2025: BOOK TOUR: Join me in Helsinki, Singapore, London, Loire Valley France, Manchester, Amsterdam, Cambridge, Coventry and online

Neuro-Futurism and Re-Imagining Leadership: A decolonial, neuro-queered and co-creative practice

This performance-lecture draws on Kai Syng Tan’s new book Neuro-Futurism and Re-Imagining Leadership: An A-Z towards Collective Liberation (Palgrave Macmillan 2024), which calls for a re-imagination of ‘leadership’ as a trans-disciplinary, (co-)creative, diversified, decolonised, neuro-queered practice of change and future-making. 

(OPTIONAL: Colliding mobilities, neuro-queering, the arts and culture, critical leadership studies, social justice, creative pedagogy, futurity and Daoist cosmology for the first time, the short, sweet and spicy hand-book celebrates the Dangerous, Demeaning and Dirty labour of Deviant/Defiant culture-workers often side-lined in (leadership) scholarship, through 60,000 words across 26 break-neck, fist-stomping chapters and 38 colour original images and maps, and is available in both physical or digital formats. The book has been praised as ‘astonishing, daring, pioneering, and much, much needed. At once inspirational, creative, subversive, and at times hilarious, Tan provides multiple strategies to disrupt and reclaim ideas and spaces about leadership.’)

The performance-lecture is set to original composition by Philip Tan (@philiptanmusic on Youtube) and include clips from Kai’s short film commissioned for BBC Culture in Quarantine How to Thrive in 2050! (2021) 

The performance-lecture is part of Kai’s book tour that includes: Baltic Circle, Finnish National Gallery Kiasma; Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art; John Hansard Gallery; The Embodied Educator podcast; British Art Network’s Disability in British Art (DIBA); University of Arts Helsinki; Royal College of Art;  Manchester Poetry Library and University of Cambridge; Council for Higher Education Art and Design (CHEAD, body representing 70 UK art universities and schools). 

• Neurofuturism, leadership, creative leadership, arts and cultural leadership, neurodiversity, decolonial, neuroqueer, culture change,  innovation, change-making, future-making, collective liberation, anti-oppression, social justice, cultural justice, creative justice, social change
• Artistic intelligence, artfulness, creative education, compassionate advocacy, #artisessential, design as activism, activism
• Creative research, arts and culture, art and design, higher education
• EDI, equity, diversity, inclusion
• Neurodivergence, neurominority, neuroatypicality, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia  
• neurodiversity studies, critical neurodiversity studies, creative neurodiversity studies, more-than-human, body-mind-world, critical disability studies, disability arts, civic engagement, social model of disability

• Do-ers, dreamers, dare-devils.
• Artists, activists, academics, allies, accomplices.
• People who want a better future — not just for your own kind, but the marginalised, minoritised, those hardest hit by colonialist ableist transphobic xenophobic and other harmful policies and actions and legacies — because what’s happening now is far from acceptable. If you’re happy with how things are or can afford to look away, you’re part of the problem
• Early career people; people in precarious roles
• People who are neurodivergent, neurodiversity-curious, knows a peer /student who is neurodivergent, provide disability support, want to actually provide support
• People who are NOT neurodivergent. People who want to learn. People who want to be genuine allies. Anyone who wishes to go beyond providing lip service about equity, cultural justice and inclusion. People in senior leadership/management pay-grades welcome too if you will apply your privilege and do the leg work.

• Performative allies who clicks likes but shy of dirty, dangerous and demeaning work.
• Turn elsewhere if you’re only keen to tick boxes about having received ‘training’ but will uphold the status quo.
• Look elsewhere too if you’re into striking power poses and ‘self-improvement’ by focusing on the individual, and ignore how oppression is systemic, structural and infrastructural.  

SHORT:

Kai Syng Tan PhD PFHEA @kaisyngtan is an award-winning artist-academic–author-agitator. Hyper-active and tentacular, Kai (she/they) activates artistic and artful processes and strategies to catalyse novel insights, dialogues and actions for a more equitable and creative future. By day Kai is Associate Professor in Arts and Cultural Leadership, University of Southampton, UK. 

LONGER:

Kai Syng Tan PhD PFHEA (she/they, @kaisyngtan) is an artist-academic–author–-agitator known for her trademark ‘eclectic style & cheeky attitude’ (Sydney Morning Herald). 

