Past events

2025

Keynote at 20^th Anniversary of UNESCO 2005 Convention
Where: University of Antwerp, BE
When: 20 October 2025

Symposium Keynote
Title: SPARSE+ Symposium 2025: Shaping the Future of Rural Performing Arts in Europe
When: 8 October 2025
Where: Archa+, Prague, CZ
Details: TBC

Conference Keynote
Title: Culture is Not an Industry
When: 7 October 2025
Where: Museums Association Conference 2025, Cardiff, GB
Tickets: For conference delegates only
Details: Justin will discuss his book Culture is Not an Industry, followed by a panel conversation. The panel will be chaired by Stephen Bush, Associate Editor, Financial Times and Justin will be joined by Harman Sagger, Head Economist for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Sara Wajid, Co-CEO, Birmingham Museums Trust.

Invited guest
Civic Agora
When: 26-27 September 2025
Where: Barcelona, ES (some sessions will be streamed online, full program here)
Details: Justin has been invited by the Spanish Ministry of Culture to participate in the two-day Civic Agora event, in preparation for UNESCO’s Mondiacult Summit in Barcelona couple of days later. Civic Agora have published a write up of Justin’s paper on global cultural policy in preparation for the event. The Spanish version of the write up is available here, and the English translation is here.

Public lecture
Title: Art Futures: Culture and Democracy
When: 25 September 2025, 6.30 to 8pm
Where: Whitechapel Gallery, London, GB
Tickets: Book here
Details: In this keynote talk Justin will explore how we might rediscover the radical energies of culture to create a bold and powerful vision for change. Baroness Lola Young will give a response to Justin’s talk before joining him and Whitechapel Gallery Director Gilane Tawadros in conversation.

Panel
Title: Cultural infrastructure at a Crossroads
When: 16 September 2025, 4-7pm
Where: Samuel Alexander Building, University of Manchester, GB
Tickets: Free, but please register for catering purposes.
Details: Nearly ten years on from the Greater Manchester devolution deal and following a pandemic, ongoing local authority austerity and cost of living crisis, this hybrid event explores cultural policy and planning in the city-region. Justin will be joined on this panel by Professor Abi Gilmore from University of Manchester and Dave Moutrey from Manchester City Council. The even is organised by the Creative Manchester research platform at the University of Manchester.

Panel presentation
Title: A Radical Enlightenment
When: 10 September 2025 at 8pm
Where: Ventilator Cinema at OT301, Amsterdam, NL
Details: This talk was organised by Amsterdam Alternative. Justin presented togethe with Dr Patrycja Kaszynska from University of the Arts London and Professor Sebastian Olma from Centre of Applied Research for Art, Design and Technology (CARADT) at Avans University.

Prepared by a publication of an opinion piece in the Amsterdam Alternative, this panel talked about the ways in which a recognition of the values of enlightenment might help us navigate this moment of radical turmoil. In their different ways both Left and Right have not only (justifiably) criticised the enlightenment but have sought to abandon it altogether. We talked about this specifically in connection to art and its universalising claims, and how these art values were crucial for re-imagining the future. Art and enlightenment for a radical hope in dark times.

Conference Panel
Title: Beyond the Metrics: Understanding music’s true contribution
When: 3 September 2025, 9:30AM – 10:15AM
Where: BIGSOUND Conference, Brisbane, Australia.
Tickets: For conference delegates only.
Details: In this panel discussion, Justin and others will look beyond the monetary metrics that keep the commercial music world turning. They’ll share their evidence-based outcomes and methods which demonstrate music’s true holistic value.

Conference panel
IFACCA 10th World Summit on Arts and Culture, Seoul, South Korea
Title: A standalone goal for culture in the post-2030 UN agenda: pathways and prospects
When: 29 May 2025
Where: IFACCA World Summit, Seoul.
Tickets: For conference attendees only.
Details: At the close of MONDIACULT 2022 in Mexico City, culture ministers from around the world recognised culture as a global public good in the Declaration for Culture. In 2024, during the United Nations (UN) Summit of the Future, Member States adopted the Pact for the Future which calls for the integration of culture into economic, social and environmental policies. In this context, the panel will explore pathways toward establishing a standalone goal for culture in the UN’s post-2030 Agenda. What successes can we build upon? And what further innovative collaborations are needed? This session will address these critical questions and discuss how we can create pathways to place culture at the heart of global development policies.

