Salon 007
Tuesday 5th May 2026
The seventh Salon of Doubt will start at 18:00 pm
Address: The Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT
To reserve Tickets please click HERE
PLEASE NOTE : TICKETS WILL BE RELEASED FOR SALE ON THURSDAY 23RD APRIL AT 18:00
The Salon of Doubt was up until now a free event, you could reserve a seat via an eventbrite link, the evening was always popular and sold out very quickly. Unfortunately, quite a large proportion of people who reserved seats never turned up on the night and as such people who really wanted to attend the evening didnt get a place whilst there were many empty seats in the hall.
Hopefully this new policy might deter people from booking and not attending. The funds from ticket sales will go towards the Art Workers’ Guild Outreach department and will be used to fund future projects with our community.
SPEAKERS:
Click on name or photo to be taken to the speaker’s website.
Osnat Schmool
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Osnat is a composer/lyricist, choral conductor, performer and co-founder of Filament Theatre. Osnat's composition work includes all of Filament’s work to date, Fragments for Space Tangle at UCL East & Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Other arranging and musical direction includes, The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible and The Welkin (National Theatre). The Firework Maker’s Daughter (Polka), Grind (Tête à Tête Opera) Her work as a choral conductor spans all ages and experience from recently leading 700 school children at the Royal Festival Hall to Meltdown Festival Choirs (for MIA & Guy Garvey).
Recently Osnat has been part of the team behind Singing Resistance London - a movement of singers, non-singers, choir members & non-choir members coming together to raise their voices, in harmony, against the rising narratives of hate and division spread by Reform and the far right. Osnat (& friends) are looking forward to spreading a little bit of hope amongst the doubt !
https://www.filament-theatre.com/
Photo credit - Callum Baker
Osnat is a composer/lyricist, choral conductor, performer and co-founder of Filament Theatre. Osnat's composition work includes all of Filament’s work to date, Fragments for Space Tangle at UCL East & Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Other arranging and musical direction includes, The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible and The Welkin (National Theatre). The Firework Maker’s Daughter (Polka), Grind (Tête à Tête Opera) Her work as a choral conductor spans all ages and experience from recently leading 700 school children at the Royal Festival Hall to Meltdown Festival Choirs (for MIA & Guy Garvey).
Recently Osnat has been part of the team behind Singing Resistance London - a movement of singers, non-singers, choir members & non-choir members coming together to raise their voices, in harmony, against the rising narratives of hate and division spread by Reform and the far right. Osnat (& friends) are looking forward to spreading a little bit of hope amongst the doubt !
https://www.filament-theatre.com/
Photo credit - Callum Baker
Jaimie D'Cruz
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Jaimie started out in print with Touch, an independent magazine he founded in 1991 to document Black music culture at a time when it was ignored by mainstream media. Transitioning into film and TV in the late 90s with a focus on documentaries about music, arts and culture, he was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA in 2011 for Exit Through The Gift Shop the feature length documentary he made with Banksy. Exit was released theatrically around the world and went on to win an Independent Spirit Award, two Cinema Eye Awards and a Grierson amongst many others. In 2011 Jaimie set up his own independent production company: acme films (named in honour of the destructive power of the gadgets used by his hero Road Runner). Specialising in stories grounded in history, arts and pop culture, acme’s track record includes a BAFTA and RTS-winning original drama series as well as multiple award-winning documentaries, music programmes and arts films.
Among Jaimie’s many documentaries are Lawful Killing which dramatised the police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham from multiple conflicting perspectives, The Last Pirates, celebrating the pirate radio stations who changed the face of British pop culture in the 1980s, and Hip Hop World News, charting four decades of news, politics, conflict, culture and business through the lens, lyrics and lifestyles of global Hip Hop culture.
Jaimie’s most recent feature documentary, The Trouble With Mr Doodle premiered at SXSW and Sheffield DocFest and is currently available on Channel 4 in the UK.
Two of Acme’s most recent documentaries were featured in The Guardian’s round ups of the Best TV of, respectively, 2024 (Big Zuu Goes to Mecca) and 2025 (Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire) – the Bradford film is also nominated for a 2026 BAFTA.
The subject I would like to talk about has the snappy title of “how can we navigate the multiple challenges of making creative work in a commercial environment where no one gives a shit about ideas and all anyone cares about is money?”
