Alexandra Rowse ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage] [Live Arts]

Alex is a producer specialising in immersive and multi-disciplinary experiences for young people, communities and public audiences. She is currently Senior Producer of Dreamachine, an immersive artwork by artists including Assemble and Jon Hopkins that is touring the UK. Prior to this she worked with theatre company Punchdrunk for over 6 years as Producer and then Senior Producer, overseeing the development and delivery of projects for young audiences and leading key research & development into creative technologies. She is a trustee of Clean Break, a women's theatre working to effect positive change in the lives of women with experience of the criminal justice system.

April Brown ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage] [Live Arts]

April Brown (she/her) specialises in developing and managing inclusive, multi-disciplinary programmes for emerging creatives. She holds an MA in Arts & Cultural Management from King's College London and has worked with a range of organisations including Somerset House, Tate, LIFT and Creative Access. She is committed to supporting diverse talent to flourish.

Aristea Rellou ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Aristea has been working in public and private art institutions for 10+ years and in arts fundraising for the past 5+ years. With a proven track record of delivering 5-6 figure gifts in her fundraising career and extensive experience in the commercial and institutional art sector, she has also co-founded the studio management start-up Hekátē Studios, which supports and champions the work of artists in London and internationally.

Previously, Aristea has worked for Serpentine, Camden Art Centre, Tate and Sprüth Magers in London, Gagosian and Phillips in New York, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in Athens, amongst others. She is also an illustrator.

Aristea holds an MA in History of Art from The Courtauld (London, UK), and a BA in Museum and Curatorial Studies from The New School (New York, NY), and is currently based between London and Athens.

Beth Davies ↓

[Creative Business Development] [Marketing & PR] [Visual Arts]

Beth is a culture and development specialist with over a decade of experience across the cultural, commercial and communications sectors. Formerly Associate Director at the global communications agency PURPLE, Beth led New Business and Special Projects across the lifestyle division. During her 5 years at PURPLE, Beth ideated, developed, curated culturally relevant and creative opportunities for international brands and artists including Solange Knowles, Saint Heron, WePresent by WeTransfer, Aesop and more

Prior to joining PURPLE. Beth oversaw Corporates & Individual Development at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), developing high-profile projects with the likes of Selfridges and Mcq - Alexander McQueen. Prior to ICA, Beth held roles at Whitechapel Gallery and was the Arts Chair at the University of Exeter.

For prospective mentees:

Beth can support mentees with an interest in the visual arts, cultural partnerships, communications , marketing or those looking to break into a new career category

Christine Lai ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Christine Lai is a British-born Chinese cultural producer/curator. Her practice was originally founded upon interrogating the processes within knowledge production and exploring social-cultural histories within photography. However, as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic and her role as Assistant Education Curator at Serpentine Galleries, she is in the midst of re-aligning her independent practice towards community and socially engaged art projects.

Christine has worked with a wide range of cultural organisations including Serpentine, Tate, London Borough of Waltham Forest, National Galleries of Scotland, Chinese Arts Now and curated exhibitions across the U.K. and The Netherlands. She is also part of Baesianz collective with which she has curated Roots (2021) and Me2U: A Collective Manifesto (2022), as well as running their artist residency programme at SET Woolwich. She holds MA(Hons) History of Art from University of Glasgow and MA Museum Studies from the University of Amsterdam.

Dalya Islam ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Dalya Islam began her career at Sotheby’s in 2003 as a junior cataloguer in the Arts of the Islamic World department. She rapidly rose to Director and Head of Department and spearheaded the Contemporary Arab and Iranian and Contemporary Turkish auctions. On leaving Sotheby’s Dalya set up her own art consultancy, Madder Red. She worked with private clients, independent artists, art fairs and galleries and curated independent exhibitions in London and the Middle East. After nearly a decade of success as an independent advisor she was recruited as Head of Collections by luxury e-commerce website Lymited, where she was responsible for pulling together business strategy and specialist teams for collecting categories from Art, to Fashion and Jewellery. Following this stint in tech start-ups Dalya joined the team of the culture sector’s foremost management consultancy, Barker Langham. Dalya is currently part of the stellar curatorial team for the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale led by Sumayya Vally and launching in Saudi Arabia in January 2023, when she will focus once again on Strategy. Dalya is also a Trustee of Mimosa House, a non-profit art institution in London that shows only female, minority and LGBTQ artists.

