London Forum
Art in Motion: The Next Cultural Vanguards

How do artists and cultural institutions respond to moments of profound technological and social transformation?

Moderated by ARTIFACT Futures Global Fellow Annette Mees, this evening panel brings together Tao-Tao Chang (British Council), Anastasia Mavrogianni (Onassis Foundation), Tateo Nakajima (Therme Group), artist Qiu Anxiong, and Kay Watson (Serpentine). Together, they explore how artists and cultural institutions are responding to profound technological and social transformation, and how new forms of cultural practice continue to emerge across physical and digital worlds.

Presented as part of London Forum: The Future is Behind Us, the conversation reflects ARTIFACT Futures' ongoing commitment to connecting culture, technology, and public life through interdisciplinary dialogue.

About the Panelists

Tao-Tao Chang is Director for Digital Innovation in the Arts at the British Council. Prior to this, she was Associate Director of Infrastructure and Major Programmes at the Arts and Humanities Research Council, where she had oversight of a £390m+ portfolio of national capability investments including CoSTAR (Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime), RICHeS (research infrastructure for conservation and heritage science), DiSSCo-UK (the UK node of the Distributed System of Scientific Collections) and CResCa (Creative Research Capability awards). While at AHRC, she secured UK membership of E-RIHS (European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science), EHRI (European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, CLARIN (Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure) and DiSSCo (Distributed System of Scientific Collections). From 2005-2010, she was Head of the International Office at the University of Cambridge, after which she held research management posts at the Fitzwilliam Museum and the V&A. While not an artist or creative practitioner herself, she is passionate about enabling artists to frame their practice as research and worked closely with the Royal Shakespeare Company to develop their Interdisciplinary Fellowships programme.

Anastasia Mavrogianni is an innovation strategist working at the intersection of art, emerging technologies, and ecosystem development. She is a graduate of Athens Law School and holds a minor in Leadership & Management from the American College of Greece. In her current role as Innovation Officer at the Onassis Foundation, she coordinates the operation and growth of Onassis ONX, a global platform dedicated to art and advanced technologies, while designing initiatives that bridge creative practice with AI, XR, and digital culture. She has extensive experience building international partnerships, developing innovation programs, and supporting artists and technologists in translating experimental ideas into real-world impact, positioning art as a critical lens for understanding and shaping technological futures. She also mentors early-stage teams and startups in their development.

Tateo Nakajima is a creative and passionate leader focused on the human experience of the built and natural environment, whose career began as a violinist and conductor in orchestra, ballet, and opera before pivoting to 25 years leading design teams behind some of the world's best arts facilities and environments — including the last 13 years with Arup. Deeply engaged in the way spaces for arts, culture, and entertainment shape collective identity and community sustainability, Tateo believes that thoughtful design positively impacts lives by making great, memorable experiences possible while supporting both individual and collective mental and physical wellbeing. Tateo is currently the Chief Development Officer of Therme Group. 

Qiu Anxiong was born in Sichuan in 1972, graduating from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 1994 before earning a degree from the Kassel Academy of Fine Arts in Germany in 2003, and is currently a professor at the School of Design, East China Normal University. A leading figure in contemporary ink animation, his works are held in the collections of major international institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, Centre Pompidou, M+ Museum, and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, among others. He has held solo exhibitions at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Arken Museum of Modern Art, and the Crow Museum of Asian Art, and his work has featured in significant international exhibitions and biennials including the São Paulo, Sydney, Cairo, and Busan Biennales, the Thessaloniki Biennale, and the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

Kay Watson is Head of Arts Technologies, Serpentine

About the Moderator

Annette Mees is a Global Fellow for ARTIFACT Futures whose work sits at the intersection of storytelling, culture, and innovation. Over more than twenty years, she has brought together artists, technologists, researchers, and institutions to develop new forms of art and audience engagement — beginning as an immersive theatre director before moving into creative and innovation leadership across the cultural sector. She founded and ran Audience Labs, the Royal Opera House's innovation department, collaborating with Google Creative Lab, the National Gallery, Innovate UK, and over 40 artists, and has shaped creative innovation programmes for major organisations including Southbank Centre, the National Arts Centre of Canada, and Wales Millennium Centre. Her work spans The Public Theater in New York, the European Cultural Foundation, and an ongoing artist residency at the University of Bristol, while she also advises technology companies, government bodies, and research institutions on the future of immersive and interdisciplinary practice. As a Global Fellow, Annette focuses on the evolving role of cultural institutions in public life and how artists, ideas, and new technologies can converge to create meaningful cultural experiences for a changing world.