In essence I want to talk about how after 30 years of telling stories many of which have been creatively (if not always commercially) successful, every pitch, every idea, every conversation is as if I am brand new to the game. That creates the most overwhelming atmosphere of DOUBT. And doubt is not conducive to creativity.
But over the years I have learned to navigate this dissonance and unsettling dystopian reality by obeying three golden rules:
Golden rule number 1
“Nobody knows anything.” multiple Oscar-winning William Goldman’s famous principle that literally no one knows what’s going to work and nothing good ever came of compromising your vision
Golden rule number 2
The story of The Emperor’s new clothes (aka the elephant in the room) which teaches us that the thing right in front of you is still the thing right in front of you even if everyone pretends that it isn’t
Golden rule number 3
The story of The Trojan Horse which is a highly useful lesson in the efficacy of pretending that you are doing one thing when in fact you are doing something completely different
Jaimie started out in print with Touch, an independent magazine he founded in 1991 to document Black music culture at a time when it was ignored by mainstream media. Transitioning into film and TV in the late 90s with a focus on documentaries about music, arts and culture, he was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA in 2011 for Exit Through The Gift Shop the feature length documentary he made with Banksy. Exit was released theatrically around the world and went on to win an Independent Spirit Award, two Cinema Eye Awards and a Grierson amongst many others. In 2011 Jaimie set up his own independent production company: acme films (named in honour of the destructive power of the gadgets used by his hero Road Runner). Specialising in stories grounded in history, arts and pop culture, acme’s track record includes a BAFTA and RTS-winning original drama series as well as multiple award-winning documentaries, music programmes and arts films.
Among Jaimie’s many documentaries are Lawful Killing which dramatised the police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham from multiple conflicting perspectives, The Last Pirates, celebrating the pirate radio stations who changed the face of British pop culture in the 1980s, and Hip Hop World News, charting four decades of news, politics, conflict, culture and business through the lens, lyrics and lifestyles of global Hip Hop culture.
Jaimie’s most recent feature documentary, The Trouble With Mr Doodle premiered at SXSW and Sheffield DocFest and is currently available on Channel 4 in the UK.
Two of Acme’s most recent documentaries were featured in The Guardian’s round ups of the Best TV of, respectively, 2024 (Big Zuu Goes to Mecca) and 2025 (Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire) – the Bradford film is also nominated for a 2026 BAFTA.
The subject I would like to talk about has the snappy title of “how can we navigate the multiple challenges of making creative work in a commercial environment where no one gives a shit about ideas and all anyone cares about is money?”
In essence I want to talk about how after 30 years of telling stories many of which have been creatively (if not always commercially) successful, every pitch, every idea, every conversation is as if I am brand new to the game. That creates the most overwhelming atmosphere of DOUBT. And doubt is not conducive to creativity.
But over the years I have learned to navigate this dissonance and unsettling dystopian reality by obeying three golden rules:
Golden rule number 1
“Nobody knows anything.” multiple Oscar-winning William Goldman’s famous principle that literally no one knows what’s going to work and nothing good ever came of compromising your vision
Golden rule number 2
The story of The Emperor’s new clothes (aka the elephant in the room) which teaches us that the thing right in front of you is still the thing right in front of you even if everyone pretends that it isn’t
Golden rule number 3
The story of The Trojan Horse which is a highly useful lesson in the efficacy of pretending that you are doing one thing when in fact you are doing something completely different
Lizzie Kendal
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My name is Lizzie, I am an artist and I have worked with children and families for about 20 years. For much of that time I have taught art and design, and conducted tours with school children in various museums in London.
Doubt is important to both my teaching and making practices and both inform each other.
I’ll give an example; standing next to a 3000 (approx) year old sarcophagus, a child once asked me “do you think we have got better?”. Being a little startled by the question, and conscious of tour timings, what I actually replied was something like "what a fantastic question, I don’t know, keep thinking about that, it’s really interesting!” But the question has stayed with me and informed how I teach today.
My work has become more contemplative and more comfortable with uncertainty recently. Perhaps you could say that I collect rubbish, or maybe I’m spinning gold… I don’t know where my career as an artist will go next, but that just means that all possibilities are on the table.
My name is Lizzie, I am an artist and I have worked with children and families for about 20 years. For much of that time I have taught art and design, and conducted tours with school children in various museums in London.
Doubt is important to both my teaching and making practices and both inform each other.
