 Good morning. Good afternoon and good evening. Thank you so much for joining us for stories move mountains I want to thank the World Economic Forum for this opportunity and especially to Niko Daswani and his team who have been such great great partners in this I'm Cara Murtis. I'm the project director for the moving image strategies at Ford Foundation And I'm super pleased to be here to talk with these incredible women. We are here to discuss the powerful animating principle of the new narrative's lab taking place at the World Economic Forum And that principle is what if society were to treat artists as the leaders that they are What new resources would be brought to bear? What kinds of creative leadership will emerge and what new futures can be better imagined with artists Not only at the table, but also setting some of the tables too The lab is a new fellowship program that begins to answer that question And we are here with an extraordinary group of women leaders who joined the lab as its first cohort Launched one year ago in real life at Davos The new narratives lab began as all things do as an idea an instinct a conviction in a way As internationally renowned artist and crystal award winner Lynette Walworth began to consider How to extend the experience she has had as an artist and a leader at the World Economic Forum And through these networks she wanted to extend that experience and she brought this idea To two people who had been working with her on a variety of projects One was Niko Daswani, who I just mentioned who is the cultural lead At the World Economic Forum and myself at Ford Foundation Then I was director of Just Films, but I'd been able to work with Lynette on several of her immersive videos And together the three of us set out on a journey to design a program that would support And strengthen creative leadership and of course this was all led by Lynette as artistic director Very soon three remarkable women leaders Accepted the opportunity to be in the first cohort and in addition to Lynette with us today our Wanoori Kahiu She's the filmmaker of Rafiki the first Kenyan film to premiere at Cannes Film Festival And she's also the founder of Afro bubble gum Tanda Hopa is a diversity advocate. She's an international model She's a lawyer and she's the founder of Tanda Hopo media And Rena Effendi is an internationally renowned photojournalist with national geographic and many other platforms And given the talent of our panelists and the brevity of time the session is structured around a set of four Eight to ten minute conversations and rather than taking questions at the end as we often do We want to invite everybody attending on top link and elsewhere Well, I think it's only top link to offer reflections and questions in the chat As you listen and as we move through our discussion We will work to incorporate some of these reflections and thoughts But in other words, we're not going to all speak and then go to a q and a at the end We want to make this much more of a discussion and an exchange Between these women So also in the chat for those of you on top link will be links to their four extraordinary presentations made last year at Davos And I strongly encourage those of you who can To copy them and view them later We've also included the link to Lynette Walworth's visionary acceptance speech at the 2020 forum So I want to thank everybody for joining us for your time and your wisdom I'll start the panel with a quote that keeps helps me think about the crucial work of artists today And it's from our very own president at Ford foundation Darren Walker And he has said it so simply last year in a forum He said without artists, there is no justice And in each of these artists practices, there is a strong sense of justice Defined and delivered differently but towards a common vision. So let me start out with the first question For all of you and rena will come to you first And as you answer the first question, please let us know where you are now And if you would tell us a story about your journey this past year One where the world's organizing principles are being tested as never before and as individuals We're all undergoing radically different experiences during this time Could you talk about what you've learned about your own leadership and its impact? Were you surprises for you? Were there surprises for you in this past year? So I'm a photographer and my work normally takes me around the world Especially in the past few years. I've really been zipping around The continents in 2019 alone. I went to 22 countries in 12 months And You know with this very unusual year when everything came to a sudden standstill He was very shocking for me But also at the same time I realized that that was the perfect moment to Slow down and reflect upon my immediate surrounding Now I'm in istanbul. He asked me where I am. I am based in istanbul I've been living here for five years and I love I love the city Although I rarely had a chance to to work here because I've always treated it as a home base as a place that I'd come back to after an assignment But istanbul has a very diverse social fabric It has many layers of its cultural identity that I've always wanted to explore and in a way The lockdowns this inability to travel allowed me to delve deeper Into these various layers of stories in my own city So I embarked on on a story about the people of istanbul about how they've adapted to this new reality I photographed mostly non essential workers Whose lives have been completely derailed by the pandemic people like entertainers and performers who lost their live audiences Street vendors who could no longer be in the streets You know it could be anyone from a hamam scrubber who couldn't wash anyone because the hamam shut down Or an mom who delivered prayers and an empty mosque And all these people they've Shared with me their unique ways of overcoming These challenges overcoming the pandemic resisting these hardships and I learned so much from them um and through these You know more microcosms that I've visited that I was exposed to The moods and the the feelings