Lecture
Title: Culture is not an Industry: 1 Year On
When: 14 May 2025 from 6pm to 8pm, reception afterwards
Where: Justus Lipsiuszaal, Erasmushuis or online
Tickets: Free, registration necessary.
Details: Justin will present a lecture on the role of art and culture in contemporary society. Prof. Dr. O’Connor, a global policy expert, author and academic, will discuss themes from his recent work, including Culture is not an Industry: Reclaiming art and culture for the common good (2024), focusing on the impact of the creative industries and the need for a shift in how culture is understood and valued.

The event is organized by the Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, hosted by DigitGLAM in cooperation with the European Heritage Hub.

Symposium
Title: Is Culture not an Industry?  Reshaping culture and cultural policies between autonomy and economy
When: Wednesday 7 May 2025 at 3pm to 6pm
Where: Aula NI.110 – Via Nirone 15, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
Tickets: Free
Details: Justin will be discussing his book at this symposium in Milan. He will be introduced by Emanuela Mora from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with Silvia Tarassi from Università degli Studi Milano Bicocca, and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Silvia Mazzucotelli and Giacomo Ciambotti, both from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Public Lecture
Title: Culture is Not an Industry
When: Monday 5 May 2025 at 4pm
Where: Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice, Italy
Tickets: Free, but registration essential, click here to register
Details: Justin will discussing his book “Culture is Not an Industry,” that challenges the dominant narrative that reduces culture to economic outputs and instrumentalised value. Culture is not “beauty”, the compliant servant of financial targets. At its core, it is social, ethical, and communal, a useful force precisely because it escapes immediate utility, disrupting rather than decorating. What if culture’s real economic potential lies not in its domesticated glamour but in its unexpected, subversive, and transformative capacity? What if the obsession with metrics blinds us to the deeper, messier, more vital role culture plays in shaping meaning and community? The week of the Biennale openings is the perfect setting for this reflection. Especially here and now, where art and commerce entwine, a longing persists for the collective, the uncommodified, the cultural in its deepest sense.
This event is hosted by Università Ca’​ Foscari Venezia and curated by Ilaria Foroni and is part of the iNEST – Ecosistema dell’Innovazione del Nord Est “Young Researchers” project led by Chiara Carolina Donelli.

Public Lecture
Event: What Can We Expect From the End of the World? Seminar with Professor Sebastian Olma, Avans University, The Netherlands
When: Wednesday 19 February 2025, from 5pm-8pm
Where: UniSA City West, Bradley Forum, Hawke Building, Adelaide SA 5000
Tickets: Free, but registration essential, click here to register
Details: “It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Frederick Jameson’s quip, suggesting that the capitalist horizon had become co-terminus with our human imaginary, has turned into a bad joke. It seems both might go downtogether!

In this seminar we explore where art and culture might stand in relation to the end of the world and what we might expect fromit. What kind of shared imaginary can art help create? What kind of dramatological orientation can it give us towards a future culture in common?

2024

Online seminar
Event: City University London: When Nothing Works: Culture, Infrastructure, and the Foundational Economy
When: Wednesday 27 November 2024
Details: Justin joined members of the Foundational Economy Collective Julie Froude (Manchester) and Sukhdev Johal (QMUL), two co-authors of When Nothing Works (2023), to discuss how we can address failing public services and decaying social infrastructure. What is the foundational economy and how do we rebuild it? What is the role of cultural infrastructure in this process? Listen to recording on Soundcloud

Conference panel
Event: The Australian Academy of the Humanities, 55th Annual Symposium – The ideas & ideals of Australia: The Lucky Country turns sixty.
When: Friday 15 November, from 1.30-3.00 pm (Canberra)
Where: Canberra, Australia and online
Details: Justin spoke at the Symposium on the panel Culture as Public Good? together with Dr Mathew Trinca FAHA, Mr Kim Williams AO and Professor Jacqueline Lo.

Keynote
Event: World Cities Culture Summit 2024
When: 1 November 2024
Where: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Details: Justin spoke at the Summit in Dubai, organised by World Cities Culture Forum, a leading global network of civic leaders from over 40 creative cities.

Conference panel
Event: International Cultural Policy Conference by Compendium of Cultural Policies & Trends
When: 26 September 2024
Where: Podgorica, Montenegro
Details: Justin spoke on “What Does Development Mean? Exploring Definitions and Perspectives” at the International Cultural Policy Conference on “Cultural Policies. Developments. Perspectives.” Organised by the Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends and the University “Mediterranean” Podgorica.

