Two women weave a complex net.
Photo: Clarisse Croset on Unsplash

Cooperation in a Fragmented World

13. Oct 2021 - 22. Oct 2021
ICRRA Online Conference – with Keynote Speakers Nikita Dhawan, Oby Ezekwesili & Walter D. Mignolo
Online via Zoom

International Cultural Relations at the Crossroads of Climate, Health and Political Crisis

The pandemic that has been going on for over a year now is exacerbating existing political, social and economic crises. While the urgency of the climate emergency might be recognised by four major international negotiations this year, this and other global crises are also causing further polarisation in societies and being exploited by some for cultural manipulation.

These struggles may be understood as cumulativ or related. Reactions might deepen sectorial governance, or, on the other hand, they might open opportunities to re-imagine and reconceive the spatiality, economy and social formation of international relations. Long-term transformations in geopolitical power distribution, in struggles for social equality and thus even in the very project of modernity might be in sight.

What are 'good' cultural relations practices under these circumstances? How do different cultural actors and academic disciplines conceptualise such processes of (re-)ordering? Are new spaces, new alliances, new network formations, new concepts of belonging evolving?

Researchers, practitioners, policy makers and others interested in the above topics and questions are warmly invited to join ICRRA members to discuss international cultural relations under the overarching theme 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World'.

Timetable

Wednesday, 13. Oct 2021
15:00 - 16:30

Walter D. Mignolo:­ Colonial and Imperial Differences

open to public

 

15:00 CET
Welcome and Introduction: Lynda Jessup (North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative, Canada)

 

15:10 CET
Keynote Presentation: Walter Mignolo

  • Colonial and Imperial Differences: A Hindrance to Inter-National Cultural Cooperations
    There are several issues that need clarification when addressing the topic of International Cooperations. The keynote will focus on two of them. One is the sphere of the State (inter-State rather than inter-National relations) and the other is the public sphere (e.g. the enclosure of the civil society facing immigration and flight) in conflict with the State. The other are the colonial and imperial differences that are hidden under the word 'cultural differences'. Racial, sexual, religious, national, etc. discriminations are preventing today's inter-State and inter-National (the public sphere) relations and cooperations. Colonial and imperial differences are always entangled in power differentials, while cultural differences disguise the imperial differences that today are shaping inter-State conflicts (cf. US/EU – China) and the colonial differences that today divide the domestic relations of the public sphere.

 

15:55 CET
ICRRA Response: Lynda Jessup (North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative, Canada)

 

16:05 CET
Chaired Discussion
Chair: Lynda Jessup (North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative, Canada)

 

16:25 CET
Wrap up

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Thursday, 14. Oct 2021
15:00 - 16:30

Oby Ezekwesili: Recovering Together

open to public

 

15:00 CET
Welcome and Introduction: Christine Wilson (British Council, UK)

 

15:10 CET
Keynote Presentation: Oby Ezekwesili

  • Recovering Together- A Pathway to a New and Inclusive Multilateral System
    The Covid-19 pandemic struck at a time our world was already grappling with multiple of crises on which the ineffectual solutions of our existing multilateral order are manifest. The uncoordinated global response was a major reason for the severity of the loss of life and livelihood caused by the health crisis.
    Evidently, such unanticipated global crises like the health pandemic – that caught even the most advanced societies unprepared – will be more common and of such nature that only cooperation and collaboration among countries can speedily and effectively solve.
    Can the world pursue a “recovering together” agenda? Are there prospects for the design of improvements to national and global systems in ways that can respond to common risks which afflict both rich and poor countries? What should the global agenda setting and convening of such a design initiative look like and how can citizens take the center stage in charting that bold path to a more inclusive world that addresses currently intractable inequalities?

 

15:55 CET
ICRRA Response: Christine Wilson (British Council, UK)

 

16:05 CET
Chaired Discussion
Chair: Christine Wilson (British Council, UK)

 

16:25 CET
Wrap up: Christine Wilson (British Council, UK)

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Friday, 15. Oct 2021
10:00 - 11:30

Nikita Dhawan: Global Ethics

open to public

 

10:00 CET
Welcome and Introduction: Odila Triebel (ifa, Germany)

 

10:10 CET
Keynote Presentation: Nikita Dhawan

  • Global Ethics and the Imperative to Save the Planet
    In the face of growing global interdependence, there is rising expectation that powerful actors, organizations, and nation states have an ethical responsibility towards the more vulnerable sections of the world population. The demand that transnational elites act beyond narrow territorial-based understanding of self-interest in order to 'protect' victims of injustice, seems convincing, at first glance. However, given the long and violent history of colonial intervention in the non-Western world, current attempts to act in the 'interests' of the distant others often invoke suspicion and distrust. Euro-American supremacism and paternalism are reinstated once again with them acting as dispensers of rights and justice. In my talk I will focus on the role of the State, the International Civil Society and the Market in the context of discussions about growing global inequality and the need for transnational solidarity.

