About Us - UNESCO EXPO

About Us .

Our Mission

For 23 years, Aesthetica has been at the heart of the UK’s creative and cultural landscape, connecting artists, filmmakers, writers, businesses and audiences through its publishing, events and programmes. In recent years, we have taken our role as founders and advocates within the Creative Industries increasingly seriously — using our platform, expertise and networks to champion the sector, support its growth and make its contribution to the economy, culture and society more visible.

Over the past three years, Aesthetica has strengthened this commitment through a programme of initiatives designed to support talent, build stronger connections across the creative ecosystem and create opportunities for the sector to thrive. Under the leadership of Director Cherie Federico, these include Reignite, a quarterly event series accelerating talent development, knowledge exchange and cross-sector collaboration; the Creative Business Skills Academy, equipping creative entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge to build sustainable businesses; and a citywide Filmmaking in Schools and Summer School programme, creating pathways into the screen industries for the next generation.

This year also marks the formation of the Creative & Cultural Advisory Board, bringing together senior expertise from across the creative and cultural sectors to strengthen advocacy, inform strategy and help shape the future of the regional creative economy.

As York marks 12 years as a UNESCO City of Media Arts, Aesthetica is committed to ensuring that the designation continues to have meaning and impact, as a platform for advocacy, investment, collaboration and international engagement. Our work helps to showcase the depth and diversity of creative talent across York and the wider North of England, while demonstrating how businesses and practitioners rooted in the region are contributing to national and international conversations.

With 23 years of experience working across the Creative Industries, Aesthetica understands both the opportunities and the challenges facing the sector. We are using our position to bring greater visibility to creative businesses and practitioners, connect people and ideas, and advocate for the role creativity plays in skills, innovation, economic growth and place-making. Through our programmes, platforms and partnerships, we are committed to supporting a confident, connected and sustainable Creative Industries sector — locally, nationally and internationally.

UNESCO City of Media Arts

York is one of just 28 cities worldwide to be designated a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts, joining an international network that includes Austin, Texas; Sapporo, Japan; and Toronto, Canada. For the past 12 years, this designation has recognised York’s distinctive contribution to media arts, technology and creative practice, placing the city within a global network of ambitious, outward-looking creative centres. It is a significant asset for York — one that reflects the quality of its talent, institutions, businesses and ideas, and provides a platform from which the city can build its national and international profile.

However, the real value of the UNESCO designation lies in what we do with it. To fully realise its potential, York needs a connected creative ecosystem in which people can access clear progression routes, develop the skills and confidence to build sustainable careers, and establish the networks and partnerships that enable ideas and businesses to grow. This means connecting education with industry, emerging talent with established organisations, and the creative sector with the wider economy.

Aesthetica’s Reignite initiative embodies this approach, bringing together businesses and organisations across creative industries, heritage, retail, hospitality, transport, technology and professional services to share knowledge, develop new relationships and explore opportunities for collaboration and innovation. It recognises that the creative economy does not exist in isolation: creativity, technology, culture and enterprise are increasingly interconnected, and the benefits of a strong creative sector extend across the whole city.

UNESCO City of Media Arts is a strategic platform for York’s future. It gives the city an opportunity to attract investment, develop talent, strengthen international relationships and demonstrate the contribution of the Creative Industries to economic and cultural life. By embedding the designation more deeply across York’s business, education and cultural ecosystems, and by working collectively to champion what the city has to offer, we can turn global recognition into tangible opportunities — creating the conditions for the sector to grow, for people to build careers, and for York to play an even more visible role in the national and international creative economy.