with chair Dr Ope Lori about their work. They’ll answer questions like: What are the ethics of documentary in 2024? How do you construct a “good” shot? What does the ever-increasing capability of smartphones mean for the future? What are the emerging trends in photography?

In 2023, Photoshop launched AI generative fill, making it possible to transform pictures with just a text prompt. In this session, we ask: what do advancements like this mean for the future of human imagination? What are the pitfalls of AI in the creative industries? Conversely, what can these technologies do for good? Art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast; Ana-Despina Tudor from LCC; Jenna Ng from University of York and Barbican’s Acting Co-Head Patrick Moran will talk about a fast-developing field.  They’ll also speak about immersive installations and XR, showing us what we can achieve by breaking the boundaries between art, technology, gaming and new media.

How can temporary artworks transform our perceptions of a place? Steve Messam creates outdoor installations that are “bigger than a house.” The environmental artist uncovers hidden stories in rural and built landscapes. Bright colours and geometric shapes are hallmarks of his style, encouraging us to perceive familiar places in new ways. He’s worked on major projects with Aesthetica, the National Railway Museum and National Trust, and exhibited at Milan Design Week and Venice Biennale. Messam will share how he transforms 22,000 paper sheets, 100 cubic metres of air and five kilometres of fabric into art. He’ll speak about the value of resilience in creating a sustainable practice.

“You are not one, you are multiple, and you are yourself.” Philosopher Édouard Glissant’s words are at the heart of interdisciplinary works by Julianknxx. Right now, the Sierra Leonian poet, artist and filmmaker is showing Chorus in Rememory of Flight at the Barbican Centre – an immersive commission that explores themes of inheritance, loss and belonging. The piece blends the written word, music and art to deconstruct dominant perspectives on African history and culture. Julianknxx’s conveys the Black experience of defining and redefining the self. He speaks with curator and programmer Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf about music as resistance and making art from multiple places, times and genres.

Celebrate with us and meet artists from both the short and longlists of the 2024 Aesthetica Art Prize as we close of the Future Now Symposium 2024. This drinks reception, taking place in the Medieval Gallery at Yorkshire Museum, is a fantastic opportunity to unwind after a busy day of sessions, portfolio reviews and networking. Catch up with participants and delegates. Make new connections. Discuss themes from the sessions you’ve attended. This casual social is a great way to finish off the Symposium. It’s a destination for meeting attendees over a complimentary drink, served on a first-come, first-served basis. All pass- holders welcome. We look forward to seeing you there to round off the event!