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Foundation will support participation of Mumbai-based arts manager Abhinit Khanna

Salzburg Global Seminar is delighted to announce the Shalini Passi Art Foundation has agreed to support this year’s program of the Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators.

The Foundation will enable Mumbai-based arts manager Abhinit Khanna to attend this year’s program, Cultural Innovation, Leadership and Collaboration: A Global Platform.

Khanna, who has more than nine years of experience working in visual arts, design, and creative business development, will be one of 50 young cultural innovators from around the world taking part.

Participants will convene at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria, between October 22 and October 27.

The Shalini Passi Art Foundation endeavors to create a new paradigm for artistic expression in India, by supporting, educating, and encouraging experimental new practices in the field of arts that take inspiration from India’s rich cultural traditions to create a contemporary aesthetic for India.

Shalini Passi is the founder and director of the Foundation, as well as My Art Shalini (MASH) – an online arts platform that collapses the hierarchical distinctions between architecture, art, craft, design, and fashion, by eliciting a rich discourse around creativity in modernity.

Reflecting on his selection for this year’s program, Khanna said, “The prestigious Seminar empowers young leaders in the creative sector to drive social, economic and urban change. It is building a global network of 500 competitively-selected change-makers in ‘hub’ communities who design collaborative projects, build skills, gain mentors, and connect to upcoming innovators in their cities and countries.

“This year the program is specifically looking at empowering cultural leaders from the Global South and I’m delighted to know more about networking opportunities, support, and programming.

“I will be able to bring these knowledges to facilitate the setting up of 'The Fort Arts Center' - a non-profit arts organization in the heart of South Bombay, which I am currently working towards launching in 2020. I’m also looking forward to learn and exchange ideas with other important cultural workers from around the world.”

The YCI Forum sees the ability to network and communicate as one of its founding principles. The YCI Forum has young change agents from around the world representing a broad spectrum of cultural expression and artistic endeavor –  including visual arts, performing arts, literature, cultural heritage, foods, fashion, architecture, and design.

In addition to India, the YCI Forum has welcomed Fellows from Adelaide, Athens, Baltimore, Buenos Aires, Canada, Cape Town, Detroit, Japan, Malta, Manila, Memphis, New Orleans, Mekong Delta, Nairobi, Plovdiv, Rotterdam, Salzburg, Seoul, Slovakia, Tirana, and the Upper Midwest in the U.S.

Other members attending this year’s Forum have now been selected and informed. Their biographies will be made available on salzburgglobal.org in the near future.