THE
POLYMATH FESTIVAL
The first ever Polymath Festival was held in February 2021 - over 60 world-class speakers at 40 events over a 2-week period. Programmed to be hosted at various prestigious venues across London including museums, universities, libraries, cinemas and theatres, it had to go online when the first COVID-19 lockdown was suddenly announced.
The Festival gave birth to a number of groundbreaking ideas relating to art, education, culture and business. It is credited with contributing to the “mainstreaming” of polymathy and popularising related cultural trends like interdisciplinary education, portfolio/multi-hyphenate careers, cross-functional leadership, generalism and holistic thinking.
Due to popular and persistent demand, the Polymath Festival 2.0 is now in conception. If you're interested in speaking, partnering or volunteering, please write to us here.
Watch the Trailer for Polymath Festival 1.0
PREVIOUS FESTIVAL PARTNERS
THE
POLYMATH ZEItGEIST
The value of polymathy to the individual, the organisation and to society is increasingly recognised by the world’s leading intellectuals and entrepreneurs
“Polymaths are of increasing value in the twenty-first century because the big problems of the world are not going to be solved by someone coming from a single-disciplinary perspective.”
Daniel Levitin
“Polymaths are uniquely suited to potentially serve critical roles as problem solvers; to provide creative breakthroughs that are very uncommon yet are much needed to mould a better future for people.”
Tim FerrisS
“A lot of the world-class entrepreneurs… they’re not specialists, they’re something close to polymaths.”
Peter ThIEL
"At least for the next few decades until machines become smarter than humans, the human polymath will be very important to society.”
Anders Sandberg
“The polymath renders a service that is absolutely essential for the survival of a civilisation in the long-term.”
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
“We need more polymaths. We need more thinkers whose curiosity wanders across disciplines.”
AJ Jacobs
FESTIVAL THEMES
Multiple events covering various trending themes integral to the growth of Self and Society in the 21st century
Whether at the individual, organisational or societal level, it is increasingly accepted that creativity happens at the intersection of seemingly different domains. This makes the Polymath not only the most versatile human on the planet, but also potentially the most creative.
The world of disciplinary silos is over. As a landmark ‘festival of ideas’, the Polymath Festival aims to catalyse a cultural paradigm shift, away from hyper-specialisation and ‘silo culture’, towards the encouragement of connection-making between different fields, disciplines and cultures.
The Festival is not only interested in discourse, but also in action. It is designed to facilitate the genesis of novel, cross-disciplinary collaborations that would otherwise be unimaginable.
THE POLYMATH FESTIVAL THEMES
SELF
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Pursuing Self-Actualisation in an Era of Precariousness
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Career Design and Reinvention in the Age of Automation
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Designing a Lifelong Learning Framework
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Redefining Work-Life Balance
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Developing Cognitive Flexibility - the WEF’s Top Skill for the 21st century
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Navigating Information Anxiety in Work and Education
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Adopting the Multidimensional Approach to Creativity
SOCIETY
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Systems Approaches to Complex World Challenges
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Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Silo-breaking in Professional and Academic Life
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The Symbiotic Relationship between the Arts and Sciences
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Reshaping Curricula and Pedagogy in Schools
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Entrepreneurship, Investment and Consulting across Different Sectors
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Many-sided Talent Development and a New Approach to Employee Engagement
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Holistic Leadership in Business and Politics
The DaVinci Network curated and produced the Opening Celebration of the 500th Anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci at the National Gallery in London
WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN POLYMATH FESTIVAL 2.0?
Get in in touch if you're interested in speaking, co-organisating or volunteering