Carmen Salas: Think Systems: Transformation Through Systemic Thinking

Carmen Salas will use her latest project, Think Systems, as an example to illustrate the creative and curatorial direction that emerged from it. Drawing connections with the transformative process and work of influential artists and thinkers connected to the project, Salas will also share thoughts on the role that art plays in social and systemic transformation. She will end the session by talking about how she plans to use Think Systems, and the new knowledge that came from it, to inspire artists and the arts sector to become more transformative with their work.

About the Speaker

Some of her major writings include: “Can the art world drive social transformation” (Emerge, May 2020) and “Rethinking work and creative practice in times of socio-ecological crisis”.

Carmen Salas works as a curator and cultural producer on an international scale. She holds a BA in History of Art from Granada University (Spain), and an MA in Arts Policy and Management from Birkbeck University, London.

A key part of her practice is working with artists and institutions to explore change through a lens of creative experimentation, collective reflection and debate. Exploring the capacity of the arts and culture in questioning societal systems and in bringing about change is central to her work.

After more than 15 years examining the creative and critical use of technology, and the intricacies of the internet, Carmen reoriented the focus of her work to narratives and approaches more mindful of the rapid social and environmental changes we face today. Most recently, she’s been involved in exploring the relationship between art, systems and change,  as well as the need to advocate for a different value framework for the arts; one in which the key outcomes are people, relationships and the health of the planet. 

Curiosity, purpose, and connecting people from different walks of life motivate her work. By creating structures for knowledge exchange, Carmen believes social innovation and personal transformation can occur more easily. Her passion lies not only in the arts, but also in all areas that reveal the reciprocal connections of the human condition such as science, philosophy, sociology.

Carmen founded Connecting the Dots, an international forum based in Mexico City focused on creativity, art, and digital culture, and has worked as creative director since 2018. Between 2017 and 2019 she curated the Paradigm Shift Forum for the Mapping Festival in Geneva. In 2009 she co-founded Alpha-ville in London, an international festival dedicated to exploring the intersection between art, technology and digital culture, which became a curatorial agency and creative studio in 2011 and developed activity on a national and international scale until 2017.

She has recently co-curated the exhibition “Sea Blindness” for NeMe Arts Centre in Limassol, Cyprus. Since 2021 she has been advising the 2026 Trenčín European Capital of Culture team on their artistic and cultural strategy. From mid 2024, she will be leading the production and implementation of two projects as part of the Trenčín European Capital of Culture programme.