 

10:55 CET
ICRRA Response: Odila Triebel (ifa, Germany)

 

11:05 CET
Chaired Discussion
Chair: Odila Triebel (ifa, Germany)

 

11:25 CET
Wrap up

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Monday, 18. Oct 2021
10:00 - 14:30

International Dialogue l Decolonising

open to public

 

FORUM 1: Trust and Values in International Dialogue

  • The current crises we are witnessing around the pandemic and climate change are arguably interlinked with a new contestation of democratic practices by authoritarian governments and a populist questioning of multilateral approaches to global politics. International dialogue and cooperation has a foundation in the UNESCO convention on diversity. The Sustainable Development Goals also show the impact of culture and cultural cooperation. However, for some parts in the world aspects of these international approaches may still feel loaded by continuing global power imbalances, the privileging of the values of the global north, and legacies of western colonial domination and empire. How can international cultural relations, and cultural expression, invention and production, be realised under these circumstances? What are the baselines? What response is needed from institutions and organisations committed to international dialogue: more understanding or more assertiveness?

 

10:00 CET
Welcome and resume of keynotes from ICRRA members: Naren Chitty (Macquarie University, Australia)

 

10:10 CET
Applications of keynote themes in research and practice:

  • Stuart MacDonald (International Cultural Relations) & Mona Lotten (British Council)
    Cultural relations, dialogue and co-operation in an age of competition
  • Covadonga Hernández (Instituto InclusArtiz, Brasil)
    National and international residency programmes as a platform of dialogue between countries and communities to promote multilateral cooperation
  • Twediana Budi Hapsari (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
    Online Islamic learning, radicalism and cultural expression in South East Asia

 

11:00 CET
Chaired Discussion
Chair: Naren Chitty (Macquarie University, Australia)

 

11:20 CET
Wrap up: Naren Chitty (Macquarie University, Australia)

 

FORUM 2: Decolonising knowledge and knowledge production in international cultural relations

  • The social and political terms around which we conveive international cultural relations are still dominated by European traditions. Decolonisation means acknowledging the historical, geographical and social situatedness of knowlegdge and continuing global imbalances in how knowledge is produced and consumed. A simple acknowledgement of this fact, however, is not enough: Transforming this acknowledgement into praxis means accepting plurality. However, what does it really take to foster a plurality in knowlege production, distribution and consumption? What does a plurality of epistemologies mean for international cooperation? Is there a new form of 'universality' at the horizon?

 

13:00 CET
Welcome and resume of keynotes from ICRRA members: Avril Joffe (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)

 

13:10 CET
Applications of keynote themes in research and practice:

  • Doreen Nchang (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
    Decolonising Digital: Open Access and research communication in West Africa
  • Lynda Jessup (North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative, Canada) & César Villanueva (Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México, Mexico)
    The North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative: Cultural Diplomacy as Critical Practice
  • Venka Purushothaman (LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore)
    Decoloniality and cultural networks in Southeast Asia

14:00 CET
Chaired Discussion
Chair: Avril Joffe (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)

 

14:20 CET
Wrap up: Avril Joffe (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)

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Tuesday, 19. Oct 2021
15:00 - 19:30

Fair Collaborations l Cultural Relations

open to public

 

FORUM 3: Fair collaborations in international cultural relations: global perspectives (in collaboration with Siena Cultural Relations Forum 2021)

  • As the Covid 19 crisis and the effects of climate change have both shown, on the one hand global crises provide humanity with a shared experience of sameness in our physical being. On the other hand, it has also been very clearly and bluntly shown that common crises do not effect everyone the same way and not to the same extent. These crises intensify existing social and economic inequalities. And there will very likely be ongoing global differences in the budgets, technology and political infrastructure available to respond to these crises. How is fair international collaboration made possible under these circumstances? How should cultural relations organisations respond? What rules and conditions need to be respected at a minimum? What kind of redistribution or even dispossession needs to be envisioned?