I’ll give an example; standing next to a 3000 (approx) year old sarcophagus, a child once asked me “do you think we have got better?”. Being a little startled by the question, and conscious of tour timings, what I actually replied was something like "what a fantastic question, I don’t know, keep thinking about that, it’s really interesting!” But the question has stayed with me and informed how I teach today.
My work has become more contemplative and more comfortable with uncertainty recently. Perhaps you could say that I collect rubbish, or maybe I’m spinning gold… I don’t know where my career as an artist will go next, but that just means that all possibilities are on the table.
Philip Gaches
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UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO ILL HEALTH PHILIP IS UNABLE TO ATTEND THIS EVENT. WE WISH HIM A SPEEDY RECOVERY.
Philip took over the family plastering business following the sudden death of his father in 1987. Though he works with plaster across a broad spectrum of historic buildings, from all periods, his favourite would be Elizabethan, especially the free hand nature of work from this time when all the skill, including design and drawing, was in the hand of the plasterer. Relying on rudimentary tools, the Elizabethan plasterers created the most glorious plaster ceilings, lots of which are still with us today. Working with Philip today are both his sons William and Jude.
He is a brother of the Art Workers’ Guild.
“I’m a member of the cult of risk rather than certainty. “
UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO ILL HEALTH PHILIP IS UNABLE TO ATTEND THIS EVENT. WE WISH HIM A SPEEDY RECOVERY.
Philip took over the family plastering business following the sudden death of his father in 1987. Though he works with plaster across a broad spectrum of historic buildings, from all periods, his favourite would be Elizabethan, especially the free hand nature of work from this time when all the skill, including design and drawing, was in the hand of the plasterer. Relying on rudimentary tools, the Elizabethan plasterers created the most glorious plaster ceilings, lots of which are still with us today. Working with Philip today are both his sons William and Jude.
He is a brother of the Art Workers’ Guild.
“I’m a member of the cult of risk rather than certainty. “
Paul Davis
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Paul Davis creates images that disrupt an impassive relationship to life on earth. In his own words, Paul finds life preposterous, but still madly beautiful. He enjoys being bombarded by ungraspable science, unfathomable behaviours and is intrigued by the yet unknown. Paul has worked on advertising and identity campaigns for fashion brands, tech companies, universities, high street eateries and cat food.
‘I think I’ll talk about the difference between nihilism and absurdity, and perhaps cynicism and satire. Quotes, images, and hopefully much laughter.
But, in the true spirit of doubting oneself, really?….“
Paul Davis creates images that disrupt an impassive relationship to life on earth. In his own words, Paul finds life preposterous, but still madly beautiful. He enjoys being bombarded by ungraspable science, unfathomable behaviours and is intrigued by the yet unknown. Paul has worked on advertising and identity campaigns for fashion brands, tech companies, universities, high street eateries and cat food.
‘I think I’ll talk about the difference between nihilism and absurdity, and perhaps cynicism and satire. Quotes, images, and hopefully much laughter.
But, in the true spirit of doubting oneself, really?….“
China Williams
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China trained and practiced as a barrister working on crime and immigration cases, where she was told there was no such thing as environmental law. So, she studied it, and now works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew spending her time with scientists and researchers trying to work out the best ways of valuing and protecting nature. Her talk will focus on the resulting questions and doubts.
China trained and practiced as a barrister working on crime and immigration cases, where she was told there was no such thing as environmental law. So, she studied it, and now works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew spending her time with scientists and researchers trying to work out the best ways of valuing and protecting nature. Her talk will focus on the resulting questions and doubts.
Rose Blake
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Rose is an illustrator and picture book maker. She studied at Kingston University and the RCA, and has been working freelance for about fifteen years, She has made drawings for companies like TFL, Volkswagen, The V&A, BBC4 and Disney and publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Sunday Times Magazine. She has published eighteen picture books, including Making a Great Exhibition (David Zwirner Books) and A History of Pictures for Children written by David Hockney and Martin Gayford (Thames and Hudson). She has also exhibited with The Rebecca Hossack Gallery and has published some writing with Rough Trade Books. She teaches on the first year of the Illustration + Animation BA at Kingston University.