Hyper-active by nature and design, Kai has many tentacles. She is a research leader (founded and/or (co-)led 6 global research networks, including the 435-member Neurodiversity In/& Creative Research Network; recognised as ‘absolutely instrumental’ in re-framing running as creative discourse) and trans-disciplinary innovator (first artist on a Royal College of Psychiatrist’s editorial board). 

Kai is also a change-maker (as Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival juror, awarding the top award to a filmmaker formerly imprisoned by the Myanmar military junta; as trustee of a charity for detained refugees, drove its radical transformation by embedding co-creation and anti-oppression practices, leading to the appointment of its first, black neurodivergent female Artistic Director), as well as curator and creative director (leading programmes ranging from £0 to £4.8m, including a Black History Month celebration that reached 18.2 million worldwide, and the opening and closing ceremonies of Asia’s Paralympics praised as ‘game-changing’ by disability groups).

Apart from being an artist (San Francisco International Film Festival Golden Gate Film Award; showcases in MoMA, Guangzhou Triennale, Royal Geographical Society), Kai is also provocateur (regularly delivering keynote lectures; expert advisor for government bodies, international research councils and even a ministry of defence), creative theorist/writer (publications include BBC, Guggenheim, Frontiers Psychology and The Manila Times), as well as mentor, teacher and academic developer (awarded Principal Fellowship; taught in 200 universities worldwide; regularly delivers masterclasses such as for Royal Society of Arts). 

By day, Kai is an Associate Professor in Arts and Cultural Leadership at the University of Southampton, UK.

Duration/Structure of performance-lecture: 60 minutes total: 

• PRE-SHOW / ONCE DOORS OPEN: Play this clip of excerpts from the book on loop and full screen with sound.
• INTRODUCTION: 5 minutes by host/chair. 
  • Clarify that this is an inclusive space that does not condone any form of discriminatory behaviour/language. Show Kai’s guidelines, pictured. Credit: Tan, Kai Syng. 2022. ‘Neurodiversity In/& Creative Research Network LIVE Community Guidelines’) 
  • Explain format of performance-lecture. Ask to not interrupt unless explicitly invited by Kai to respond.
  • Explain ways to engage during session: write down/draw questions, notes and/or feedback on physical cards handed out and to be collected after; co-create mapping; raise questions on chat function; raise questions anonymously on Padlet
  • Explain that there is a discussion and Q&A after for people to vocalise questions or opinions.
  • For certain performance, there will also be a section that invites someone to step forward to perform
  • Introduction of contexts: host institution, Kai, synergies between host institution and Kai
  • Photography/ videography permissions; other housekeeping
• PERFORMANCE: 30-35 minutes by Kai. See next section for details of setup.
• DISCUSSION & Q&A: 10-15 minutes by host/chair with Kai. Host/chair to monitor/bundle up questions.
• BOOK SIGNING: 5-10 minutes by Kai. 
• GATHER FEEDBACK: Host institution should gather feedback in situ (eg cards, video, online) and after programme in multimodal, user-friendly and accessible ways

PHYSICAL:

• Equipment required: Projector/screen, speakers, lectern/ podium (or table and chair).    
• Equipment supplied: I will bring a MacBook Pro which acts as source, and adaptor. I will use my phone or iPad to read my script from.
• Space requirement: Cinema-like space (darkened, large screen, good sound system). Mid-way, there may be an interactive component so space in the front area for audience to stand up and speak with Kai will be required. See clips and photos of UK launch at John Hansard Gallery here
• Access: The event can be ‘relaxed’ if the space is large enough and with distinct separation between where Kai will be and the audience. If an intimate space, noise and movement are a distraction so the event needs to be away from creche. In addition, please provide quiet space with soft furnishings and water. See here for illustrated case study, at University of Arts Helsinki where Kai delivered a keynote lecture.
• Professional live captioning (Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be important. A Disability Arts Online activity I participated in had a brilliant captioner Marea O’Brien:  obriencaptioning@hotmail.com
• British Sign Language should also be provided. The DAO activity featured the fabulous BSL interpreter were Nikki Harris of Clifton Deaf Services office@cliftondeafservices.com

ONLINE:

• Online: Use the anonymous question function to enable people who don’t want to disclose private information to be anonymous. Otherwise please set up a Padlet and enable anonymous contributions, like this. Create a free account that enables up to 3 free pages.
• Professional live captioning (Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be important. AI is (still) racist!
• Guidelines for accessible events, compiled by Disability Arts Online, in-person and digital. This set of guidelines by The Space is also useful (scroll down for alternative modes).