of these people they've kind of imprinted on me in a way that made me Embrace the city And and truly call it a home in a way that I haven't been able to do before I know that's a beautiful story Finding something in your local and things that you may have overlooked in the past because you were journeying around the world as so many of us did um in the previous times Um tondo can I come to you? And ask the same question um well I find I think last year was quite a Quite an interesting year for me politically. Um You know, my work usually is of um, you know, I coupled the modeling with the advocacy and When 2020 hit What happened is that you had the culmination of the pandemic everything that happened with the black lives movement and What actually happened with me then is that I needed to start documenting a great deal of things about race and racial discrimination and um The thing about race is that it is separate from, you know Racial discrimination and that racial discrimination is inclusive of race But then it also has color based discrimination and I was experiencing both So I was put in a constant position where I had to try and explain this pattern and this intersection of albinism and being black and trying to you know unpack institutionalized racism and at this point in time It really made me look back in history with regards to the relationship of race Normality and how albinism culminates into this particular issue And we started actually, you know, I started talking to a great deal of people and we started housing like little productions to try and communicate Issues of race and racial discrimination. I think for me as a leader one of the things that it's really Taught me is to be honest To be honest about this journey to be honest about the complication because you know each time I I think I was trying to place You know, it's not somewhat divide myself with regards to this But I think that with time I learned that when you are honest and authentic in your leadership And with regards to talking about really sensitive political issues Then it's the best way for people to somewhat best understand and get to a solution Um, so yeah, I think you know last year politically it was quite It was quite interesting trying to unpack issues of race and racial discrimination um, so yeah Tando, that's an amazing story and you know, you are known worldwide, but you are very rooted in South Africa And I'm wondering whether or not this had a you know You were able to think about this work in an international way or that how how did South Africa inform The the particular kinds of research and and analysis that you were doing No, this is the quite quite the interesting thing is that when I had to try and unpack issues and institutional issues of race and racial discrimination um because in the African context how they tried to Explain race and normality with regards to albinism was highly undocumented And I and I had to actually kind of look through You know a great deal of western history also to really understand How it is that we got here Because with South Africa you have a like a history of racial discrimination through apartheid institutionalized racism through apartheid But what happened with regards to something like albinism was quite silent and this is the issue of underrepresented groups is that In the absence of documentation you experience erasure and then in the present circumstances you find issues um of whether it's superstition or whether it's um scientific bias on how to explain normality you find those issues But because you don't have the history documented enough to explain how you got here It it created like an added layer of complication um And I think it's also one of the reasons why documentation became extremely important for me because if if if you don't have that narrative to contextualize Whatever oppression or discrimination that is in place within that intersection Not just in terms of race in terms of blackness But within the intersection of having racial discrimination in terms of color I think it's just it just became far more important to make sure that there is There is documentation whether you do it through the modeling work or through Writing or through but you need to house these stories so that people in 50 or 100 years time better understand How time moved in terms of oppression discrimination justice injustice and so forth They have something to basically unpack for them to understand the present Because you know, we are we are here. We are witnesses of the time So we have to document for a future generation for them to understand as witnesses What are the issues and it's easier for them when they understand how they got to where they are It's easier for them to carve out a future You know with regards to how to move forward and not repeat the same mistakes because one of the issues is patterns Discrimination and oppression usually just it has patterns So, yeah Tando that is Amazing the work that you've done this year and it strikes me as visual artists all of you powerful visual artists some Some of what you focus on is making the invisible visible again and wonder a I'll come to you Um, and have you talked about the the journey that you've had this year? in your own leadership and your work I think it's been quite a radical shift as a filmmaker Like everybody here I've been very used to traveling the world to be able to start Or to have conversations with people about film or To pitch for films or to be part of the narrative But what's the most interesting thing that has been happening is because I haven't been able to travel Somehow I've had more access To more people and been in more meetings and I would have normally been invited to And and contribute in that way which Is Is is incredibly important for everything that Tando said For for the need to document our nowness and and who we are But also for us to figure out how to take it and how to find courage About being seen as off mainstream whatever however mainstream is defined wherever you are And and and learning that your voice is important So my journey