Culture for Humanity and Beyond
At Culture Summit 2024, Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka invited us to reflect on the “era of a post-human civilization” we are progressively shaping. With the overarching theme “Culture for Humanity and Beyond”, Culture Summit 2025 is therefore inviting the global culture and creative ecosystem to explore the dynamic relationship between culture and humanity in this period of unparalleled transformation for Human civilization. The 21th Century has been marked by an acceleration of technological advances representing an unprecedented revolution for humankind where all at once the lines between the physical, the digital and the biological spheres were blurred challenging the very roots of what makes us distinctively Human. Coincidently, the first quarter of the Century has been witnessing profound powershifts at local, national and international levels from rethinking our relationship with nature to reimagining new world orders. This profound transformation of the dynamic environment in which we live is revealing an uncertain future increasingly difficult to grasp and comprehend when using the intellectual frames and lenses developed over the past century making many of our old points of reference obsolete.
In this context of profound mutation, what is really at stake for Humanity and how can culture help us better understand what it means to be Human in this post-human world we are progressively shaping? Do we need to resist what appears as an unstoppable mutation, to embrace these new frontiers and the many opportunities they represent or is the key in collectively rethinking human emancipation, humanism and new common grounds for building together a sustainable future? Over three days through panels, creative conversations, artist talks, case studies and workshops, we will collectively try to identify how creative and artistic endeavors can offer out-of-the-boxperspectives that could help us make sense of this complex tomorrow we may want to reimagine together when old formula and ways of thinking seem obsolete or irrelevant.
These questions will be explored through a specific sub-theme every day. Additionally, we invite our partners to use the lenses of the ongoing pillars of inquiry that Culture Summit has established over the years for making sense of our changing global culture and creative ecosystem namely: cultural policy and diplomacy, business and funding models, sustainability, creative infrastructures and practices, technology, reception and consumption, circulation and human resources.
DAY 1
Reshaping the cultural landscape
From the digital revolution to increased economic inequality and volatile geopolitical landscapes, our contemporary world seems characterized by profound power shifts. What are the drivers behind these shifts which are reshaping cultural identities and societal values and, in turn, establish new power orders between Humans and nature, between generations, between nations and communities?
How are these profound shifts impacting the way culture is produced, received and consumed? Finally, at this point of inflection in Human history, does culture and the creative sector have a role to play to help Humanity navigate the unknown and the uncertain to embrace tomorrow with confidence?
DAY 2
The new frontiers of a post-human environment
Every period of change opens a new horizon of almost unlimited possibilities. What are the exciting opportunities at the new frontier of the post-human world we are progressively shaping?
How advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, environmental studies are redefining what it means to be Human and can culture help make sure these advancements enhance the Human experience rather than limit it? In practice, how is the culture and creative ecosystem adapting its business models, infrastructures and policies to harness the possibilities that these new frontiers offer?
DAY 3
New frames to redefine Culture for Humanity and Beyond
In this final day, we will be exploring collectively innovative solutions to redefine new frameworks for developing culture for Humanity revisiting the concept of ‘universality’ and shared ‘humanity’ to change old narratives and ways of working. How can collaborative efforts, change of scale, the rise of the ‘glocal’, technology integration and cultural innovation build resilience and inclusion?
Overall, what are the transformative paths for a sustainable future redefining what it means to thrive in a rapidly changing world and can the collaborative and innovative dimension inherent to culturalpractice offer Humanity tested models to reinvent new common grounds that could overcome the polarization of our world and its counterproductive competition.
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KATE EDWARDS CEO and Principal Consultant, Geogrify
PIERS HARDING-ROLLS Research Director, Ampere Analysis
RAMI ISMAIL Independent Game Developer
NARINDER KAPUR Senior Analyst, Niko Partners Moderator: JOHN PRIDEAUX | US Editor, The Economist
PHENOMENA ABU DHABI AND ARCHITECTURE DESIGN OF ITS ARTWORKS
SHOGO KAWATA Principal Architect, teamLab Architects
TAKASHI KUDO Communications Director, teamLab
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AMMAR BASHEIR | Founder, Ammar Basheir
Creative Studio
ELIAS EL HAGE Co-founder, Karim+Elias
WAEL SHAWKY Artist, Firestation platform
NAÏMA HUBER YAHI | Researcher, Pangee Network
Moderator: FRÉDÉRIQUE MEHDI Head of Cultural Activities, Institut du Monde Arabe / Arab World Institute
LONWABO MAVUSO | Executive Director of Andani Africa, South Africa
INÊS MOREIRA Researcher, Curator and Urban Innovator, Porto, Portugal
IZAN SATRINA Senior Director, Think City, Malaysia ŞTEFAN TEIŞANU | Director, Cluj Cultural Centre, Romania
JUAN IGNACIO VIDARTE Deputy Director and Chief Officer for Global Strategies - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation
Moderator: JUSTINE SIMONS
H.E. SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT | Minister of Culture,
BASHIR, PRINCIPAL SECRETARY | Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, Kenya
H.E. MOHAMED MEHDI BENSAID Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Morocco
PART 2: CULTURE AND PEACE FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
H.E. SHEIKH SALEM
MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE:
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF ARTS EDUCATION
9:35- 10:25
STEFANIA GIANNINI | Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO
H.E. MOHAMED KHALIFA AL MUBARAK Chairman, Department of Culture and Tourism –Abu Dhabi
DHANITA RAMDHAREE | Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Human Resource, Mauritius
MARIANGELA ANDRADE | Director of Artistic Education, Ministry of Culture, Brazil
PROFESSOR DR. BIDHAN RANJAN ROY PODDER| Honorable Adviser, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Bangladesh
Moderator: PEDRO VARGAS DAVID | Chairman, Euronews
Moderator: JENNIE JONES | Chief Legal Officer, Recording Academy
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ILLUMINATING A SHARED PAST: Gilbert Sinoué on The Golden Age of Arab Civilisation
GILBERT SINOUÉ Author and Historian
10:30 - 11:00 MAS Theatre | Case study
- 15:25
DR. RODNEY COLLINS Cultural Anthropologist
MAGDALENA MORENO
- 16:20