The Arts have been under siege during the Covid-19 pandemic: theaters, galleries, cinemas, concert halls, and bookshops are closed, festivals cancelled, and swathes of practitioners are out of work. But art is the soul of societies. It helps to keep us connected through the exchange of ideas, encouraging empathy, and providing entertainment, escapism and hope. Is it possible that the arts could not only survive, but emerge from the Covid crisis and recent social unrest stronger than before? Cultural leaders from the US and UK re-imagine the future of their art forms. Kwame Kwei-Armah, Director of the Young Vic theatre in London, Gail Rebuck, Director and former Chair and CEO of Penguin Random House UK, and Sheena Wagstaff, Head of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, chaired by Simon Schama, Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University, dare to dream and think afresh.
This event will be brought to you with the generous support of The Charleston Gaillard Center, The Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation, and Sen. Tom Taft.