this year as a leader has been just trying to strengthen my voice Trying to move into rooms without apology Trying to ask for things that I feel like having a diverse cast or crew Without without it seeming like it's either impossible Or that it's a it's a large ask or without feeling any sort of Colonial or patriarchal baggage that I know that I am I am trying to get rid of myself In in in these conversations So some of it has just been learning how to show up fully present courageous and vulnerable at the same time And it's been it's been a really interesting moment It's fantastic I wonder Lynette if you would give us an idea of your journey this year Well, so I'm in Sydney. It's close to midnight here. Um, and I you know Like all of these three amazing women Usually spend a lot of my time away from Australia Making work or presenting work and especially when a work has to be physically installed somewhere Generally, I travel with it. So this has been a very unusual year Last year just to be to be in Sydney for the entire year and a lot of the time not even able to leave our state depending on the On the conditions that would allow us to travel or not or not travel even within the country So I very much felt myself to be on a on an island For the first time really felt that sense of Australia as an island That I couldn't that I couldn't leave And I turned towards what was capturing my attention. Um And one of those things was initially hearing the stories Both here but also in many mostly in other places around the world um about people dying alone in hospitals and I felt Okay, I can't make a work but The tools I have and the skills I have I could turn them towards this particular issue and I approached a hospital with a concept of Being able to hand those tools that I work with the virtual reality tools Immersive camera and the immersive sound To hand them over to families who were not able to visit their loved ones Who are in a hospital because of covet So I stopped being the maker I just I became the person who had knowledge And who could apply that knowledge to a new situation And with the fortune of Australia not being overwhelmed with covet We are able to model something which we will be able to share um that is It's you know that gives something to people who are Experiencing that terrible Wrench That someone they love they can't get to And these are most technologies. Um Can meet that gap? It's not what I've done and it's not what I would normally do but it's what the moment called for Um, so that's one of the things I focused on I hear a through line with every everybody Which is in this moment stopping what you quote normally do and being where you are And finding your your practice you're you're you're being in that I'm hearing Authenticity I'm hearing access to places and people that you wouldn't normally have access to um Being present without apology and the idea of documentation all of these are really really powerful themes And this kind of experiment something like the new narratives lab. Um in the best Circumstances has unanticipated consequences and one of the remarkable things that happened almost immediately When we met at Davos all of us, uh, was the formation of a very powerful cohort among all of you the four of you Really and then wider circles including your mentors and wider circles including the actual institutions that we're supporting you So i'm wondering if you can share some of the ways that you helped each other Learn about your own creativity and leadership and also where you were challenged by each other to rethink your processes So, um rena, would you like to start again? Sure. Yes, um well, um As a documentary photographer my my main focus is is human interest stories and as I tell these stories They eventually become visual narratives which reflect upon the lives of the people I photograph And these people often are in very vulnerable situations And as much as objectivity is is very important for me And I try to tell these stories truthfully without imposing judgment or having an agenda I am a human being and the camera in front of me is is a machine But I as a as any other human being I have a vantage point I have a prism through which I tell these stories you can call it A gaze the gaze that's shaped by my cultural identity by my worldview belief systems knowledge, etc So in the sessions with everyone with mentors and tando and wanuri What was most inspiring for me is is Was was exploring these leadership roles that are assigned to us to build these narratives Both are on and and when we represent others and in the course of many conversations, especially conversations with wanuri and tando I realize that This most important leadership role is what I call my journalistic responsibility is a responsibility not to mess represent the people I photograph not to perpetuate harmful stereotypes not to reinforce social prejudices And by listening to these perspectives, I've become acutely aware That there is a fine balance between reality and representation And that's that's the space that I as a as a journalist I need to navigate it not just with Journalistic or artistic but also with cultural social and often political sensibilities Wanuri and tando do you want to add on to that and make this because I know you've been discussing amongst your Yourselves some of these issues Um, you know, I will um actually and before I I get to rena I'd actually be like to Tell you that the first thing that I learned quite early on when I started in the narratives lab was wanuri's narrative of joy And that has that really I can't explain how that affected me Because especially as you know, a woman who is in a in an underrepresented group and usually in visual media You, you know the the stories that were extremely overwhelming Including stories of journalists was the pain that came with being in this particular body and You know when she spoke about joy as a form of resistance in narrative and artistic work I I can't tell you how often I would ask that question whether we were doing campaigns or whether I was consulting with regards