Conference Introduction & Keynote 1: UnClusion — a keynote designed not for comfort but for courage
Tracks
Track A: New Horizons - Artificial intelligence and digital innovations
Track B: Innovation, sustainable conservation and the next generation.
Track C: Challenging Collections
Track D: Next Generation - Rethinking Training, Outreach and Inclusivity
| Wednesday, August 27, 2025 |
| 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM |
| Bristol 2&3 Suite |
Overview
Julz Davis, Disruptor-in-chief, Curiosity Unltd
Speaker
Mr Julz Davis
Disruptor-in-chief
Curiosity Unltd
UnClusion — a keynote designed not for comfort but for courage
10:45 AM - 11:45 AMAbstract
This keynote is designed not for comfort but for courage. It's an invitation to poke, prod and radically reframe the way we keep, share and shape our collective histories. It's about confronting whose voices get captured, whose truths get prioritised, and how we move from exclusion to intentional inclusion.
Archivists, conservators, and records managers aren't just caretakers of the past — they're shapers of the future. And in this pivotal moment, they have a unique opportunity to lead from the front.
This year's theme, 'Next Generation: Innovation and Imagination in Record Keeping,' is a call to action. Who gets to enter the archive? Who feels safe to stay? Are we protecting systems — or prioritising people?
I'm joining the conference not to tick a box but to break one wide open. To challenge. To connect. To build. If you're ready to unlearn, imagine, and act together, let's co-create a braver, better, and less UnClusive future for the people who make and shape history for good.
I'm joining the conference not to tick a box but to break one wide open. To challenge. To connect. To build. If you're ready to unlearn, imagine, and act together, let's co-create a braver, better, and less UnClusive future for the people who make and shape history for good.
Archivists, conservators, and records managers aren't just caretakers of the past — they're shapers of the future. And in this pivotal moment, they have a unique opportunity to lead from the front.
This year's theme, 'Next Generation: Innovation and Imagination in Record Keeping,' is a call to action. Who gets to enter the archive? Who feels safe to stay? Are we protecting systems — or prioritising people?
I'm joining the conference not to tick a box but to break one wide open. To challenge. To connect. To build. If you're ready to unlearn, imagine, and act together, let's co-create a braver, better, and less UnClusive future for the people who make and shape history for good.
I'm joining the conference not to tick a box but to break one wide open. To challenge. To connect. To build. If you're ready to unlearn, imagine, and act together, let's co-create a braver, better, and less UnClusive future for the people who make and shape history for good.
Biography
As Disruptor-In-chief of the award-winning Curiosity UnLtd, Julz has spent several years leading creative campaigns that centre community voice and cultural bravery. From GRIOT, a radical gallery intervention on enslavement at M Shed, to Bristol Bus Boycott 360 a three citywide campaign of positive civic disruption — He’s seen how storytelling, when reclaimed by the people it affects most, can shake institutions and shift policy. Their work is driven by one simple truth: history is made by everyone, so it must be for everyone.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Silence serves no one.
