Malaysia Sets Stage For World Summit On Arts And Culture

Government representatives, policy makers, creative practitioners and citizens from over 70 countries will gather at Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre from March 11 to 14 for the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture.

PUTRAJAYA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jan, 2019 ) :Government representatives, policy makers, creative practitioners and citizens from over 70 countries will gather at Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre from March 11 to 14 for the 8th World Summit on Arts and Culture.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry secretary-general Rashidi Hasbullah said the international summit themed "mobile Minds: Culture, Knowledge & Change" would provide the opportunity for strengthening civil society, promoting collaboration between the non-profit and government sectors, and for equipping artistes, and arts organisations and institutions to interact.

"This summit will explore ideas from the presenters on the issues of global change, rapid technological development, environmental effects and migration patterns, and also enhance networking for cooperation that could change the world and society.

"Hopefully, this summit will generate new ideas and solutions through sharing of knowledge and views between the creative people, academics, researchers, policy makers and others from across the world who are involved in culture and arts and technology, in an effort to drive and boost this country's creative industry," he said at a press conference, here, Tuesday.

Also present were executive director of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), Magdalena Moreno Mujica, and Malaysia's Department of Culture and Arts director-general and IFACCA board member, Tan Sri Norliza Rofli.

Malaysia is the second Asian country to host the World Summit on Arts and Culture. The first was held in Ottawa, Canada in 2000, then Singapore (2003), Newcastle Gateshead, England (2006), Johannesburg, South Africa (2009), Melbourne, Australia (2011), Santiago, Chile (2014) and Valetta, Malta (2016).

Rashidi said a total of 97 speakers, moderators and keynote speakers would present their papers on various issues including United Nations Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, Prof Karima Bennoune; global speaker and nominated for Swedish Speaker of the Year 2017 and founder of Oddball Venture, Ashkan Fardost; and Malaysia's award-winning architect and patron of the arts, Hijjas Kasturi.

He said targeting 500 participants, the summit would be a platform to respond to different perspectives on how governments and policy makers negotiate competing demands and strike a balance between divergent perspectives on cultural preservation and progress and societal transformation.

"We hope the summit will facilitate dynamic interaction, intercultural dialogue and peer learning among the participants, share good practices on how culture and the arts enable communities to build resilience drawing from multiple knowledge bases to address contemporary issues," he said.

The world summit is co-hosted by the National Department of Culture and Arts (JKNN) and IFACCA), the global network of arts councils and ministries of culture, with member institution in over 70 countries.

Rashidi said the summit would also highlight Malaysia as a leading voice in the region, showcase the country's rich and diverse arts and culture, and introduce the world to high-profile cultural pioneers from Malaysia including Tash Aw (internationally acclaimed author) and Eddin Khoo (poet writer, translator, journalist and founder of Pusaka).