Opening Academic Year Faculty of Arts 2017

Leadership in Spaces of Intersection

Curiosity, ideas and  innovation flourish in the spaces where different perspectives and lived experiences come together. Sometimes, unintentionally, we find ourselves in these intersections and other times we need to drum up the courage to enter into the unknown and the unpredictable. It is in the intersection of spheres, however their interiors are described or their edges drawn – be it by culture, age, gender, race, religion, class, locality, or knowledge – that we begin to understand, value and strengthen connectedness and interdependence. Intersections are urgently needed spaces and how we re-define and nourish leadership in this nexus will determine how we address the challenges of our increasingly complex world.

Katherine Watson

Katherine Watson has been the Director of the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) since June 2010. Based in Amsterdam, ECF is an independent pan-European foundation, acting as a catalyst for change through arts and culture, via its activities, program me s, grants and online platforms. Katherine moved from Canada to join ECF in 2006 as Director of its online partner initiative, the multi-lingual cultural information and networking platform LabforCulture.org. Katherine is currently Vice Chair of the European Foundation Centre, an international membership organisation for institutional philanthropy that was instigated by ECF and in which ECF plays an active part.

About the Arts Lecture

For over 25 years, the Faculty of Arts has opened its academic year with an Arts Lecture. In this lecture, a famous Dutch person expresses his or her opinion about the importance of the arts (languages, art, literature, media, history, art history, archaeology and communication) for society. Previous speakers have included Ramsey Nasr, Farah Karimi, Wim Pijbes, Sophie in ‘t Veld, Anna Enquist, Femke Halsema, Hans Goedkoop, Ronald Giphart, Jan Blokker and Elsbeth Etty.