Arts And Cultural Thought-Leadership Summit 2026 – A public summit on the thought-leadership of the arts and culture in and beyond crisis.

WHAT: If It Don’t Exist, Build It: Ctrl+Alt+Reimagine #wsasummit | A public summit on the thought-leadership of the arts and culture in and beyond crisis

WHEN: 02 September 2026 Wednesday | Doors open 13:30 | Summit: 14:00-17:00 | Followed by WSA MA Degree Show Preview 17:00-19:00

WHOM: Featuring: Artist Larry Achiampong | Plus: Emmie Kell (Arts Council England) | Richard Martin (Whitechapel Gallery) | Paula Orrell (CVAN) | Georgia Thom | Trinity Art Group | ACL Collective | and more

WHERE: Rotunda, Winchester School of Art, Park Avenue, Winchester, SO23 8DL. Walking/wheeling directions here, plain text here

HOW: Formats include: Keynote-lecture | Student-led breakout activities | Walk | Speed-Dating | Agenda co-Creation | Showreel | Masterclass Towards Dismantling the Master Story of Leadership, and more

HOW* (ACCESS): Live captioning and quiet space provided | For other access requirements and enquiries, email Stella (amtfos@soton.ac.uk) | The summit is in-person. | Follow live posts from @uni_southampton_wsa and the tag #wsasummit. | Join mailing list for summit highlights and follow-up activities

WHY: If It Don’t Exist, Build It: Ctrl+Alt+Reimagine is a public summit defining and shaping the thought-leadership of SHAPE (Social sciences, Humanities, and the Arts for People and the Economy), with a focus on the role of the arts and culture in and beyond crisis, at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton.

Convened by Dr Kai Syng Tan with the MA Arts and Cultural Leadership, John Hansard Gallery (JHG) and Faculty of Arts and Humanities Dean Professor Miguel Mera, we will explore the role of creative thinking to shape agendas and inspire change.

Not to be missed: Keynote-lecture by Larry Achiampong. The acclaimed UK-Ghanian artist is joined by Dr Emmie Kell (Arts Council England Director of Museum), Georgia Thom (digital artist finishing her PhD on neuro-futuristic, transgender, transdisciplinary insights), Dr Richard Martin (Whitechapel Gallery Director of Participation), Woodrow Kernohan (JHG Director), Trinity Art Group (addressing homelessness and vulnerability), Contemporary Visual Arts Network National Director Paula Orrell, and others.

Under Larry’s guidance, and drawing on his Tate-published book If It Don’t Exist, Build It, the summit title, tagline and logo have been co-created with The ACL Collective, comprising a group of MA Arts and Cultural Leadership students). “‘Ctrl+Alt+Reimagine’ suggests that when systems or ideas get stuck, instead of giving up, we can reimagine and create new possibilities’, says Collective producer Zhuoyi Gao (Zoey).

The logo draws on the Ghanian Nkyinkyim, an Akan word for ‘twisting’. This represents the meandering nature of life and the toughness, and the versatility and dynamism required to survive and thrive in it. We imbued this with a Bauhaus look, but also activated Pan African colours: red for struggle, green for the natural wealth of Africa, and yellow for wealth and growth. This pictogram thus becomes a passionate call for action, for our challenging times ahead.

To book tickets to this event please follow this link.

*The summit is an inclusive space – racism, xenophobia, transphobia, ableism and other discriminatory behaviour and/or language will not be tolerated. Read guidelines here. *Read Advance HE post for context. *See MA Arts and Cultural Leadership showreel here.

MA DEGREE SHOW PREVIEW – Thursday 2 September, 17:00-19:00

Winchester School of Art is delighted to host its annual MA (Master of Arts) Degree Show from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 5 September 2026. This free-to-attend show features exhibits from our graduating, Masters-level students on our taught postgraduate programmes.

All attendees of the Arts And Cultural Thought-Leadership Summit 2026 are invited to stay for the Preview of this year’s show directly after the summit.  For more information visit the MA Degree Show Page.