We need to dream again. 

Zulum Elumogo, Managing Director at TC & Friends and a board member of the Barbican Centre, asserts that there lies the role of the arts. “The love, the care, the sense of belonging inherent to healthy arts organisations is what our world needs,” he encouraged. 

As a community leader and lifelong advocate for the arts, Zulum understands the vitalness of the sector. In his closing keynote at TLCC London, he shared how organisations can let authenticity and creativity thrive. When they do, they grant people permission to dream.

Zulum recognized this in his grandfather and great-uncle. Both were prolific artists and creative practitioners who represented Nigeria at FESTAC ‘77. The historic, pan-African cultural festival left a significant impact on his relatives. More broadly, its global platform inspired millions of artists to celebrate their creativity authentically. Today, Zulum said, the world needs spaces like FESTAC ‘77 that embrace differences and cultivate new ideas.

“At a time when political forces are fawning for monochromatic homogeneity, the arts must remain a bright light and engine for diversity to celebrate the plurality of human expression,” Zulum urged. “Assimilation may feel comforting and safe, but it robs life of its multicolour magic.”

“The love, the care, the sense of belonging inherent to healthy arts organisations is what our world needs.”

To reclaim the narrative, Zulum encouraged the audience to be way-makers, not gatekeepers. “Be the one to open the door,” he offered. “Provide others with an entry point so they know they can do it.”

Opening the door is only the first step. Arts organisations must shine their light on others and support new voices, Zulum said. “Nostalgia is not a strategy,” he warned. He suggested attendees consider how they can share their networks to empower others. When organisations uplift and celebrate diversity, he said, they illuminate possibilities for the next generation. They invite those new legends to come in. They show that their authentic selves are welcomed.

The arts and culture sector has always been a place for dreamers, Zulum said. Now more than ever, he asserted, it’s up to organisations and practitioners to nurture those environments and push against chaos and uncertainty.

“Choose hope over fear. Courage over cowardice. Multicolour over grayscale. Abundance over scarcity,” Zulum advised. “And you, too, can give our wounded world permission to dream of better.”

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Zulum Elumogo presented this talk as the closing keynote at the Tessitura Learning & Community Conference in London, United Kingdom, in March 2026.