STRUCTURE FOR A 2-HOUR IN-PERSON SESSION (build in more time for workshop if longer session; create break-out rooms if online)

• ENTERING THE SPACE (5 minutes): People are seated into tables/islands from the beginning. Labels: cat-lovers, octopus-lovers, love-lovers, hate-haters etc
• WARMING UP (50 minutes):
  • 1 minute each (with 1-minute sand-timer): Each person says who they are, pronouns, why they are here, and one thing they have learnt this week.
  • Fast and fun: People get up to share responses via text and/or drawing on large sticky-notes on walls that respond to the questions: What’s love? What’s leadership? What’s love got to do with leadership? Share quick observations – overlapping of words etc (5 minutes)
  • Provocation (30 minutes) People can write down/sketch their questions, responses on sticky notes while I am talking
  • Question and answer (10 -15 minutes)
• RESTING/STIMMING (5-15 minutes): Comfort break, having time out etc  
• WORKING OUT (20-30 minutes): Break into groups for deep-diving into areas of interest (eg co-created community guidelines, code of conduct, teaching guidelines etc)
• CHECKING IN (20-45 minutes): Sharing our work-in-progress. So, the value of the above working-out session is in reflecting on and applying what you have learnt from my talk, and kickstarting the work required with others; the real work begins after the workshop, since such work will inevitably take time to develop, test, refine etc.
• COOLING DOWN KICKING OFF (5-15 minutes):
  • What’s love got to do with your leadership? People re-visit their position and understanding.
  • What next? People write responses on post-its and put on walls one specific action they will do this week.
  • Feedback for the session: What did you like/love? What didn’t you like/love? What suggestions do you have /anything else to add?

A 2-3 hour workshop is to provide insights and tips for you/ your organisation to kick off or continue on the hard work (ahead). Reflect on learnings and findings of the session, and build actions such as:

• having someone role-playing Kai – how and what I did; 
• breaking things down to manageable workstreams. Eg if you are working on community guidelines, and have a draft that people cannot agree on, drill down to what the minimal – ie what the group agrees on as something you absolutely cannot compromise on; 
• following up with my reading list;
• designing / crafting practical ways to act/enact what I have shared;
• relating what you are working on with recurrent ideas/keywords shared by participants.  

Beyond the above, request for multiple sessions or build a long-term contract to enable sharing of your ongoig learnings / findings, and /or for us to check in on our progress, etc.

ROOM SETUP + MATERIALS REQUIRED: 

• We will need colourful sticky notes (larger sized ones preferred) and marker pens for people to write down their responses to put on a wall
• Please arrange people in ‘islands’ large tables, so that each group has 4-5 people 
• If instead of tables, people could also just huddle around and spread out in the rooms, and each group has a flip chart  and marker pens to work on that will be great.  

• If session is recorded, stored and distributed, please make an explicit request – please do not assume my consent.  
• I would appreciate a few documentation photos and short video clips taken, for myself and host to share on our respective public domains, of peoples (or peoples’ backs) and activities, to provide a sense of the activities
• Please attain media release from participants prior

• Publicity on social media: Tag @kaisyngtan on LinkedIn and Instagram
• Download images from books and of Kai here. Expiry: 26/03/2025. Do not crop, do not change dimensions  
• Kai’s exotic name and pronunciation here
• Guidelines on working with Kai here
• A PDF of the script of the UK premiere of the performance-lecture at John Hansard Gallery here serves as a useful guide for themes covered and general structure
• A PDF of the transcript of the European premiere at University Arts Helsinki is here for reference but it contains AI-generated mistakes

• King’s Cultural Community, dir. 2018b. King’s Artist Dr Kai Syng Tan and Professor Philip Asherson, SGDP Centre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arQCE3LoFmA.
• Tan, Kai Syng. 2020. ‘Accessing Kai’. Catalysing Change through Artful Agitation. https://kaisyngtan.com/artful/access/ 
• Tan, Kai Syng. 2024a. ‘Looking for Love in 2024’. Society for Research into Higher Education (blog). 2 February 2024. https://srheblog.com/2024/02/02/looking-for-love-in-2024/
• Tan, Kai Syng. 2024b. Neuro-Futurism and Re-Imagining Leadership: An A-Z Towards Collective Liberation. Palgrave Macmillan. https://kaisyngtan.com/artful/book-springer-nature/.