 

15:00 CET
Welcome and resume of keynotes from ICRRA members: Mafalda Dâmaso (King's College London, UK)

 

15:10 CET
Applications of keynote themes in research and practice:

  • Avril Joffe (Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg, South Africa), Matina Magkou (University of Côte d’Azur, France), Anna Steinkamp (Independent Consultant in International Cultural Cooperation, Germany), Cristina Farinha (Independent expert cultural and creative sector, Portugal), Katelijn Verstraete (Independent Cultural Consultant, Belgium/Singapore), Sudebi Thakurata (D.epicentre and Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, India)
    The EUNIC Toolkit on Fair Collaboration in Cultural Relations
  • Carla Figueira (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK) & Aimee Fullman (George Mason University, USA)
    Cultural Relations in the Critical Zone: Cultural Relations and Climate Change
  • Anmol Vellani (Theatre practitioner, India)
    Fairness before collaboration: preparing for meaningful intercultural practice in a polarising world

 

16:00 CET
Chaired Discussion
Chair: Mafalda Dâmaso (King's College London, UK)

 

16:20 CET
Wrap up: Mafalda Dâmaso (King's College London, UK)

 

FORUM 4: Cultural relations responses to global challenges

  • Cultural relations operate in a non-political social sphere. They seek cooperation in the fields of arts, culture, education and science and thus for a cooperation more of societies than of goverments. They make room for aesthetic projections of new and better futures and they can draft horizons for aspiration. However, cultural relations both confront and are themselves confronted by realpolitics in this process. Hard power interests as well as geopolitical dynamics do have an impact on their operational possibilities. However, it is more and more acknowledged that global challenges like climate change and pandemics (as well as internet governance, migration and terrorism) need cooperative responses. What is the role of cultural relations in this task? What kind of skills and practices can they provide and foster? What kind of alliances do they seek?

18:00 CET
Welcome and resume of keynotes from ICRRA members: Carla Figueira (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)

 

18:10 CET
Applications of keynote themes in research and practice:

  • Ian Thomas (British Council)
    The Cultural Heritage Protection Fund
  • Inge Ceustermans (The Festival Academy)
    International Festivals Declare Emergency
  • Pedro Affonso Ivo Franco (Furtwangen University, Germany) & Kimani Njogu (Twaweza Communications)
    Cultural and Creative Industries fostering Cultural Relations

 

19:00 CET
Chaired Discussion
Chair: Carla Figueira (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)

 

19:20 CET
Wrap up: Carla Figueira (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)

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Friday, 22. Oct 2021
13:30 - 14:30

Reflections – Invitation Only

Policy roundtable

 

13:30 CET
Welcome and Introduction                    

 

13:40 CET
ICRRA reflections on conference               

 

14:05 CET
Policy responses and discussion               

 

14:25 CET
Wrap up

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Keynote Speakers

Portrait of Nikita Dhawan

Nikita Dhawan

Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas, TU Dresden

Nikita Dhawan is Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at TU Dresden. Her publications include: Impossible Speech: On the Politics of Silence and Violence (2007); Decolonizing Enlightenment: Transnational Justice, Human Rights and Democracy in a Postcolonial World (ed., 2014); Global Justice and Desire: Queering Economy (co-ed., 2015); Negotiating Normativity: Postcolonial Appropriations, Contestations and Transformations (co-ed., 2016); Difference that makes no Difference: The Non-Performativity of Intersectionality and Diversity (ed., 2017) and Reimagining the State: Theoretical Challenges and Transformative Possibilities (co-ed., 2019). She received the Käthe Leichter Award in 2017 for outstanding achievements in the pursuit of women's and gender studies and in support of the women's movement and the achievement of gender equality.

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Portrait of Oby Ezekwesili

Oby Ezekwesili

Founder and Chairperson of SPPG (School of Politics, Policy and Governance)

Oby Ezekwesili is the Founder and Chairperson of SPPG (School of Politics, Policy and Governance established by the #FixPoliticsInitiative which she also co-chairs. She is the President of Human Capital África and currently runs the Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI). Dr. Ezekwesili is a former Vice President of the World Bank, Africa Region. She was a Minister of Education and also of Mineral Resources of Nigeria. She is Co-Convener of #BringBackOurGirls Campaign, a group of diverse citizens advocating for the speedy and effective search and rescue of school girls abducted from the secondary school in Chibok on the 14, April 2014, Nigeria. She was one of the co-founders of Transparency International and was one of the pioneer directors of its Global Board in Berlin from 1994 – 1999. Ezekwesili was a Presidential Candidate in the 2019 election in Nigeria.

