The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) is further expanding its digital offering with a series of virtual conversations hosted and chaired by Chairman HE Mohamed Al Mubarak. Starting from 18 May, the Culture-All conversations will feature distinguished participants from the region and around the world tackling important and relevant cultural topics. The sessions will be live streamed online via the Abu Dhabi Culture digital platforms.
“Despite not being able to physically travel at the moment, we are utilising all the technological tools at our disposal to continue connecting and collaborating with our friends and colleagues around the world,” said HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi. “These series of conversations aim to open a window onto the thoughts and creative processes of eminent voices from here in the UAE, the region and across the globe, to address the challenges faced by the culture sector across the world. Streaming these events across our digital platforms will ensure an accessibility of cultural discourses to a wider audience to hear new perspectives, and learn how the world is responding to the current crisis.
The first session, the Museums Panel, will broadcast on 18 May, to mark International Museum Day. ‘Museums: Places of Civic Engagement, Inspiration and Rebuilding in a Pandemic Age’ will feature conversations with Abu Dhabi Museums Partners including Jean-Luc Martinez, President-Director of the Musée du Louvre; Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation Hartwig Fischer, the Director of The British Museum and Prof Mikhail Piotrovski, General Director of the State Hermitage Museum.
The discussion will explore the critical roles and contributions made by museums in our individual lives and society as a whole, roles which the global pandemic has served only to amplify. Museums continue to play a critical role as spaces for knowledge creation, community connections and exchange, helping to build social capital and strengthening the public sphere at a moment when these are needed more than ever. The current crisis forces museums to confront and reimagine how these museum roles are executed in a world of social distancing and lockdowns, and the reliance on digital solutions as a substitute for the experience of a museum visit. The conversation will also address the role of artists and the public in helping forge the future of museums.
Further sessions in the series will follow, exploring topics including different domains from the Culture Creative Industries. Dates and further details will be announced in due course.
The Museums Panel will be livestreamed on Monday 18 May at 9pm UAE time (5pm GMT) on the Abu Dhabi Culture YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/AbuDhabiCulture.
