The steering group is pleased to announce the 6th ELIA Leadership Symposium – E/Merge. After Vancouver, Zurich, Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong, we look forward to welcoming you to Helsinki!

Hosted by the University of the Arts Helsinki, E/Merge brings together leaders from higher arts education institutions and universities across the globe for an important and timely discussion on art education today.

E/MERGE
New economies arise, powers shift and cultural hegemonies are being challenged. The world has become a complex system. Old configurations disband and new ones emerge. Soft power has become a buzzword, building on the arts and the creative industries and competing for the hearts and minds of people. What the French call métissage stands for today’s new cultural paradigm, the interweavement of influences, the merging of ideas and meanings. What is local becomes global and it is in turn being transformed by this process. A new set of players with distinct intentions and values has stepped onto the stage. When we have only just begun to understand what is going on around us, forms and contents are already changing. The new scale of globalised culture has led to far-reaching changes in organisational structures such as numerous mergers of art schools across Europe. Size seems to matter more than ever. Internationalisation has become a must, either at home, by forming strategic alliances and cooperations or by branching out. How can higher art education institutions prepare for new and global challenges? How can its leadership remain active and creative facing developments of a postcolonial world gone fragile?

Programme and Participation
The Symposium programme runs from Wednesday 27 November noon to Friday 29 November late afternoon, featuring dynamic keynote addresses, breakout sessions and mobile workshops.

E/MERGE will include keynotes delivered by senior cultural practitioners. Each of these keynotes will frame the discussions and presentations during the conference.

A full programme is now available for viewing here.

Online Registration is now open!

Click here to register. The deadline for final registration is 10 November 2013.

For more information, please contact ELIA Conference Manager Barbara Revelli at barbara.revelli@elia-artschools.org

See the official conference website for further details.