I gave the opening keynote at a two-day workshop looking at ways to make work that is digital, inclusive and sustainable as part of part of programme to support transformation across the European opera and dance community. It was was organised by FEDORA – The European Circle of Philanthropists of Opera and Dance, a non-profit association committed to supporting and contributing to the future of opera and dance in Europe and took place in the wonderful Grand Théâtre de Genève at the same time as the Open Europa conference.

These are the notes I made, which I then used for my slides and as a reminder as I spoke. I didn’t say all of this, and this is not all I said.

Notes toward a talk

I have worked for the BBC for many years and was lucky enough to be part of one of our more risky, experimental and innovative arts initiatives, The Space, back in 2012.  We worked with England’s main arts funding organisation, ACE, to commission the first digital works from fifty-three organisations and created a special platform to put them online and – where it made sense – on television.

The BBC is an odd organisation. It starts from a mission that is written down in ink on vellum, part of a document that was signed by Queen Elizabeth II, and which is currently being revised for a new version to be signed by King Charles III. 

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