Who are we?
We are a charitable foundation that supports, commissions and showcases artists, writers, academics and playwrights. We're committed to discovering emerging talent, to disseminating new ideas and to sharing thoughts about art, literature and philosophy. All of our work is built around our symposium - an annual gathering of artists, philosophers, writers and academics at which we encourage like-minded individuals to share expertise and knowledge with those from a diverse array of creative and intellectual professions.
What we do?
Prizes
Since 2013, we’ve distributed over £170,000 in direct financial support to talented artists, writers and academics from all over the world.
Through our prizes we evaluate thousands of entries by entrants from around the world, and offer financial support in the form of grants, mentoring, performances and exhibitions of the work of talented young artists, writers, academics and playwrights. We also work with partner artistic and academic institutions to commission new works of art and to further the humanities and interdisciplinary study.
Symposium
We’ve hosted events in the UK, Sweden, Switzerland and Italy.
Each year we invite an array of academics, authors, thought-leaders and more to attend a three-day symposium aimed at offering new insights, forging new connections and developing individual practice. These symposiums also offer our prize winners a chance to network, to develop and to exhibit their creative work.
Founders and Trustees
Jacob Burda
“I am committed to being with and integrating more and more parts of my experience that have historically felt overpowering. I have found that it is possible, very slowly and incrementally, to move beyond some of the conditioning that I have grown up with.
To me the Alpine Fellowship plays such a large role in this. It is a space where I can experiment, where I can be open, and where I can relate to people with honesty.
As Schiller famously writes: ‘Man himself, eternally chained down to a little fragment of the whole, only forms a kind of fragment; having nothing in his ears but the monotonous sound of the perpetually revolving wheel, he never develops the harmony of his being.’
It is my hope and vision that the Fellowship can become a place where we can move from fragmentation towards wholeness. We need to imagine and design worlds that are founded on mutual recognition and compassion.”
Jacob L Burda is a German Philosopher based in Europe.
Alan Lawson
“Man is not immutable. Our greatest strength is our capacity for reflection and empathy, our ability to change, and thereby sing a new song. The artist has a duty to herself, to not only be honest but to approach her work with humility and with love. Creating new songs, perhaps changing the world, does not necessitate the violent overthrow of the old. Great songs can come from listening to our traditions and triangulating our respective positions.
I believe in our human capacities, yet also in the mysteries that surround our existence, and in the value of our traditions. Moreover I believe we must protect the weak and vulnerable and use our gifts with wisdom and compassion. This is my vision for the Fellowship: a space where masters of different disciplines can meet and share and challenge themselves.Together we can create new narratives, weave new dreams, sing new songs.’”
Alan J Lawson is a British artist living and working in Switzerland.
Michael Lesslie
Screenwriter, playwright and producer whose projects have won international awards ranging from BAFTAs to Emmys. His film of Macbeth premiered in Official Competition in Cannes to five-star reviews. His television debut The Little Drummer Girl, on which he served as showrunner for the legendary director Park Chan-Wook, also launched to five-star reviews, along with top ratings for the BBC. His most recent film, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes stayed at number one in the global box office for multiple weeks and successfully relaunched the franchise. His plays have been performed at the Royal National Theatre and beyond, and in 2007 he became the youngest person ever to open a new play straight into the West End.
Executive Director
Kieran Lynn
Kieran Lynn is an award-winning playwright who combines a career and passion for the arts with an extensive senior career in the advertising and marketing industry.
He has had plays produced at most of the UK’s best-known theatres including the Hampstead Theatre, the Finborough Theatre, the Traverse Theatre, Theatre 503 and Trafalgar Studios in the West End.
In the advertising sector, he has worked on and overseen work for some of the world’s largest and most influential brands.
Advisory Board
Ayishat Akanbi
Ayishat Akanbi is a fashion stylist and writer based in London. She has styled Grammy award-winning reggae artist Koffee, as well as Rod Stewart, Labrinth, Maverick Sabre, Wretch 32, Wizkid, Davido, Little Simz, Chronixx, and fashion icon Naomi Campbell. She has also worked as a stylist for global fashion brands Nike, Converse, Adidas, Eastpak, Dr. Martens, and H&M. Rooted in reflection on her own experience and identity, Ayishat seeks to illuminate our differences but, crucially, critically highlight our similarities. She has spoken at Google, The Sydney Opera House, Radley College, and The V&A.
Nick Blood
Nick Blood is an actor who has appeared in many film, TV and theatre productions in both in the UK and US. After reading Politics at Bristol University he attended LAMDA where he studied classical acting. Upon graduating he won the Old Vic New Voices Award for his play ‘Inches Apart’ and was nominated for the spotlight prize and a finalist in the Alan Bates Award. He made his professional stage debut at the Royal Court followed by performances at the National Theatre and in the West End. His screen credits include include HBO’s EUPHORIA; Danny Boyle's BABYLON; Star Wars spin-off Andor, MISFITS (Channel 4); HIM & HER (BBC); and Marvel's AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
Sue Grayson Ford
Sue Grayson Ford MBE has enjoyed a 40 year career in arts administration since founding and directing the Serpentine Gallery as a platform for emerging artists. Later, she expanded the programme with exhibitions of international artists such as Giacometti, Saul Steinberg, De Kooning and Henry Moore. She has been Sculpture Director for the Liverpool International Garden Festival, Exhibitions Director at Manchester’s Cornerhouse, Director of Wakefield’s Centenary Festival and of London’s Photographers’ Gallery. Sue initiated the Campaign for Drawing, and ensured that it’s flagship, The Big Draw, grew into an international phenomenon with over 1000 events annually across the UK and 20 other countries.
Andrew Huddleston
Andrew Huddleston is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. He was formerly Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. He studied at Brown University, Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Princeton University, and was a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. His writing focuses primarily on post-Kantian European philosophy (esp. Nietzsche), aesthetics, ethics, and social philosophy. His book Nietzsche on the Decadence of Flourishing of Culture was published with Oxford University Press in 2019, and he is at work on another book tentatively titled Art's Highest Calling: The Religion of Art in a Secular Age.
Iain Martin
Iain Martin is a journalist, author, entrepreneur and director of the London Defence Conference, the annual geopolitical gathering held at King's College London. He is director of Engelsberg Ideas for the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson foundation. His weekly column on politics is published by The Times and he is publisher and founder of Reaction. His two books on financial history are the award-winning “Making it Happen: Fred Goodwin, RBS and the men who blew up the British Economy” (Simon and Schuster, 2013) and “Crash, Bang, Wallop: the inside story of Big Bang and the financial revolution that changed the world" (Sceptre, 2016).
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu directs the Colloquium for Unpopular Culture at New York University. A former Critic of the Year at the British Press Awards, his books include the prize-winning Night Haunts (2007) and Other Musics (2016). He writes for Bidoun, The Wire and The Guardian, makes radio documentaries for the BBC, and runs the Texte and Töne publishing imprint.