CultureSummit Abu Dhabi closes by proposing creative ideas for change
(Abu Dhabi) – The third edition of CultureSummit Abu Dhabi has come to an end, with its inspiring schedule of panel sessions, interactive workshops, and artistic performances resulting in creative ideas and outcomes that will be translated into tangible positive change. Organised by Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the event took place from 7 – 11 April at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi.
Over five days, CultureSummit Abu Dhabi 2019 presented a dynamic series of panel discussions and interactive workshops around the topics of art, media, heritage, museums, and technology, as well as cultural performances and networking events. This edition’s theme of ‘Cultural Responsibility & New Technology’ addressed questions of how cultural agents can be more engaged in addressing global challenges, and how creativity and technology may be harnessed for positive change.
Wrapping up the CultureSummit programme, and reflecting on the insights and outcomes of the previous days, was the Closing Panel and Remarks. This final session featured representatives from the event’s organisers and cultural partners.
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman, Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said, “A major achievement of CultureSummit has been the unifying of goals. Participants have been deciding the future by listening, giving, and collaborating, and are leaving with a unified strategy. What we have learned from each other will stay with us, and we are poised to make a real difference to the future – moving from wishing to doing. We have been inspired to talk to our networks, and encourage everyone we know to focus on issues from the summit and help us find real solutions.
“The UAE’s Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, before he created the UAE, he built a museum. This museum told the history of the region, and how we are all connected. Our cultural connections are things we continue to cherish and celebrate, and it is in this spirit that we created CultureSummit. An overall takeaway from the summit is a feeling of great optimism; that these problems are all of our problems, and we are going to fix them together.”
Alexandra Munroe, Senior Curator, Asian Art, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum; Interim Director, Curatorial Affairs, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, noted, “I learned so much throughout this event; about connectivity, actively listening, and reconsidering my position in the world. A key takeaway is fluidity of thinking, and I truly believe that any problem can be solved by the coming together of passionate minds from differing geographical and professional spaces. We are at a critical point of shift; a time of radical cultural, technological and political revolution. At this moment of recalibration, we must formulate a new social contract, a call to action that starts with ourselves.”