Errol Donald ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

With a proven record as a creative strategist and practitioner, Errol’s career has embraced everything from international law and commercial real estate, through to education, and cultural heritage, supporting clients including Hogan Lovells, Talawa Theatre, Historic England, Somerset House, and The Black Cultural Archives. Errol is also acknowledged as a pioneer and central figure within the development of UK graffiti art and speaks passionately to its impact on youth culture and draws upon firsthand experiences when speaking to the intersections with culture and the politics of identity.

Huma Kabakcı ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Huma Kabakcı (b. London, 1990) is an independent curator and founding director of Open Space, living and working between London and Istanbul. Kabakcı worked at Drawing Room as a Development Manager between 2021-2022 and continues with fundraising and strategic advising freelance. She studied her BA in Advertising & Marketing at London College of Communication and completed an MA in Curating Contemporary Art at Royal College of Art. Kabakcı completed a curatorial fellowship at the 2018 Liverpool Biennial, supported by ICF (International Curators Forum).

She has worked at commercial galleries, museums, and auction houses, both in the UK and Turkey, including Sotheby’s (London), The Albion Gallery (London), and Pera Museum (Istanbul). Kabakcı manages a private family art collection comprising over 900 Turkish, Central Asian, and European contemporary art. Open Space has collaborated with institutions such as Block Universe Performance Festival, Delfina Foundation, Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, Flat Time House, and IKSV (Istanbul Biennial Foundation).

Kabakcı’s curatorial interest lies in creating immersive experiences and a wider dialogue in collaboration with multidisciplinary practitioners. She is also interested in theories and topics around diaspora, gender and identity politics, food politics, and hospitality. Recently curated exhibitions and projects include: "Glitch: A City as Palimpsest" at Cooke Latham Gallery (22 June - 29 July 2022), "Transient Roots" with artists Lucia Pizzani &Vanessa da Silva at Sapling Gallery (29 April - 28 May 2022), and "I Have Eaten It" an Arts Council Funded project in collaboration with Refettorio Felix, co-curated with artist Laura Wilson (1 Feb - 25 Feb 2022).

Leila Duffy-Tetzlaff ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage] [Fashion] [Marketing & PR]

I'm Leila Duffy-Tetzlaff, a Fine Art NTU Alumni who has a career spanning events, museums, youth programming, higher education, and specialising in graduate career coaching in creative industries. Straight out of university, I worked for Nottingham Contemporary where I was heavily involved in programming and developing their young people's collective. We worked closely with Tate and other participating galleries in a national initiative to provide young people space to flourish in a non-academic environment such as a gallery. We encouraged an alternative route to establishing professional skills, and the chance to gain valuable and enriching experiences in a creative and supportive hub.

Currently, I am involved in helping new graduates navigate the working world by teaching and coaching employability, working to boost confidence, increase agency, and extinguish barriers.

MC Barnes ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage] [Fashion] [Marketing & PR]

My name is MC, I'm a half Chinese half American casting director and mother agent based in London, working worldwide. My main focus in all the work I do is propelling and championing talent of colour. I've casted for Ahluwalia, Axel Arigato, Vogue Spain, Vogue Poland, GQ Middle East, Mulberry, Hunter, Louis Vuitton, i-D, Selfridges, to name a few, and have models placed at international agencies in Paris, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, New York and more. As a mother agent my main role is to support talent within the fashion industry and help them navigate and manage their careers. Through everything I aim to facilitate a journey of sensitivity, optimism and empowerment and really champion models of colour to the front of our industry.

Mollie Barnes ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Mollie E Barnes is an Independent Curator based in the UK. Mollie has worked in the Art World since she was 15, balancing different positions including as an Art Teacher, a professional Framer, a Gallery and Artist Liaison, digital marketing strategist, Partnership Manager, an Events Planner, in Special Projects, running and Art Shop and more. Mollie specializes in exhibitions, commissions, and events to support living artists in their practice. With a focus on, and passion for, championing women artists, Mollie founded She Curates (@she_curates_), a platform that celebrates and showcases female creatives and professionals.

Petra van den Houten ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Petra is Director of Development, Marketing and Communications at Liverpool Biennial. Over the past 25 years Petra has worked extensively with emerging artists, commercial galleries, not-for-profit art organisations, art collectors, and philanthropists in Europe, USA and the Middle East.

Most recently Petra was Head of Major Gifts at the Royal Northern College of Music.

