George Butler Keynote Speaker

George Butler brings conflict, crisis and climate stories to life with pen, ink and watercolour. An award‑winning illustrator and artist‑reporter, he uncovers the human side of global events through slow, immersive storytelling. In August 2012 he walked from Turkey into Syria and drew the Free Syrian Army in Azaz; a decade later he sketched families sheltering underground in Kharkiv’s metro during Russian bombardment. His reportage spans leprosy clinics in Nepal, militias in Yemen, mass graves in Ukraine, caesarean sections in Afghanistan, artisanal oilfields in Myanmar, Turkey earthquake aftermath and the fall of Assad’s regime.

His work is published by The Times, New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, CNN, Der Spiegel, Monocle and NPR, and exhibited at Imperial War Museum North, Lambeth Palace, with pieces in the V&A and National Army Museum collections. He authored Drawn Across Borders (2021) and Ukraine, Remember Also Me (2024)—the latter launched in June 2024 with global editions and praised as “a remarkable first draft of history” by BBC’s Lyse Doucet. Collaborations include Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse and When Fishes Flew.

A TED Fellow and TEDx speaker, Butler lectures internationally—Brown, Georgetown, SAIC Chicago, Edinburgh & Cambridge art colleges—and appears on podcasts such as The Convex Conversation (Jan 2025). In 2014 he co‑founded Action Syria (formerly known as Hands Up Foundation), now funding professionals across Syria, Turkey and Lebanon; in 2022 he served as official artist for the CoExistence campaign, raising over £2m for conservation.

In 2023 he won the ASME Award for Best Illustrated Story (VQR “Drawn to War”) and was shortlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Award. Butler’s on‑stage presence brings audiences closer to crisis zones, illustrating how creativity, proximity and human-centred storytelling can inspire empathy and action in a turbulent world.