‘Who would have thought, even five years ago, that with a click of a button an illustration could be generated, in seconds, for free. I still find it hard to get my head around this idea, and it often haunts me as I’m falling asleep at night. My work flow has changed a lot in the last two years, partly because of this, and I have been trying to think what to do about it. Usually, the well paid, relatively boring, client jobs support the more creatively fulfilling work, but these jobs have… disappeared. For the last two years I have been feeling very doubtful and worried about my future as a traditional illustrator. Making pictures for people feels very different, now that clients have become used to images being generated so quickly.
The idea of becoming a celebrant started quietly fizzing in the back of my mind when two close friends asked me to ‘marry’ them in the summer of 2024. I hadn’t really thought about it before then, but I loved every moment of the day. It felt completely natural- like I was in the right place, doing exactly what I should be doing. I did a training course with the ICPC at the beginning of February, and since then I have been working on starting a new business, Colourful Life. Setting everything up has been a lot more work than I initially thought, but it's been extremely rewarding already. There are so many parallels with celebrancy and illustration (I think so, anyway)… both are inherently about communication and connection. I launched my website last week: colourful-life.co.uk and am now hoping for my first official booking!’
Rose is an illustrator and picture book maker. She studied at Kingston University and the RCA, and has been working freelance for about fifteen years, She has made drawings for companies like TFL, Volkswagen, The V&A, BBC4 and Disney and publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Sunday Times Magazine. She has published eighteen picture books, including Making a Great Exhibition (David Zwirner Books) and A History of Pictures for Children written by David Hockney and Martin Gayford (Thames and Hudson). She has also exhibited with The Rebecca Hossack Gallery and has published some writing with Rough Trade Books. She teaches on the first year of the Illustration + Animation BA at Kingston University.
‘Who would have thought, even five years ago, that with a click of a button an illustration could be generated, in seconds, for free. I still find it hard to get my head around this idea, and it often haunts me as I’m falling asleep at night. My work flow has changed a lot in the last two years, partly because of this, and I have been trying to think what to do about it. Usually, the well paid, relatively boring, client jobs support the more creatively fulfilling work, but these jobs have… disappeared. For the last two years I have been feeling very doubtful and worried about my future as a traditional illustrator. Making pictures for people feels very different, now that clients have become used to images being generated so quickly.
The idea of becoming a celebrant started quietly fizzing in the back of my mind when two close friends asked me to ‘marry’ them in the summer of 2024. I hadn’t really thought about it before then, but I loved every moment of the day. It felt completely natural- like I was in the right place, doing exactly what I should be doing. I did a training course with the ICPC at the beginning of February, and since then I have been working on starting a new business, Colourful Life. Setting everything up has been a lot more work than I initially thought, but it's been extremely rewarding already. There are so many parallels with celebrancy and illustration (I think so, anyway)… both are inherently about communication and connection. I launched my website last week: colourful-life.co.uk and am now hoping for my first official booking!’
Liaqat Rasul
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I describe myself as a Gay Welsh Dyslexic multi media artist.
Topic : my art practice and anxiety.
It's good to talk.
I describe myself as a Gay Welsh Dyslexic multi media artist.
Topic : my art practice and anxiety.
It's good to talk.
Lisa Swerling
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Lisa is a maker of miniature worlds in artboxes - Glass Cathedrals - small spaces that contain big ideas and feelings. With an education in economics, philosophy and politics this was quite unexpected career path. It took decades until she thought of herself ‘an artist’, but twenty-two years and thousands of art-boxes later, she has to concede that she is, maybe, an artist after all.
Lisa has never let her ongoing doubt as to whether she fits into the art world stop her following her calling. This was not out of boldness or particular self-belief but rather from having a usefully low bar for what she considers success. She will share her theories as to why she was able to succeed as an artist despite doubting that she really was one, that revolve around the idea of being Too Small To Fail.
Lisa is a maker of miniature worlds in artboxes - Glass Cathedrals - small spaces that contain big ideas and feelings. With an education in economics, philosophy and politics this was quite unexpected career path. It took decades until she thought of herself ‘an artist’, but twenty-two years and thousands of art-boxes later, she has to concede that she is, maybe, an artist after all.
Lisa has never let her ongoing doubt as to whether she fits into the art world stop her following her calling. This was not out of boldness or particular self-belief but rather from having a usefully low bar for what she considers success. She will share her theories as to why she was able to succeed as an artist despite doubting that she really was one, that revolve around the idea of being Too Small To Fail.
