Programme

The 4th World Summit explored the theme Meeting of Cultures: Creating Meaning through the Arts. The programme considered the post-9/11 context, with increasingly divided values, beliefs, religion, traditions and worldviews (that is, culture); addressed the role of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions as an instrument to affirm diversity in the face of rapid globalisation and economic integration; and explored the opportunity for the arts to create bridges between cultures; as non-threatening points of entry into understanding other people, and as facilitators of intercultural dialogue and cultural diplomacy.

The 4th World Summit Programme was developed by Programme Director Mike van Graan, one of South Africa's leading playwrights, cultural activists and commentators, who was at the time Director of the African Arts Institute in Cape Town and head of the Secretariat of the Arterial Network, an informal network of individuals and organisations committed to developing the African creative sector.

Explore the full 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture programme.

Back to top

Back to top

Programme Participants

The 4th World Summit included keynote sessions with:

Baroness Lola Young OBE, former Head of Culture at the Greater London Authority and Professor of Cultural Studies at Middlesex University and academic and author Professor Njabulo Ndebele, who explored tensions between the arts as a vehicle for intercultural dialogue and their potential to reinforce cultural fault lines; and questioned how political need for social cohesion may affect the arts, and if artists should be burdened with facilitating intercultural dialogue.

Madeeha Gauhar, theatre maker and campaigner for the repeal of discriminatory laws against women and minorities and Stojan Pelko, State Secretary for the Ministry of Culture of Slovenia, who addressed the theme Cultural Diversity: Essential for World Peace or the Root of all Conflict? And questioned the prevailing assumption is that cultural diversity is a good thing and considered how cultural differences may seem to compound major crises.

The programme included 57 speakers from 30 countries, including:

Read the full programme.

Back to top