A major musical pioneer who uses music to improve cultural relations, the grand-daughter of Nelson Mandela - philanthropist and business-woman, and the Director General of UNESCO are among the cultural leaders bringing the cultural debate to life at the Culture Summit this week.
The second event of its kind, the Edinburgh International Culture Summit sees delegations from across the world coming together for a truly international event. From Zambia to Brazil, and Latvia to Korea, Ministerial delegations met at the Scottish Parliament on Sunday 10 August.
World renowned Spanish and South African performers, Jordi Savall accompanied by Hespèrion XXI musicians, and award-winning a cappella vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo will perform during Summit 2014.
Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO will consider culture and creativity and the importance of inclusive sustainable development. Simon Anholt, a world leader on ultra-wide scale human engagement will consider how we value and evaluate culture - this will be explored further by Australian musician, artist and writer Robyn Archer, and Michael Power author of seminal work ‘The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification’.
Nandi Mandela will talk on the theme of cultural identity; this theme will continue with cultural activist and arts manager, Basma El Husseiny, and French-Vietnamese choreographer Ea Sola will talk on the importance of preserving Vietnamese culture.
Consideration will be given by leading expert Saskia Sassen to how civic cultures develop and an in-depth analysis will be given by Benjamin Barber on the culture of the city. Kent Larson, Director of MIT Media Lab’s Changing Places Group will give a special presentation on technologies being developed for urban data analysis.
Other esteemed speakers Danilo Santos de Miranda, Sao Paolo Director of Brazilian arts funding agency Serviço Social do Comércio (SESC), will talk on the success of the SESC Funding Model and artist Paul Carter will present on ‘Place-making and Storytelling’.
Hosted by the Scottish Parliament, Summit 2014 is a lively and exciting event, with cross-cultural exchange at the fore.