Conference - Art, Luxury, and Sustainability: Markets in Transition

Environmental sustainability has become one of the defining challenges facing both the art world and the luxury sector. As global awareness of climate change, resource scarcity, and ethical production grows, the traditional structures of art and luxury organisations are being re-examined and reshaped. Businesses, institutions, artists, and luxury brands are navigating how to balance environmental responsibilities with market demands, and evolving consumer expectations.

Building on the growing momentum across the creative and luxury industries, this one-day conference invites critical engagement with the challenges, contradictions, and opportunities that sustainability presents to these sectors. It seeks to highlight real-world action, interrogate barriers to meaningful change, and explore how existing models must evolve—or be replaced—to meet the demands of a carbon-constrained and ethically complex future.

PROGRAMME

9:45 – 10:00: Introduction, Dr Jonathan Woolfson, Director, Sotheby's Institute of Art, London

10:00 – 11:15: Session 1
Frameworks for Social and Environmental Sustainability in Art and Luxury. Chair: Dr Federica Carlotto, Sotheby's Institute of Art, London.

Chandni Jeswani, Independent Art and Architectural Historian — Towards a Framework for Social Sustainability in Art and Luxury

Dr Virginia Marano, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut, MASI Lugano — Designing Access: Disability as a Blueprint for Sustainable Transition in Art and Luxury

Amy Jackson, Artist — Embedded Externalities: Rethinking the Value of Art through Climate Accountability

11:15 – 11:30: Q&A for Session 1

11:30 – 12:00: Coffee Break

12:00 -13:15: Session 2
Institutions in Transition: Museums, Conservation and Sustainable Practices. Chair: Dr Barbara Lasic, Sotheby's Institute of Art, London.

Melissa Painter, V&A — Creating a Family of Sustainable Museums

Jürgen Huber, The Wallace Collection — Conservation’s Role in a Sustainable Future

Lorraine Finch, Independent Conservator — Preserving Masterpieces and the Planet: Conservators at theIntersection of Art and Sustainability

13:15 – 13:30: Q&A for Session 2

13:30 – 14:30: Lunch (not provided)

14:30 – 15:45: Session 3
Craft, Artisanship and the Sustainable Future of Luxury Industries. Chair: Sabinna Rachimova.

Amruta Rawate Patil, Independent Scholar — True Luxury, False Sustainability: Legal Silences in the Extraction of Artisanal Knowledge

Dr Sydney Ayers Mercer, The King’s Foundation — A Blueprint for Sustainable Luxury Fashion

Dr Perrine Desmichel, ESCP Business School, Paris — Sleeping Beauties: When and Why Do Consumers Underuse Luxury Inherited Goods?

15:45 – 16:00 : Q&A for Session 3

16:00 – 16:30: Tea Break

16:30 – 17:30 Session 4
Panel Discussion: From Challenges to Opportunities: Reflections on Sustainability in the Art World

Elise Foster Vander Elst, Head of Exhibitions & Environmental Impact Lead, Design Museum

Cliodhna Murphy, Global Head of Environmental Sustainability, Hauser & Wirth

Dr Caitlin Southwick, Founder and Executive Director, Ki Culture

17:30 – 19:00: Drinks Reception

Please note that unfortunately there is no step free access to the room where the conference is talking place, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

Attendance to the event is restricted to persons aged 18 or above.