She is a Trustee of the Manchester Art Gallery, a former Associate Director of Christie’s and Deputy Director of Sotheby’s and holds an MA in Art History from Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Sara Pintado ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage] [Design] [Fashion]

Sara Pintado is a multidisciplinary Curator and Entrepreneur with over 7 years of experience in the Creative Industries, leading educational programmes and helping creatives realise their potential.

As a Content & Curation Manager at Domestika, Sara collaborates with diverse talent to design engaging content for more than 4 million students worldwide. She supports top creatives in the disciplines of design, illustration, craft, business, fashion, photography, writing and animation, to create courses that inspire and motivate curious people.

In the past, Sara co-founded Art Placebo, a creative organisation that aims to unlock creativity through hands-on art activities and collaboration.

Throughout her career, she has worked with non-profit organisations, cultural institutions and private clients to deliver participatory art projects, curate exhibitions and facilitate creative workshops. Clients include Stella McCartney Kids, Amazon, Adidas, Battersea Arts Centre, Mind and Spotify among others.

Svetlana Leu ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

With over 10 years’ experience in the arts, Svetlana is a cultural strategy and communications specialist with a passion for diversity and representation in the sector. Svetlana is an Account Director at Brunswick Arts, part of the critical issues and strategic advisory firm, Brunswick Group. She is the Vice Chair at Culture&, an arts charity dedicated to diversifying the arts workforce and audiences, and is one of the youngest people of colour to hold a Vice Chair position in the arts industry. Svetlana also sits on the advisory board at Mimosa House.

Valeria Szabó Facchin ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Valeria Szabó Facchin is a cultural strategist, producer and writer.

As Founding Director of Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, she oversees the organisation’s philanthropic mission, working with some of the 21 century’s leading artists, curators, activists and thinkers. Recent supported and commissioned projects include: Back to Earth, Serpentine, 2022; Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Pollinator Pathmaker 3, Serpentine 2022, co-commissioned in partnership with Google Arts and Culture; Radical Ecology, a new initiative by Lucia Pietroiusti and Ashish Ghadiali exploring art and culture as a political tool for social change, and Climavore, a long-term project that sets out to envision seasons of food production and consumption that react to man-induced climatic events and landscape alterations by Turner Prize nominees Cooking Sections.

With a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, her work explores the relationship between bodies, technologies and future ecosystems. She is the co-founder of W21, an intersectional, data-feminist research platform, mapping 21st-century feminist practices across art, science, culture, and technology. W21 was selected to present at global art and technology initiatives and universities such as MIT, Harvard, Ars Electronica and ST+ARTS in Motion, an incubator programme for innovative and socially impactful initiatives by the European Commission.

Vivi Kalinikou ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage]

Vivi Kallinikou is a digital strategist and cultural professional with extensive experience in creating and delivering projects and digital products for the arts and cultural sector.

Vivi is currently the Director of Content at ArtRabbit, a digital arts platform for promoting, discovering and appreciating contemporary art and visual culture. Its mission is to make art as accessible as possible.

In her role at ArtRabbit, Vivi focuses on building relationships with commercial and cultural organisations, growing and nurturing ArtRabbit’s user community, and creating and refining digital products.

Vivi started her career in the arts as an intern at blue-chip gallery Blain|Southern and has since worked in various roles within the sector - from art market research and production to publishing. She holds an MA in Global Arts/Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London and a BA in Art History, Philosophy and Politics from Freie Universität Berlin.

Laura Mulhern ↓

[Marketing & PR]

Laura Mulhern has worked in the creative industry for 18 years in various roles within music television, and art and design. In 2008, she founded her own award-winning arts marketing agency STØRIIE that works with arts organisations, brands and individuals across the UK delivering creative campaigns, marketing strategies and brand development. She is also a culture and arts researcher and delivers public consultation for urban planning projects for towns and cities across the UK.

Having worked with hundreds of creatives to date, she started Plan Make Do® in 2019 as a support platform for freelancers and small business owners to develop their career through one-to-one sessions, resources, workshops and talks.

MC Barnes ↓

[Visual Arts, Museums & Heritage] [Fashion] [Marketing & PR]

My name is MC, I'm a half Chinese half American casting director and mother agent based in London, working worldwide. My main focus in all the work I do is propelling and championing talent of colour. I've casted for Ahluwalia, Axel Arigato, Vogue Spain, Vogue Poland, GQ Middle East, Mulberry, Hunter, Louis Vuitton, i-D, Selfridges, to name a few, and have models placed at international agencies in Paris, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, New York and more. As a mother agent my main role is to support talent within the fashion industry and help them navigate and manage their careers. Through everything I aim to facilitate a journey of sensitivity, optimism and empowerment and really champion models of colour to the front of our industry.