to How a particular person needs to be represented and I would ask Where what is their joy? And you know because I I remember that that question is me saying How do you tell the story in a form where this person when they are represented and the identity group in which represents them They see that they are deserving of joy, you know, and it's it's it's not that the narrative of pain Is incorrect not at all because it is the truth But it is that it is incomplete for a human experience. So it's one of the things that I I I definitely learned And with regards to rena. So rena and I spoke a lot about editorial control For underrepresented groups and you know, even the language of human interest stories really only came through When I was part of the narrative lab because I didn't have the language for it. I didn't I didn't know Um what stories I usually would fall under for instance And when I realized that I fell under human interest stories I realized that there is an issue of a power dynamic when it comes to representation And what I I understand that human interest stories are one of those avenues where you can Regulate those power dynamics because underrepresented groups or vulnerable groups or prejudice groups. They are They are allowing you to be a conduit to tell their story But at the same time you need to balance it and that's what rena really She she really I'm pressed on this as a challenge to say you need to balance it because journalistic work is characterized by objectivity Um, and I think we were so we'd have to try and find ways To both tell a story, but also be objective. So I would say Um in order for you to get editorial control, let's say, okay, can I have factual corrections? Can I have language corrections? Can I have cultural context corrections? And by that I mean If you're doing an article about fashion There is absolutely no need to explain that albinism is a genetic Disorder, which is you know, it's not it's a genetic occurrence, but this order is negative language You know, and then you talk about it scientifically in a fashion editorial You know, that's an issue of context. So um, so I started learning how to Basically, you know allow for that kind of collaboration between An artist or what they would call a subject and you know The the other storyteller who would be the journalist and so forth and kind of create That synergy in order for us to protect the integrity of both our work But I think my conversations with rena helped quite a lot with that Well, Nore, let me ask you to come in and talk a little bit more about your thinking about the the Joy in storytelling and this is the basis of um afro bubblegum. It's it's how you think about your work Um, could you talk a little bit more take us a little bit more into your thinking? Yeah, I think that there has been and continues to be an absence of utopias created for people of color whether it's in fiction or documentary because There is a very particular lens Or or gaze like rena says that has been imposed on us to the point that we have started to impose it on ourselves So whenever we think that the only stories about us have to be Hurt or broken or sad to be heard And we forget that our joy is as important And the utopias I speak about don't mean an absence of suffering or pain. It just means a space that is free of political oppression And how do we create spaces and stories that allow us that? That allows access into a future that is free of political oppression that is full of hope even though hope can be dark And sometimes can be very daunting And there's a harder emotion or is a harder word to say than even love But how can we so firmly attach ourselves with that so that as we create we are creating? We are the lights at the end of the tunnel Or we are creating more lights and more journeys and and more ways that we can see ourselves And this has been so It has been so profoundly affected by Our interactions as a whole as a group By rena's continuous resilience and vulnerability whenever she shows up in moments of hurt The way that she uses her lens almost as protection and the way that she concentrates On the humanity of issues has been such a fulfilling way to kind of move through the world um, and in one of our conversations, I remember rena saying that For her that's how she processes the world is that she's able to take her camera out and process what is happening in the world through Through what she sees and I took that on myself to see how I am processing my world through what I do How I am internalizing everything that's happening but giving it meaning so that what is happening is not forgotten But also so that it doesn't create the unnecessary burdens of being scared to be around people How do we move past that so that we're um, we're curious and and so that the next film that we see and people are touching We don't we don't shrink back in fear Or worry about people being in buses and in in in fictional spaces You know, um, I think that it's it's really helped inform the humanity of that And for tando has been really just a beautiful Conversation about intersectionality in a way that I hadn't even began to consider The layers upon layers of what humanity means and the processes that make us more political than human And how those shadings in between the the the definitions of people how we have to Reinvent them so that the language is positive So that the language is affirming and how we we're just a lot more care in the use of descriptions in the use of kindness And in in our involvement in moving through the world with that gaze with that with the gaze of of kindness and curiosity that has really come from just Deeply falling tando's work past what she did last year, but also just kind of google stalking her I think has been it's been it's been a joy and a and a pleasure But also I've just I have to say i'm also so excited Not only by my mentor who who because I'm I have not only been a filmmaker but an activist Because we're suing the government for freedom of expression Who said something really simple, which is be like a stone and water Let the things