SXSW London programming director Katie Arnander teased this year’s conference program on Tuesday night at an event at a trendy bar in Shoreditch, the ultra-cool neighborhood of East London where the festival is set. The bar’s name, ‘Equal Parts’, as Anander explained, nicely reflects the nature of SXSW London.
The festival, whose second edition will run from June 1 to 6, announced its live music component last week, and on Thursday will announce the conference lineup, which will feature speakers from the worlds of business, technology, politics and the arts. The program of films and series will be announced next week.
Its heads of programming, head of conferences Katarina Scharling, head of screens Anna Bogutskaya and head of music Adem Holness were all in attendance for Tuesday’s stylish new show.
First, for the uninitiated, Mr. Anander differentiated between the London festival and the original festival in Austin, Texas, which celebrated its 40th edition this month.
“Fundamentally, we’re not an exact clone of Austin, so we haven’t brought the full Austin vibe to London, but what we’ve done is we’ve decided to create our own vibe here in Shoreditch,” she said.
“That means we have a very local slant, not just in Shoreditch, but across East London and London in general. That means our program has a very local slant, if you like, that comes from being in this part of London, which is a highly concentrated area of London. We have music, we have cinema, we have the City of London down the road, we have big business, we have Silicon Roundabout, we have technology, we have designers, we have creativity, we have fashion, and of course we have visuals. artists, all of whom have a number of bases in this part of London.”
“What we’re saying is that South by Southwest provides a lens through which to look at all these areas that I just mentioned. So it’s not just a technology festival, it’s not just a music festival, it’s not just a screen festival, it’s not just a business festival, but it actually transcends and transcends all of those areas. That’s why we do it here in Shoreditch.
“This is a kind of lens on convergence that brings energy to what we do, and it creates an ecosystem around the festival, which means our attendees can take this experience and move around neighborhoods and different venues and have different experiences.”
Reflecting on last year’s event, Mr. Anander said it attracted more than 25,000 audience members, representatives and businesses from over 86 countries, across 34 venues and over 1,000 speakers.
Last year’s speakers included Deepak Chopra, Jane Goodall, Idris Elba, Wyclef Jean, Nile Rodgers, ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus, Asif Kapadia, Julian Lennon, Joseph Fiennes, Katharine Hamnett and Sophie Turner, while VIP guests included Tom Hiddleston, Orlando Bloom, Bryce Dallas, Nick Mohammed and King Charles.
Looking ahead to this year’s event, Anandar said, “We’re doubling down on what we did last year in terms of the content we focus on, but what we discovered last year was that there are areas to focus on more deeply. One of those things that we know is really important for an event like South by Southwest is to bring people together, to network, to unite. Bringing people in the film industry together with people in the technology industry, bringing together people who work in AI and fashion.” Bringing together designers and fintechs is an opportunity for all to mix, interact and share ideas. ”
After listening to viewers and building on learnings from the past year, programmers focused on six themes that were “relevant and that people really want to hear about,” she said.
Anander said one of the themes was about “AI and new power structures.” “Last year, it was all about AI. Everyone wants to know about AI. This year, we know it’s here to stay and we’re all using it, so we’re really digging a little deeper into what that means,” she said. “What does AI mean from a government perspective? What does AI mean from an information and misinformation perspective?”
Another theme will be “Living Longer, Living Better,” Anander said, pointing to discussions on “new drug development, rapid R&D process with AI,” among other related topics.
Yet another theme, she said, is “how culture can save humanity.” “I think a lot of us here are involved in the cultural sector, and I think more and more culture is providing us with a lens through which to manage and deal with AI, because without one you don’t have the other.”
Other themes include the importance of free speech, creativity in the age of algorithms, and the practice of futurism, including areas such as robotics and space travel.
