Conferences
Beyond Headcount Diversity – MAP’s 3rd Inclusion Conference, 2026
If we imagine inclusion in the arts and cultural sector as a landscape we have been mapping intuitively—sometimes through deliberation and by asking important questions such as: Did we do our best to make access equal for all? Did we push through collaboratively? Did we slow down to listen and evolve? And when did we realise that the map itself needed to be redrawn?
The Inclusion Conference has always been MAP’s attempt to ask these questions openly. What began in 2023 as a gathering to think about accessibility in cultural organisations, has grown into an annual space where practitioners, educators, activists, artists, and community leaders convene to reflect on inclusive practices that shape the art & cultural spaces. Not merely as a value, but also a practice informed by the unique perspectives of historically marginalised and underrepresented communities.
Year after year, MAP’s Inclusion conference has examined these questions from different vantage points: First, through the lens of funding, then through the systems and structures that enable or restrict those opportunities. In this third edition, we turn our attention to measurement not as a checkbox, but as a way of understanding whether our intentions translate into meaningful change.
To explore this, the conference brings together voices who work at the intersections of justice, care, community organising, and cultural practice:
– Through fireside conversations, we unpack how identities shape our understanding of culture and belonging.
– Workshops guide participants through nuances of recognising unconscious bias, navigating conflict, and cinema poster politics of caste and gender.
– Case study labs offer a closer look at community-led art & cultural collectives, accessible practice, multilingual engagement, and grassroots education, urging us to reflect on what works, and what must evolve.
Through the day, participants are encouraged to question their assumptions and biases, as well as rethink and reimagine their roles. The conference culminates with a performance rooted in lived histories at the margins, through a Song of Ghetto by Janagama collective.
MAP’s aim is to continuously evolve, learn and bring forth innovative, inclusive practices. This conference is a gathering of those who believe that cultural spaces can be more inclusive, more imaginative, and more equitable and those who are willing to walk the talk of shaping that future together.
This year’s MAP’s 3rd Inclusion conference, Beyond Headcount Diversity at MAP is supported by:
MAP’s Accessibility Partner
