ELIA is delighted to announce that the 7th ELIA Leadership Symposium hosted by The African Arts Institute will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 1-4 December 2015.

Theme

Post-apartheid South Africa is a laboratory of social transformation. Working within this context we will address this changing world and reflect on how key notions of aesthetics, standards of excellence and 'the canon' play out in a culturally diverse world. 

 Institutions are shaped by history, by social context, by those who lead and teach, who are themselves shaped by history, education, context and institutional cultures. Increasingly though, institutions are also impacted by the pressures of those who fund them, either as public authorities or as fee-paying students.  How do leaders of institutions - themselves in the process of transformation - disrupt, reinforce or nuance the tensions between the economic, the political, the cultural and the artistic dimensions?

 While many art schools and universities are facing some of these questions in the light of economic pressures and demographic shifts, the intensity with which South African institutions are dealing with these will provide a new lens and focus for leaders of institutions to reflect on these issues of transformation and change.

Programme
 It is recommended that delegates arrive in Cape Town TUESDAY 1 DECEMBER LATE AFTERNOON / EVENING. The ELIA Leadership Symposium: DOMINANCE // DIVERSITY // DISRUPTION starts WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER with a joint session for delegates and to meet representatives of African Art Universities. From WEDNESDAY 2 – FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER the programme offers round table discussions, based on input from high profile speakers. Furthermore, different options to visit and engage with cultural institutions in Cape Town, performances, dinners and receptions in various historic venues will be organised.