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Portrait of Walter D. Mignolo

Walter D. Mignolo

William H. Wannamaker Professor and Director of the Center for Global Studies and the Humanities, Duke University

Walter D. Mignolo is William H. Wannamaker Professor and Director of the Center for Global Studies and the Humanities at Duke University. He was associated researcher at Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Quito, 2002-2018) and an Honorary Research Associate for CISA (Center for Indian Studies in South Africa), Wits University at Johannesburg (2015-2019). He is a Senior Advisor of DOC (Dialogue of Civilizations) Research Institute, based in Berlin. He received a Doctor Honoris Causa Degree (2016) from the University National of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Honorary Degree (2018) from the University of London-Goldsmith. Among his books related to the topic are: The Darker Side of the Renaissance. Literacy, Territoriality and Colonization (1995); Delinking: The Rhetoric of Modernity, the Logic of Coloniality and the Grammar of Decoloniality (2007); Local Histories/Global Designs: Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges and Border Thinking (2000); The Idea of Latin America (2006); On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analysis, Praxis, co-authored with Catherine Walsh (2018) and The Politics of Decolonial Investigations (scheduled for June of 2021).

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Further Contributors

Inge Ceustermans

is the General Director of The Festival Academy, a non-profit organisation initiated by the European Festivals Association (EFA). She is also a member of the advisory committee for the Agency of Arts and Heritage in Flanders.

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Stuart MacDonald

is the Director of ICR Research, a research consultancy that works for governments, higher education, and multilateral organisations. He worked as a senior policy adviser in the UK Civil Service, advising ministers on a wide range of policy areas.

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Avril Joffe

is the coordinator of the Post Graduate Programme of the Cultural Policy and Management Department at the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Amongst other advisory roles, she is a member of UNESCO's Panel of Experts for Cultural Policy and Governance (2011–2022) and the International Advisory Council of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Nesta, UK).

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Ian Thomas

is the Head of Evidence for the Arts at the British Council. Previously, he worked for Arts Council England. He is a graduate of both the University of Liverpool and the University of Durham and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

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Carla Figueira

is an academic and consultant in the field of international cultural relations and creative industries. She did her PhD on external language spread policies in Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau at City University London, with a Praxis XXI Scholarship.

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Aimee R Fullman

is an academic and consultant in arts and cultural management, cultural policy and international cultural relations. She is an Assistant Professor and former Director of the Arts Management Program at George Mason University, also serving as Director, National Resource Center for Creative Forces®: National Endowment for the Arts' Military Healing Arts Network.

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Odila Triebel

is Head of the section 'Dialogue and Research Culture and Foreign Policy' at ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen. She is co-initiator of ICRRA (International Cultural Relations Research Alliance) and publishes on fundamental concepts of international relations.

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Doreen Nchang

is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Advanced Study in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) African Peacebuilding Network (APN).

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Ojoma Ochai

is Regional Director for Arts and Creative Economy Programmes for British Council in Sub Saharan Africa. A Creative Economy expert, she is a 2010 Future Awards young person of the year nominee, a Fellow of the DEVOS Institute of Arts Management, University of Maryland, and Associate Fellow of the Nigerian Leadership Institute.

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Mona Lotten

is Head of Policy Insight at the British Council. She is a University of Oslo graduate in social anthropology, human geography and psychology, and has a MSc in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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César Villanueva

is a professor of International Relations and Public/Cultural Diplomacy at Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. He has a PhD in Political Science from Linnaeus University in Sweden, and is a frequent lecturer on Cultural Relations, Soft power, international images and cultural/public diplomacy.

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Christine Wilson

is Director Research and Policy Insight at the British Council and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Ulster, and the Open University. Christine was a journalist focusing on politics and civil society in Scotland before she joined the British Council in 2004.

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Lynda Jessup

is Vice Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science, at Queen's University, Canada, and Director of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI). A former Canada–U.S. Fulbright Scholar, her research focusses on the use of art exhibitions in cultural diplomacy.

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Venka Purushothaman

is Deputy President and Provost at LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore. An award-winning art writer and academic, he has a PhD in Cultural Policy and Asian Cultural Studies from The University of Melbourne, Australia and studied Shakespeare and postcolonial studies at York University, Canada.

