The Achates Philanthropy Foundation Announces its First National Symposium

The Achates Philanthropy Foundation is delighted to announce its first national Symposium - entitled 'All That's Been Revealed' - a free online week-long event launching this November, exploring the future of the arts and their role in wider society curated by guest artist, Javaad Alipoor.

The Achates Philanthropy Foundation is best known for initiating the annual Achates Philanthropy Prize, promoting the democratisation of philanthropy by celebrating first time supporters of the arts across the UK. First launched in 2016, last year saw the Prize return for its fifth year reimagined in response to the Covid-19 pandemic to celebrate the groundswell of art organisations who had engaged more deeply with their audiences and communities during a uniquely challenging year. This ceremony was preceded by a free one-day virtual conference: 'Art, Audiences, Money', presented in partnership with HOME, Manchester, uniting sector leaders including Sufina Ahmad, Director of The John Ellerman Foundation; Javaad Alipoor, founding Artistic Director of The Javaad Alipoor Company; Henny Finch, Executive Director of The Donmar Warehouse; journalist and author, Lyn Gardner; Anisa Morridadi, founder and CEO of Beatfreeks; Dave Moutrey, Director and Chief Executive of HOME, Manchester; Abdul Shayek, Artistic Director and joint CEO of Tara Arts; Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; as well as hundreds of participants from across the UK, to explore routes forward for the sector.

The 2021 Achates Philanthropy Foundation Symposium builds on the success of its predecessor, expanding into a virtual symposium, curated independently to offer a philosophical exploration of a host of questions anchored around its central theme, All That's Been Revealed. Taking place from 15 to 19 November, online events will include a keynote lecture and a series of round tables and panel discussions.

The Symposium programme, devised by Guest Curator, Javaad Alipoor, will reoxygenate the conversation around the purpose of art, its relationship to social and environmental justice, artists and empowerment, through a host of forward-looking sector-wide conversations with invited guest speakers from both the UK and internationally. The Symposium will take a multidisciplinary view on some of today's most prescient issues to engage diverse audiences, notably those interested in finding pathways into the cultural industries. The full programme will be announced in October with all events available free of charge online both live and on-demand post-Symposium.

Achates Philanthropy Foundation Chair, Caroline McCormick, said: "The pandemic has changed the way in which we perceive so much of our world and there is a clear need for spaces in which we can come together to explore the implications of these changes and the ways in which we create and curate art. Offering a Symposium which is a philosophical provocation to the sector seemed the most appropriate response the Foundation could make and when considering who best to ask to curate and lead that conversation, the Trustees unanimously agreed that we should approach Javaad Alipoor, whose work and fresh insights have inspired us all".

Guest Curator, Javaad Alipoor, said: "The pandemic has shown up the structural and secular weaknesses in how we make and support and art. But we've also seen different models of how work can be made, new engagement with communities and audiences and new models of distribution. As artists and professionals, we try and imagine new ways of working and being together - but the pandemic has shown us that unimaginable shifts can happen overnight, whilst some social structures and ways of working seem to survive anything. Our relationship to the climate crisis, the way we treat artists and workers, the mirage of social mobility - in each case the pandemic offered tantalising glimpses of how we could address these issues in new ways, even as entrenching existing structures held fast. Having spoken at and attended last year's Achates conference, I know that it's an event in which the diversity of participants and the depth of discussion is much greater than almost anywhere else. The Symposium will build on this as we work to bring together a group of fiercely intelligent and creative artists and sector leaders, who like me, don't usually encounter the kind of time or space it needs to explore these kinds of ideas. I'm excited for the Symposium events and what might come out of them."

The annual Achates Philanthropy Prize, which will return in 2022. For more information about this year's Symposium and the history of the Prize, please visit achatesprize.co.uk and subscribe to our mailing list.