The Banking Scene - #TBSARTNIGHT24 - November 18, 2024

The art of banking: "The Waterworks of Money"

Sprouted after the pandemic, The Banking Scene Art Night became the must-go evening event of The Banking Scene, welcoming 130 attendees last year, of which 50% were from the banking industry.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the global financial system has witnessed significant transformations. While efforts to stabilize the market have been made, the emergence of 'asset manager capitalism' with giants like BlackRock and Vanguard, and the growth of digital currencies, signal a shift in the economic landscape. This conference aims to explore the evolving roles of banks and financial institutions in a world where the design and flow of money are becoming increasingly complex.

Key Themes for Discussion:

Strengthening Stability and Reducing Risk: How can the financial sector address the systemic vulnerabilities that persist in our monetary system?
landscape is marked by stark inequalities, what role can banks play in bridging the gap?
The Rise of Digital Currencies: The potential introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) represents a pivotal shift in monetary policy. We'll examine the implications for financial stability and privacy and how banks can adapt to a potentially new digital monetary standard.
The Power of Transparency and Education: Demystifying the complexities of the financial system is key to empowering stakeholders. This theme explores how banks and fintech companies can lead in educating the public and fostering a more inclusive dialogue around monetary policy and financial literacy.
Future-Proofing Finance through Innovation: From blockchain to AI, technological advancements offer unprecedented opportunities for the financial sector. Discussions will focus on harnessing technology to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth.
Regulatory Evolution and Collaboration: As the financial ecosystem evolves, so too must the regulatory frameworks that govern it. This theme examines how banks, fintechs, and regulators can work together to foster innovation while ensuring the system's integrity and stability.

The future of our monetary system is a critical public matter, demanding active participation from all sectors of the financial industry. This conference serves as a platform for leaders, innovators, and policymakers to come together, share insights, and collaboratively shape the path towards a sustainable financial ecosystem that benefits society as a whole.
For this exceptional event, we work with Dutch artist Carlijn Kingma, a cartographer of society. Unlike traditional cartography, she creates maps of mindscapes: imaginary worlds, continents and universes to analyse the mechanisms by which we run our society – such as politics, religion, capitalism, education.

Finally, she reassembles them as new fictional worlds, in the hope of finding new paths towards a better future, open-ended beyond current concepts of art or architecture.

If you think of money as water, then our financial system is like an irrigation system, watering the economy. And just as irrigation helps crops grow, money allows the economy to flourish. As long as the money keeps flowing, society will thrive—or at least that’s the idea. In reality, large swaths of society remain parched, while a small group of people is swimming in money. T

Who creates and allocates our money? Where all does it go? And why doesn’t the financial system work for everyone? These questions are at the heart of The Waterworks of Money, the latest work by cartographer Carlijn Kingma, in collaboration with financial economists Thomas Bollen and Martijn van der Linden. They lead you through a watery world where money is in motion, its hidden forces made manifest.

We will bring that world for the first time to Brussels for a deep discussion about the future of money and what that means to banking.

This is what The Banking Scene Art Night 2023 was like: