Soup Talk: Emma Sumner
In 2023, after supporting the transformation and leading the fundraising campaign that helped save The Farmer’s Arms, Emma made a significant shift, leaving rural Cumbria to move to Jaipur, India, to become Director of the Public Arts Trust of India.
She joined the organisation at a moment of rapid growth and international ambition. Over the following two years, Emma supported the expansion of its public programmes and global profile, helping to develop Jaipur Art Week, establish Jodhpur Arts Week, launch two Arts and Learning Centres in Jaipur and Jodhpur, and create a new artist residency programme in Jodhpur.
Her work focused on fostering a more holistic model of cultural development, integrating commissioning, residencies, curating, education, professional development and community exchange. At its heart was a commitment to learning-led practice and co-created commissioning models, ensuring projects reflected local culture and heritage while meaningfully engaging both local communities and international artists.
In this talk, Emma reflects on the realities of building cultural infrastructure across contexts, exploring what it means to work internationally with care and reciprocity; how public art can function as a tool for exchange rather than extraction; and what she learned from two transformative years working alongside artists and communities in India.
Join Emma as she shares insights from her journey – from rural Cumbria to Rajasthan – and considers how cultural leadership can adapt, respond and grow across borders.
Image Credits
Image 1 – Aku Zeliang, HUH TU VESSELS (2025) as part of Jodhpur Arts Week Edition 1.0. Image courtesy of the Public Arts Trust of India.
Image 2- Chila Kumari Burman Singh, Her Well Speaks / उणी बावड़ी बोलै (2025) as part of Jodhpur Arts Week Edition 1.0, with support of the British Council. Image courtesy of the Public Arts Trust of India.
Image 3 – Theo Pinto, Eastern Gates (2025) as part of Jodhpur Arts Week Edition 1.0 supported by Gallery 1×1. Image courtesy of the Public Arts Trust of India.
SOUP TALK ETIQUETTE
If you’re having soup please arrive in good time (ie. by 6pm at the latest) to have it before the talks starts!
PRE-BOOKING STRONGLY ENCOURAGED:
Booking your ticket ahead really matters. We aren’t able to run our talks unless we know we have sold tickets, and we’d hate to run out of soup too. Thanks!
