Public Art Forum: Public Space and Culture After the Virus

Held on 2 July 2020 on Zoom, a panel of distinguished speakers considered the future of the urban realm and the role of culture in supporting new behaviours and ways of considering social space.

The massive societal changes wrought by 2020 are being keenly felt in cities throughout the world. Coronavirus has kept us apart; Black Lives Matter has brought us onto the streets. Economies are tumbling alongside contested civic statuary. What will be the role of culture in public space as we collectively move forward? What might we do differently and what is integral to maintaining cultural place making agendas?

CAS Consultancy has worked over the past ten years to develop cultural placemaking strategies that embed social and community value in public realm developments. Like many in the field, we are questioning and seeking answers about the role of culture in the public realm both today and in the days to come.

Chair Shumi Bose, Curator and Writer, Coordinator of Contextual Studies in Architecture at CSM and Curator of Exhibitions, RIBA

Cany Ash, Partner, Ash Sakula Architects
Harbinder Birdi, Senior Partner Hawkins\Brown
Anna Minton, writer and lecturer, University of East London
Fabienne Nicholas, Head of Consultancy, Contemporary Art Society
Christina Norton, Founding Director, Fluid/Soundings
Charles Quick, In Certain Places
Jérôme Sans, Artistic Director, Rives de Saône-River Movie (Lyon) and Future contemporary art foundation, Emerige, Ile Seguin (Paris)