The Transforming Power of Creativity | Samenua Sesher

Loading player...
Stop playing it safe

In this podcast Tracey Camilleri and Samenua Sesher explore the power of art to renew, re-engage and reinvigorate, especially during times of trauma. As the Founder of the digital Museum of Colour, Samenua reflects on some of the creative journeys of her contributors – and on her own visceral reaction to the Pitt Rivers Museum of anthropology in Oxford. Informed by her 'Respect Due' Gallery , she invites us all to take time out to honour those who have influenced our lives, especially our elders. Samenua exhorts even those who don’t think of themselves as being ‘creative’ or those who don’t work in the creative industries to try the untried, to change up their ‘unofficial board of advisors’, to dare to follow their imaginations. At times like these, we need to stop playing it safe. Samenua brings a much needed playful, joyful optimism to bear on our sombre times, believing that the development of the vaccine has shown us that ‘we can do things faster than we think’. ‘Joy is a wonderful place to work from’, she declares and leaves us with her 2020 playlist which, she says, gladdens the heart.

Samenua Sesher is a culture management consultant, a coach, an unconscious bias trainer and the founder and director of the Museum of Colour, exploring the creative journeys of British people of colour. She has experience of delivering multi-million-pound programmes and has fed into national cultural policy; set up and run a local authority culture service and lectured.

She was a 2008/09 Clore Fellow and was awarded an OBE for Services to the Arts in spring 2018 from the New Year’s Honours List.

Samenua is a People's Palace Project (PPP) Associate, member of the Advisory Board for The Art of Cultural Exchange and the is on the faculty for Oxford Cultural Leaders.

All her work is underpinned by a passionate belief in the power of creativity to transform us, challenge us and help to improve our understanding of the world, its people and ourselves.
20 Jan 2021 English United Kingdom Business · Management

Other recent episodes

Why We're Losing Each Other (and How We Come Back Together) | Charl Bassil

Rebuild shared experiences, brand responsibility, and "create the party". What happens when convenience quietly replaces connection? In our first episode of 2026, Sam Rockey speaks with Charl Bassil, the BBC’s first Chief Brand Officer, about what’s changed in the way we live, work, and belong. Charl argues we haven’t lost…
2 Feb 37 min

This Is Absurd (And That's OK) | Antoinette Moriarty

Finding meaning, support, and community in a profession under pressure. “Bring back the real. Bring back the mess. Bring back the colour. When people are allowed to be human, performance doesn’t drop — it rises.” Antoinette Moriarty, of the Law Society of Ireland, joins Sam Rockey to chat about the…
28 Nov 2025 43 min

Laws of Connection: Building Relationships One Conversation at a Time | David Robson

The hidden power of social health, and how connection helps us thrive. Whether you’re leading a team, building community, or simply craving deeper human connection, this conversation offers insights into building more connected, compassionate, and creative teams. What if our social lives are as vital to our health as sleep…
30 Oct 2025 43 min

Dancing with Uncertainty: Creativity, Leadership & the Power of Art | Margaret Heffernan

Why the future belongs to the imaginative — what leaders can learn from art. In this rich and provocative conversation, Tracey Camilleri welcomes best-selling author, entrepreneur, and professor Margaret Heffernan to talk about her latest book, Embracing Uncertainty: How Writers, Musicians, and Artists Thrive in an Unpredictable World. Together they…
8 May 2025 35 min