Abu Dhabi announces new partners for Culture Summit 2019

The yearly event will be produced with The Economist, Unesco, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Guggenheim, and Google

Guggenheim head Richard Armstrong (left), who spoke at the inaugural Culture Summit in 2017, returns this year to the event Abu Dhabi.

The cultural and tourism department of Abu Dhabi has announced the third year of the Culture Summit, its version of a cultural Davos held in April at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Five new partners have been announced for it: The Economist, Unesco, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Guggenheim, and, last but not least, Google.

The event looks at culture as a vehicle for political change, inviting figures who address topics such as extremism, post-conflict situations and political rifts through cultural outputs. Invitees have ranged from Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, to the Rwandan theatre director Hope Azeda, whose Ubumuntu Arts Festival takes place at the memorial site for the Rwandan genocide, in Kigali.

Technology has never been an outright focus, though the event’s format owes much to the TED-style event culture associated with Silicon Valley.

This year’s edition will look at information policy, tangible and intangible heritage, the role of museums in society, and how culture and the arts are affected by technology.

"Over the last two years, the Culture Summit has attracted the attention of global stakeholders in various fields of cultural awareness and intellectual development,” said the Department of Culture and Tourism head Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak in a statement. “We welcome the global partners who will support the Summit with their extensive knowledge in the domains of culture, arts, media heritage and museum, and to drive dialogue on ways to contribute to the growth of contemporary societies in sustainable ways.”

The previous two editions were produced in partnership with the husband-and-wife team of David Rothkopf, the former editor of Foreign Policy magazine, and Carla Dirlikov Canales, who founded the art advisory firm TCP Ventures.

The Culture Summit Abu Dhabi 2019 will run from April 7 to 11 at Manarat Al Saadiyat.

_________________

Read more:

Hope Azeda: tackling the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide through the arts

Social change through art at Abu Dhabi's Cultural 'Davos'

Iccrom director on the future of the organisation