With democracy in crisis, does art matter? Join Brian Eno as he discusses ideas from his new book, What Art Does, co-authored with Bette Adriaanse, and his personal approach to activism and social change.

Eno is joined by Bette Adriaanse, writer and artist, and Jon Alexander, author of Citizens and co-founder of the New Citizen Project. With their combined expertise in storytelling, civic engagement, and cultural transformation, this conversation will explore the profound impact of art beyond galleries and concert halls—how it shapes culture, politics, and the way we see ourselves in the world.

From public installations to personal expression, Eno, Adriaanse, and Alexander examine how creativity can empower individuals, foster social progress, and address the urgent challenges of our time.

Event Schedule

6:00pm: Pre-event socialising and networking

A cash bar will be available for refreshments.

6:15pm: Event begins

7:30pm: Event ends

Speakers:

Brian Eno is a musician, producer, visual artist and activist first came to international prominence in the early seventies as a founding member of British band, Roxy Music, followed by a series of solo albums and collaborations.

His work as producer includes albums with Talking Heads, Devo, U2, Laurie Anderson, James, Jane Siberry and Coldplay, while his long list of collaborations include recordings with David Bowie, Jon Hassell, Harold Budd, John Cale, David Byrne, Grace Jones, Karl Hyde, James Blake and most recently with his brother, Roger, on the album, Mixing Colours. In August 2021, they performed together for the very first time, and to a rapturous audience at the Acropolis in Athens.

Brian Eno’s visual experiments with light and video continue to parallel his musical career, with exhibitions and installations all over the globe. To date he has released over forty albums of his own music and exhibited extensively, as far afield as the Venice Biennale, St. Petersburg’s Marble Palace, Ritan Park in Beijing, Arcos de Lapa in Rio de Janeiro and the sails of the Sydney Opera House. He is a founding member of the Long Now Foundation, a trustee of Client Earth and patron of Videre est Credere. In April 2021, he launched EarthPercent, which raises money from the music industry for some of the most impactful environmental charities working on the climate emergency.

Bette A. – also known as Bette Adriaanse – is a writer and an artist. She was born in Amsterdam in 1984. Her books include What’s Mine and Rus Like Everyone Else. Bette’s short fiction has been published in magazines. She exhibits her artworks. Bette often combines image and language in her work. She writes in English and in Dutch. Bette is the co-founder of the TRQSE Foundation, an international network for artists and scientists, who work together on projects with a social element. She is also the co-founder of the Heroines! Movement.

Jon Alexander is the author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, and co-founder of the New Citizenship Project, a book and company that work to shift the dominant story of the individual in society from Consumer to Citizen. Among other plaudits, CITIZENS was listed by McKinsey as one of its Top 5 Recommended Books in its Summer Reading Guide 2022, described as “an underground hit” in the Financial Times, and selected by the World Economic Forum for its CEO Book Club. Jon began his career with a decade in the advertising industry, before shifting his attention to understanding how communications skills might be deployed to invite people into their agency as citizens, instead of just selling stuff to them as consumers.