run over you and when you need to stand up stand up don't stand up for everything Don't fight about everything Choose your battles and choose what washes over you And that was a really powerful lesson at the beginning of last year Really was applied And then Lynette in all her beauty and brilliance has been an amazing confident through this last year That I don't think would have happened in the same way if it wasn't for this If it wasn't for being part of this forum And she's been somebody of it been able to call on and and think things through and revise ideas And also just move through the world with grace and confidence Um and not be ashamed or shy to stand up for people who are underrepresented That has been such a firm lesson from Lynette. Um and has Really taught me the need for diverse leadership the need for vulnerable and compassionate leadership but also the need for Not taking things on not just being in your full confidence Um without apology Um, it's it's it's been a joyous joyous trip this past year night and I really appreciate everybody for it Well nori, that's an amazing Lynette I want to come to you because this discussion is making me think about something that you saw early on I'm sure even as you were thinking about what this lab could be and that is this question of When you're not part of the dominant culture. I wonder if you could speak about that a little bit Yeah, I You know, I move um Into in different communities enough by benefit of invitation Have many friends have many allies who Who who would not who do not come from let's say the dominant culture? And and I and the thing that is clear to me is clear to me from the rooms I move in Is that if you are that person from the dominant culture You don't necessarily even know it all you know is that You don't have to explain yourself In those rooms There's a given understanding that what you say will be understood that the way you say it will be understood That if you reiterate what someone else has said That what you say will be taken notice of It's it's it's it's not necessarily a subtle thing Kara as we know but it's a but it's a it's a reality For anyone who is not of that group It's a reality that What I see what I have seen what I've noticed and why I feel passionate about this group and this fellowship is that Leadership should not be diversity of leadership should not be that when people of People of cultural diversity of difference of different ways of being coming from different Cultural experiences move into that room. They should not have to change who they are In order to join the conversation They should not have to translate themselves And for me, I feel it's I feel extremely strongly that Unless we have that diversity That allows for us to feel all like different times uncomfortable Because we're not sure we don't really quite understand what that person is saying If we don't have that discomfort, we won't ask the question If we don't ask the question, we don't push through to see where our differences are and find through conversation um where we can meet And where we can move towards Just as rena and tando are showing us here These like different ways of moving through the world in their forms of work Came together and tussled with one another but because they were sitting around the same table Equally representing themselves and their way of being They learned from one another's experience and they came to different understandings and they pushed one another towards a position that could hold and understand both Both ways of operating and I I just feel very passionately about this One what this group demonstrates you can hear in their conversation Because they came together much more than we thought they might we thought they might spend much more time with their mentors They became teachers to one another in leadership And it showed me it affirmed to me what you what nico what we all hoped for and what I think we need which is diverse voices around any table which we hope to be collegiate And to and where we hope to come to conversation discussion and solution around global challenges Because a monoculture teaches us nothing but itself Lynette, thank you for that. I want to open up the idea that that you all may have some insights for this audience Who undoubtedly have their own remarkable networks initiatives and institutions and and Taking what you have learned about leadership and about the need for as Lynette says a kind of table of diverse Voices that are engaged with each other How would you suggest that people? Look at their own networks and think about how they can support The kind of creative leadership that we all think is is so important What would you recommend for people listening as they think about their own work and their own? Their their own access to resources And to platforms Any of you can go I think one of the things that I find most important is to continuously advocate for institutions, audiences People who are who think that there is value In having diverse voices who think that there is value And in different people telling stories or being part of a creation of a new world And we know that there is a need for a new world, especially now um actively contributing and actively watching and actively participating with The the the filmmakers who are already there So for example, if you think that LGBTQ plus filmmakers Voices are missing Support the ones that are there now Because we live in a time of data Whether it's on netflix whether you go and buy a ticket Support the voices so that they have the data to inform the ability to make the next film Because so often what happens with us is is financial censorship or Data censorship where people say we don't have enough data for you to make these films because nobody is watching your films You know and so The only thing I can do is genuinely Encourage audiences genuinely encourage people who are lovers of art Or people who are lovers of this kind of cultural leadership to support it Find the people who you know and support them. And if you don't know them find others Or look for others