The internet has done much to eradicate obstacles and speed up global communication - opening up new opportunities and territories to artists. Consequently established art centres like Berlin, Paris, New York or London have become less of a draw since there is less necessity or compulsion for artists to move base. But what are the long-term implications for sculptors who stay at home, not only for their own practice but for the future of the fashionable centres, their art fairs, festivals and biennials? More broadly in this digital age why should artists choose to make sculpture? As virtual reality expands its reach, is sculpture too slow, too laborious, too physically present and outmoded to respond to a rapidly changing world in which previously known boundaries no longer exist? Or does it still offer artists a means of expression not found in other materials? Why sculpture, why here? addressed such questions by exploring current sculptural practices within a range of global contexts.

Symposium co-organised by Iniva and Henry Moore Institute. Recording transcribed by Jackie Howson and edited by Marion Endt.