Keynote: Dr Vanessa Iwowo, Senior Lecturer, Birkbeck Business School, Birkbeck, University of London; Senior Visiting Fellow, Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, London School of Economics Organised by The Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange and Africa Centre, UK in collaboration with the Developing a Media Decolonisation Imaginary Network, Bournemouth University and University of the Arts London, this one-day artistic conference convenes four fields – leadership studies and DEI strategy, artificial intelligence, psychosocial studies and the humanities – to explore how postcolonial creativity reframes leadership thought and practice. By establishing a third space for interdisciplinary dialogue, the event foregrounds how diverse modes of enquiry and expression intersect to enrich our understanding of collective agency across local, national and global contexts.

In the social sciences forum, experts in leadership studies and DEI strategy will theorise leadership as an integrative framework that spans regional and national governance, corporate and community decision making and sectoral governances in areas such as the arts, AI and the knowledge economy. The AI session will showcase innovations in natural language processing and generative models designed to elevate the complexity of African languages, enable more inclusive media and entertainment platforms, guard against cultural appropriation and foster cultural pride in contexts still shaped by colonial mindsets. The psychosocial panel brings together scholars of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and community psychologists to articulate collective wellbeing frameworks equally grounded in ancestral philosophies and contemporary practice. Our humanities roundtable assembles a poet, a composer and a sculptor to demonstrate how multilingual verse, sonic layering and material transformation function as acts of cultural stewardship and catalysts for collaborative agency.

As an artistic site for canvassing these knowledge exchanges, the conference invites participants to intertwine their diverse perspectives into a living artwork of innovation and collective agency.