so that you can support those And they're all across netflix and amazons and in the way that we're so interlinked in this day and age But the responsibility is no longer just on the artists and just on the media outlets But is as much on the audiences themselves to contribute and to literally do it for the data I would say the same thing. Um, I think you know You have to somewhat be deliberate about representation And what when Uri is talking about when she says data data is representation Um, it's just you have to be more deliberate about the avenues of representation In the instruments that you have institutionally and as I said data could be one of them I know that for me I deal a great deal with intellectual property That's another film where you can see how you can you know, just house concepts and and facilitate concepts of ethical representation Ethical storytelling responsible storytelling, which is something that we're really talking about a great deal right now And I think for me the fellowship is one thing that really made it so, um I don't know if I could say urgent and important For me to even when I speak and campaign about this that instruments of responsible Storytelling need to be put up and the only way really I feel that you can do that is if your leadership is extremely consultative because you don't know what is missing And it's similar to what uh, Lynette said is that if you are in the dominant culture a great deal of the time It's difficult for you to unearth the unseen without having consultative leadership because then you will know what it is That you're not seeing because an absence doesn't mean that there isn't a problem It means that you're just not seeing that issue and I think one other thing is also to just cultivate a sense of Being empathetic and when I say empathetic, I mean perspective taking One of the things that also this this fellowship has really Done is that it's helped us learn how to take perspectives Even with even at times when we feel like we don't Agree with one another but as soon as you learn how to walk into somebody else's shoes Common ground becomes possible So yeah I'm gonna build on I want to build on something that Wanuri mentioned she mentioned audiences Uh, that's something that's always uh kind of been a challenge because You know For example, I work on social on stories about social justice social injustice And my aim is to bring these stories to light And one of the biggest challenges that I find Is to engage the mass audiences the mainstream audiences to care more deeply about these stories You know one way to do it Of course traditionally is to publish stories in the media and the media as an institute is various institutions within the media to support Publishing these stories, but at the same time We're up against the fact that Um Today the attention span is very short and we have Today the social media, which is basically the main platform for storytelling and we are up against influencers You know such as you know the same influencer who's selling underwear who gets a lot more Engagement and traffic on on her feed than anything I would ever post So how how to reconcile this challenge? How to You know the the the only way for me is is is really to You know hone in the skills of effective communication become a better storyteller but but I still haven't come to grips with how To to really change that mindset and how to make sure that Even though the institutions are giving the space for these stories to be told that the audience actually listens You know, so that's I have more not an answer but another question to that question Excellent We have three minutes left And in this final it's gone fast And so in this final I'd love to have a flash round of each of you speaking for 20 seconds And I'm going to quote Lynette's the end of her wonderful immersive experience collision Collisions And she says in that there is what we do not know and then there is what we come to know And it's what we do next that will make a difference So in these final minute minutes, I wonder if each of you could take 20 seconds to give us a glimpse Into the future you see for yourself And Lynette, let me start with you I think it somehow links to to the question that you'd asked just before which is where where do I see myself and What have I learned from this year and those two things combined really Cara? I think every door every room I find myself in every doorway that I've entered on would When I see that there are not the voices there that can bring A collective of narratives that can help us understand who we are together Then I have to find the way to keep that door open And find the way to bring people in behind me and that This year this year with these amazing women has been an experience of what happens when you do that And onward to be honest. I just want to keep doing it um Because it gives hope it gives hope it gives It gives vibrancy and um And it enriches who we know ourselves to be We literally have 60 seconds Um, so rena just a few words one or a just a few words and tando you can close us out Literally 10 seconds Okay, um, I'd like to be a better Advocate for diversity. I I myself have come a long way being an as a bajani photographer and now working for the western media Who I've convinced that my perspective matters and I'd like to be a better advocate for others like me One or a I think it's creating spaces and stories where there's more compassion hope and more utopias So that we can carve out a future that is as important as our present and possibly even more so And tando close us out Um, I'd like to make sure that you know the work that I do aspirations are not in conflict with opportunity One thing Lynette would say to me is when I'm doing work should say Help them imagine it and if they imagine it then the future can come into being but make them see it So that's the documentation that I would like to focus on in the future This has been such a fantastic conversation. Thank you all for giving us your time and for sharing what you know And thanks to everybody that has been listening in