More dialogue than performance

The Future Forum was conceived by Ahsan Akbar and Tilda Swinton during the pandemic to address a gap in cultural life. Literary festivals, for all their value, are largely organised around new work, leaving less room to consider the changing world around us - its technologies, upheavals and possibilities.

The Forum is neither a think tank nor an interview series, though it draws something from both. Its conversations are shaped by the people in the room rather than by a fixed agenda, and what happens around them matters as much as what happens on stage.

Everything is off the record. Participants are free to question openly, think aloud and change their minds rather than defend a position. There is nothing to resolve and nothing to announce: the purpose is the conversation itself.

Founded in 2024, The Future Forum first convened at Spencer House in London in May 2026. London remains its home and annual anchor. From there, the Forum travels to Riyadh, Singapore and Tokyo, with each convening shaped by its host city.

The room changes; the terms do not.