DUBAI: Abu Dhabi is welcoming cultural leaders from around the world to the sixth edition of Culture Summit Abu Dhabi.
Taking place from March 3-5, this year’s edition is titled “A Matter of Time,” and will take place at Manarat Al Saadiyat.
Organized by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, the summit will bring together thought leaders, artists and culture specialists to share inspiring stories, case studies and world perspectives.
Visitors can register their interest on the summit’s official website. All sessions will be streamed live on Culture Summit Abu Dhabi’s YouTube channel.
Here we take a look at five thought-provoking panels taking place at the summit:
Keynote speech by Adonis
On the first day of the summit, Syrian poet and essayist Ali Ahmad Said Esber, also known as Adonis, will deliver a keynote speech. He is the author of many collections of poetry and is considered the leader of the modernist movement in contemporary Arabic poetry in the second half of the 20th century. He has been a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature and is the first Arab writer to win the Goethe Prize in 2011.
The speech will be delivered at 9.50 a.m. on Sunday.
Ministerial dialogue
The 2024 edition of the summit will also inaugurate a new series entitled “Ministerial Dialogue,” jointly organized by DCT Abu Dhabi and UNESCO. The platform offers culture ministers the opportunity to share reflections with the global culture and creative sector on the outcomes of UNESCO’s MONDIACULT 2022 summit and how they see their work paving the path towards the 2025 summit. This year’s session will feature Mohamed Khalifa Al-Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, and Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, assistant director-general for culture at UNESCO, along with several other ministers from around the world.
The panel will take place on Monday at 10 a.m.
Creative conversation with Nobel Prize in Literature winner Wole Soyinka
Famed Nigerian playwright and Nobel Prize in Literature winner Wole Soyinka will be in conversation with Manthia Diawara, professor in the Department of Cinema Studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Soyinka was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for “a wide cultural perspective and poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence.”
The conversation will take place on Sunday at 10.40 a.m.
Creative conversation on Batman
Abu Dhabi Film and Television Commissioner Hans Fraikin will be in conversation with film producer Michael E. Uslan, popularly known as the “father of the modern Batman.” He will be joined by son and producer David Uslan as they look back at the history of the series.
The session will take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Panel on artificial intelligence
The hot button topic of the moment, artificial intelligence, will also get its time in the spotlight as industry experts answer the question: “Is the journey of AI worth the cost of human creativity?” Speakers including Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of The Recording Academy; Hans Fraikin, Abu Dhabi Film and Television commissioner; Cathy Hackl, prominent tech futurist and emerging tech executive; and Tom Wainwright, tech and media editor at The Economist, will take part in the panel.
The discussion will take place on Monday at 2.35 p.m.
