SOME of the most creative minds in Britain will beam in on York next month.

More than 100 delegates will converge on the Merchant Adventurers' Hall for the second annual Creative York Symposium organised by Science City York on Thursday, November 3

They will include artists, creative technologists, entrepreneurs, investors and professional advisers working within Yorkshire's rapidly expanding creative sector.

The half-day discussion, which lasts from 11.45am until 4.30 pm, has become the flagship event for Creative York, the city's fastest growing technology cluster.

This year's topic will be Creative Responses: Interpreting Heritage And Landscape.

High-profile speakers from across the UK will showcase projects that organisers promise will "inspire and challenge our perceptions on the appropriateness and value of contemporary art in historic buildings and sensitive landscapes."

They are Angus Farquhar, creative directive director of NVA, the Glasgow-based environmental arts charity; Shelley Fox, a London designer renowned for her innovative fabrics for women's clothes; Keiko Mukaid, revolutionary Japanese ceramic and glass artist; and Peter Murray, founder and executive director of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield.

Janet Barnes, chairman of Creative York, said: "Building on the success of the first Creative York Symposium, this year's event promises to reinforce the impact of creative technologies on the economic and cultural prosperity of the region.

"Creative York is the fastest growing area of York's technology base and brings together a rich amalgam of individuals and organisations working together to enhance the cultural wealth of the city."

Creative York is one of three dynamic technology business clusters supported by Science City York and consists of people whose creative enterprises use edge-of-science technology, whether computer games, interactive media or hi-tech museums and exhibitions.

The cluster includes more than 58 organisations, employing nearly 1,000 people. In 2004, the creative sector was the fastest growing technology sector in York with 12 per cent employment growth.

Updated: 13:26 Monday, October 24, 2005