Conference panel
Event: Deans of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (DAHSS) Conference Connected Futures: What Next for Higher Education, Research and Leadership
When: 18 September 2024 at 3:15pm
Where: Bradley Forum, Adelaide (in-person only)
Details: Justin spoke at the three-day conference on the panel “Partnering on Policy” on 18 September.

Festival of Debate, UK (online)
When: Saturday 20 April 2024, 11am-12pm British Summer Time
Event: Online discussion
Further information: This event is part of the Festival of Debate based in South Yorkshire, UK. To register and for further details, visit their website.

Adelaide, South Australia
When: Thursday 11 April, 5-7pm
Event: Book launch with Q&A
Location: MOD., North Terrace
Further information: The event is now sold out, waitlist available here

Berlin, GER
When: Monday 25 March
Event: Discussion and Book Launch
Location: Art Center Kunstquartier Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2, D-10997 Berlin
Further information: TBC

Amsterdam, NL
When: Tuesday 19 March
Event: Invited Discussion with Policy Experts and Practitioners
Location: Boekman Foundation, Herengracht 415, Amsterdam

Glasgow
When: Tuesday 12 March, 3.30-6.30pm
Event: Discussion panel and book launch
Location: Civic House, Glasgow
Further information: For the panel discussion, Justin will be joined by Katrina Brown, Abigail Gilmore, and Robert Hollands, chaired by Professor Mark Banks. Professor Kate Oakley will be chairing the book discussion.
Tickets: Free, but please register here.

Newcastle
When: Friday 8 March, 3-4.30pm
Event: Seminar
Location: Armstrong Building, Room 3.38, Newcastle University
Further information: Check out the event flyer here.

Manchester
When: Thursday 7 March, 6.30pm
Event: Book launch
Location: Blackwells Bookshop
Further information: This is a joint book launch with Isaac Rose’s The Rentier City. Event is chaired by Abigail Gilmore from the University of Manchester. Full details are on the Blackwells event page.
Tickets: Free, but please register here.

Liverpool
When: Wednesday 6 March, 4.15pm to 5.30pm
Event: Seminar
Location: Ground Floor Event Space, School of Law & Social Justice, University of Liverpool
Further information: Seminar is hosted by the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology and Justin will be in conversation with Dr Pete Campbell.
Tickets: Free, but please register here.

Leeds
When: Tuesday 5 March, 4pm
Event: Seminar
Location: University of Leeds
Further information: Event hosted by the Centre for Cultural Value
Tickets: Free, but please register here.

Nottingham
When: Thursday 29 February, 7pm
Event: Book launch
Location: Five Leaves Bookshop
Further information: This event will be chaired by Dr David Wright from the University of Warwick.
Tickets: £3.00 – £4.00, book now through the Five Leaves event page

Cardiff
When: Wednesday 28 February, 4pm
Event: Book launch
Location: Cardiff University
Further information: This launch will be chaired by Professor Justin Lewis, Director of Clwstwr.

Bristol
When: Tuesday 27 February, 6-8pm
Event: Book launch
Location: Bristol Bookhaus, Bristol, UK
Further information: This launch will be chaired by Steve Presence, Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of West of England.
Tickets: £6, which includes a glass of wine or a soft drink and £2 off the book. Book now through the Bookhaus event page.

DocTalk at the Antenna Festival, Sydney
When: Monday 12 Feb, 10am to 4pm
Event: Talk
Location: State Library of New South Wales
Further information: Justin will be talking about his new book at the Antenna Festival’s one-day industry event, DocTalk. More information on the Antenna Festival website

2023

Friday 15 December
Event: The Great Decoupling: a New Global (Dis)Order? (online conference)
Location: Online, register here (free)
Title: TBC
Further information: This is an online conference on the growing rift between China and the US. Organised together with academics from the University of Adelaide.

Friday 8 December
Event: Cultural Studies Association of Australasia Annual Conference 2023 (keynote)
Location: In person, Adelaide, Australia
Title: Cultural Studies and Cultural Policy: Two Torn Halves?
Further information: Please see the conference website at https://www.unisa.edu.au/calendar/csaaconference2023/

Thursday 30 November
Event: Cultural Policy and Cultural Democracy: A Global Dialogue (conference keynote)
Location: In person, Santiago de Chile, Chile
Title: Culture and Development between New World Economic Orders
Further information: Please see the conference website at https://culturalpolicyandculturaldemocracy.com/