Impact

Salzburg Global Fellows will meet in Salzburg for Currents of Change: Redefining Cultural Diplomacy for the Future We Need

From July 4 to 8, 60 Salzburg Global Seminar participants will come together at Schloss Leopoldskron for the session Currents of Change: Redefining Cultural Diplomacy for the Future We Need. 

Cultural diplomacy, the post-Second World War concept that we have learned to rely on, has now outlived its original terms of reference and needs to be redefined. Today’s most pressing social, ecological and technological issues transcend borders, governments, institutions and even species. Through the prism of future thinking practices, the program will seek to explore what cultural diplomacy means now, what it will mean in the future, and how it can be a powerful tool of connectivity in our multi-polarized and post-globalized world.

This first in-person session in the Culture Portfolio since the beginning of the pandemic will bring together participants from 28 countries around the world, representing every inhabited continent. Salzburg Global is especially honored to welcome Indigenous representatives from three continents.

The four-day program will be highly interactive and consist of panel discussions, interactive sessions, and working groups. A series of curated performances and food experiences will provide an opportunity to not only witness diverse acts of cultural diplomacy but will offer a point of reflection for discussion and debate.

“As Salzburg Global celebrates its 75th Anniversary in the context of an increasingly fragmented world, it is poignant and true to our founding story that this program will explore how culture and the arts can be a powerful force for building connection and shared understanding. Now, like at our founding, we believe that the answers come from convening thoughtful committed citizens from around the world to consider how we can come together to shape a better world”, reflected Faye Hobson, Program Director for Culture.

Xenia Hanusiak, Senior Policy Officer for the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Australia, who is working with Salzburg Global as a co-curator of the program reflected: “I believe that by bringing artists, politicians, diplomats, cultural leaders, futurists, sociologists and scientists from the nations of our world to one shared table, that we might just dare to bring a new horizon and to bring to attention the vital demand for a dialogue between peoples through diverse cultural expressions. In a world where we are witnessing the unimaginable, we seek to bring the imaginable.”

Erwin Maas, Educator, International Arts Advocate and co-curator of the program also shared his hopes for the session: “In its origins, in cultural diplomatic terms, connecting to ‘the other’ meant we had to cross our national borders and engage with each other internationally. However, in our current globalized and inter-connected world, our communities are increasingly rich with people from all over the world. Our cities, neighborhoods and our online communities are ideal spaces for collision, for learning, for artistic expression with all ‘the others’ around us. I am curious to see what this means, and how this can contribute, to a micro and macro level in Cultural Diplomacy for the future we need. I’m looking forward to explore and discover this and much more with the diverse and incredible group of people that will be gathering in Salzburg.”

During the program, participants will be discussing the following questions:

•    Where are we today on cultural diplomacy and where do we want to be going?
•    What unique power does art have to drive movement, action, and change?
•    What are the models and modes of cultural exchange around the globe?
•    Can strategies of boycotts, sanctions, shuttering of institutions and forms of cancel culture be effective?
•    How does cultural diplomacy address the priorities of nations and their influence to bring a communality of ideas? 
•    What if we change all the rules? How are we embracing new technologies? Where can the analogue and person-to-person powers of soft diplomacy meet the digital sphere? 

To find out more about the session, click here.

Salzburg Global is grateful to our partners who have made this program possible: The Edward T. Cone Foundation, Adena and David Testa, Arts Council Malta, Arts Council Korea, The Nippon Foundation.