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Twediana Budi Hapsari

is a lecturer in Islamic Communication and Broadcasting at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She has a PhD in International Communication from Macquarie University, Australia. Her research interests include intercultural communication, Islamic media and the impact of new media on religious behaviour among teenagers.

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Mafalda Dâmaso

is Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries of King's College London and Visiting Lecturer at the Institut Catholique de Paris, among other roles. As a Research Fellow at the Centre on Public Diplomacy of the University of Southern California, Mafalda undertook primary research focused on EUNIC's 2019–2021 European Spaces of Culture pilot projects.

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Kimani Njogu

is an independent scholar based at Twaweza Communications, Nairobi. Amongst other positions, he serves as Culture Expert at the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM) and is Commissioner of Kiswahili Cross-Border Language Commission at the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), an organ of the African Union.

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Naren Chitty

is the Inaugural Director of the Soft Power Analysis & Resource Centre at the Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University. Founding Editor of The Journal of International Communication. Professor Chitty was awarded the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2009 'for services to education particularly in the field of international communication as a researcher and academic and to a range of professional associations'.

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James Perkins

is Head of Research in the Research & Policy Insight team at the British Council. He has a PhD in History from the University of London and his work for the British Council is centred around supporting good research practice, enhancing organisational research capacity and promoting knowledge exchange and collaboration.

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Pedro Affonso Ivo Franco

is a Brazilian, Berlin-based percussionist, consultant and researcher working across the cultural, creative and development sectors. Holding a MA in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy from Furtwangen University, Germany, Pedro works mainly in African, Latin American and European contexts.

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Matina Magkou

is a consultant and researcher in cultural and social impact programmes and communication. Dr Magkou is Associate Researcher at University of Côte d'Azur's SIC.Lab. She is an alumnus of the Cultural Diplomacy Platform's Global Cultural Leadership Programme.

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Anna Steinkamp

is an independent consultant in international cultural cooperation, network and process governance, based in Berlin. She is very familiar with international cultural cooperation policies. She holds a Master's in Public Policy and in Cultural Sciences.

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Cristina Farinha

is an expert and researcher in culture and creative economy. She holds a PhD in Sociology from University of Porto. Cristina was member of Selection and Monitoring panel of European Capitals of Culture in 2015– 2020.

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Katelijn Verstraete

is an expert in cultural relations, policy development, international project management, cross cultural creative facilitation and research. She is the co-author of Europe China Cultural Compass for EUNIC and advisor to the EU.

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Sudebi Thakurata

is a creative facilitator, trans-disciplinary narrative designer, educator, writer and futurist. She focuses on social, environmental and cultural issues, inter-weaving design thinking, imagination, complex systems thinking, pedagogy, crafts, entrepreneurship, visual and performing arts, oral history, ethnography, and research to co-create inclusive and regenerative possibilities.

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Anmol Vellani

is a theatre director and the founder and former executive director of India Foundation for the Arts and the co-founder of Toto Funds the Arts. His writing and talks – on arts entrepreneurship, the creative economy, the role of grant-making foundations, culture and development, intercultural dialogue and the performing arts, for example – have reflected on the insights he has gleaned from his long engagement with the arts and philanthropy.

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Frances Reynolds

is the Founder and President of Inclusartiz Institute in Brazil, non-profit organisations which promotes cultural initiatives to bring art, culture and education closer to all sections of society. She is Member of the Senior Advisory Board of the Brazil Institute-School of Global Affairs, Kings College, London, and member of the Instituto de Consejeros-Administradores, Madrid.

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Cathy Mohlahlana

Mohlahlana is an award-winning TV and radio broadcast journalist. She's a senior news anchor for South Africa's newly launched 24hr channel Newzroom Afrika. In 2014, Cathy was selected as a fellow for US President Barack Obama's Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). She holds a Politics and International Relations degree from Wits university. 

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Highlights

The event on Twitter

Partner

ICRRA – International Cultural Relations Research Alliance

Researchers and practitioners exchange views on questions of international cultural relations through the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance (ICRRA) network. The network sees itself as a bridge builder between practical cultural work, academic reflection, policy advice and the media. It supports the transfer of research-based knowledge into politics and society and promotes evidence-based discourse. Find out more on the ifa website.

Contact

Dr. Christina Buck-Rieder

Charlottenplatz 17
D-70173 Stuttgart

Telephone: +49.711.2225.123