Phie McKenzie ↓

[Marketing & PR] [Creative Business Development] [Journalism] [Writing & Publishing]

Phie McKenzie is a creative/digital strategist with high-level experience in digital marketing and social media, specifically with youth audiences.

Previous positions include Editor of music and style magazine Notion (2015-2018) where she spearheaded the magazine’s new editorial chapter, working with artists such as HAIM, Zara Larsson, Kali Uchis, Kojey Radical, Awful Records and many exciting new artists.

She then went on to be Head of Communications at Studio71 UK & Creative Director of Moxie, a talent agency for digital creators where she worked with creators such as Munya Chawawa, Come Curious and Beta Squad (2018-2021).

Now freelance, Phie works with brands, agencies and creators developing engaging digital ideas across digital media. She has developed a platform-native, consumer-first understanding of what audiences love consuming on social, how they behave, and how to capture their attention and convert them into followers and fans.

She’s passionate about helping purpose-driven people and brands harness their superpowers to create content that sparks conversation and leads to meaningful societal change.

Remina Nair ↓

[Marketing & PR] [Journalism, Writing & Publishing] [Music]

With a background in journalism and music PR, Remina has written for publications such as The FADER, GRM Daily and EUPHORIA. Magazine. She has also contributed her opinion to The Independent and she was featured on The Huffington Post. Remina has recently interviewed 5 Seconds of Summer for the cover of House of Solo and in total has landed four covers across House of Solo and Pentagon Magazine. Working as a publicist for over 5 years she has worked on campaigns for the likes of Yxng Bane, will.i.am, Tion Wayne and Big Narstie.

Roxy Cieniawska ↓

[Marketing & PR] [Fashion]

Roxy has worked in merchandising, planning and e-commerce for luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo, Burberry and most recently La Perla.

Her fashion career began in her native Poland, supporting Polish Fashion Week. With a strong interest in the business side of the industry, she moved to London to complete a Fashion Business course at the London College of Fashion, whilst interning at Michael Kors and Burberry Showroom. She was first attracted to merchandise planning during an industry speech by the Svarovski Merchandise Manager, captivated by the countless ways the speaker explained to drive sales. In her second year of studies, she started at Karen Millen as an International Merchandise Distribution Analyst for Franchise Markets, combining both full-time work in the industry and part-time studies, however the role reinforced her love for merchandising.

Further in her career, Roxy moved to luxury and has since found that working with a product she is passionate about helps to drive her success. She has found a new passion in developing and delivering on new strategic directions for fashion brands. Roxy worked in EMEA Outlets at Jimmy Choo during its purchase by Capri Holdings, spearheading the outlet network expansion from five to 14 stores. Working in Outlets for the luxury brand has been one of the most enriching experiences of her career, helping her to broaden her strategic thinking and utilize different sales channels. Later, Roxy was responsible for over £100m p.a. portfolio of Men's Replenishment product at Burberry, developing and delivering strategies across EMEA, APAC and the Americas. Currently, she is a Merchandise Manager at La Perla working for the EMEA Market and overlooking boutiques, concessions, outlets and three marketplaces. Roxy leads a team of two Allocators and a Junior Merchandiser, working closely with marketing, PR teams, visual merchandising on in-store events/activations and new store openings. She is very excited to be a part of La Perla at a crucial time, as the company transforms itself into an everyday luxury lingerie brand, by attracting new demographics as well as maintaining legacy markets. It requires adaptability, strong communication and patience, however working on a common goal and seeing the improvement in results provides the greatest motivation.

Sienad Taylor ↓

[Marketing & PR] [Design]

Sinead is the founder of Sinead Taylor Design, an independent design studio that aids creative-led brands to achieve their goals through atypical branding. Sinead Taylor Design was born during the pandemic in the Irish countryside after finishing a graphic design degree. Sinead also has a great passion for helping fellow designers in their early stages of business through resources and raw conversations.

Suzanne Zhang ↓

[Marketing & PR] [Design]

Suzanne Zhang is digital content manager at the Design Museum. She oversees all of the Design Museum’s social media, and commissions and produces content exploring museum’s design stories. Having started as a freelance writer and photographer she has experience working solo and for big organisations.