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Centre for Commercial Law Studies

FIVE LEAF: Institute for Law and Aesthetics

FIVE LEAF is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to law and aesthetics, based in the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) in the School of Law.

FIVE LEAF: Institute for Law and Aesthetics
  1. Centre for Commercial Law Studies
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  3. FIVE LEAF: Institute for Law and Aesthetics

FIVE LEAF was founded in 2026 by Professor Johanna Gibson, who is also the institute’s founding director, together with founding members Gavin Sutter (deputy director), Mark Jetsaphon Niyompatama, Vasiliki Koukoulioti, Daniele D’Alvia, and Laura Edgar.

The five leaves of FIVE LEAF reach across the arts and creative industries, but crucially and significantly, at all times they share a single stem. This symbolises the interconnectedness of creative work in the age of the Anthropocene. The work of FIVE LEAF emphasises the importance of working across disciplines, across industries, and all together.

The five leaves are:

  • Fashion and luxury;
  • Film and photography;
  • Theatre and performing arts;
  • Live art and performance;
  • Architecture and heritage.

Read the FIVE LEAF Manifesto, delivered by Professor Gibson at the FIVE LEAF Institute for Law and Aesthetics Conference.

FIVE LEAF Mission statement

FIVE LEAF Institute for Law and Aesthetics is dedicated to the study of commercial law through arts and humanities methodologies. Working across the cultural sector, FIVE LEAF takes an aesthetic lens to the law to ensure the resilience and flourishing of cultural work and life, through research, education, and engagement.

Read the FIVE LEAF manifesto

About us

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Events

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People

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Research and publications

Read about the work members FIVE LEAF: Institute of Law and Aesthetics have carried out for the Institute.
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