UAE to Host World's First Global Cultural Leadership Summit

2017 Event to Convene Government, Arts and Media Leaders to Address Emerging Challenges and Opportunities Associated with Culture in a Connected World

Abu Dhabi, UAE, September 13, 2016:  Abu Dhabi will be site of a high-level international summit that will bring together leaders from the worlds of government, the arts and media to address the role culture can play in addressing some of the great challenges of our time.  It will also explore how new technologies are changing the very nature of culture and cultural interactions worldwide with major consequences for education, our economies, politics and virtually every other dimension of our lives.

Announcing the event, HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), said, “This event underscores our commitment to culture and the arts as well as to exploring the next generation issues that are of importance to each of us in the UAE and to citizens of every country worldwide.”

The event will be hosted by TCA Abu Dhabi and presented in conjunction with The FP Group, publishers of Foreign Policy Magazine, and TCP Ventures, LLC, a producer of artistic ventures and an advisory firm focused on issues associated with the arts and culture.

“This event perfectly complements the other cultural priorities here in Abu Dhabi especially those in the Saadiyat Cultural District. It will share in its first year a common theme with them, identifying universal concepts and ideas that link us all worldwide.  And it will bring an exceptionally influential group of thinkers to Abu Dhabi for an event unlike any other anywhere,” Al Mubarak added.

HE Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairwoman of Media Zone Authority - Abu Dhabi and twofour54, commented: “Never before has there been an event dedicated to the role of global cultural leadership in world affairs. Abu Dhabi is a hub of cultural diversity, dialogue and exchange, which makes it the ideal place to welcome our international and regional friends and step up this important conversation. We believe that engaging both the regional and international community is crucial to achieving a future where coherence and tolerance are the new normal. I’m delighted to be part of this groundbreaking event.”

The summit will seek to bring together delegations (live and virtual) representing almost every country in the world to discuss common interests, create new collaborations and address in concrete ways challenges ranging from the preservation of cultural heritage to understanding the disruptions likely to be associated with emerging technologies, from bringing arts education to the young to finding new ways to finance the arts, from combatting threats like extremism to developing public policies that promote creativity and social development.  

David Rothkopf, CEO and Editor of the FP Group, said, “We are on the verge of a historical watershed, for the first time ever every person on the planet will be connected together thanks to new technology in a single global cultural ecosystem.  That offers the promise of greater understanding and also is perceived as threatening our unique cultural heritages.  How we grapple with those issues has profound consequences for the planet.”

Carla Dirlikov Canales, CEO of TCP Ventures said, “Since our focus is culture, a vital part of the meeting will be using the arts to illustrate key points, creating new collaborations and seeking to identify ways to mobilize the talents of the artistic community to help address the biggest problems we face worldwide.”

The event will take place from April 9-13 at Manarat Al Saadiyat on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi and at other selected cultural locations throughout the UAE.