Last week, Senior Associate Marianna Lemus-Boskovitch attended the first International Cultural Summit in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon District. Coinciding with Hong Kong Art Week, the summit was timed after the Hong Kong 2024/2025 budget announcement, which included significant investment into the cultural and creative industries. 

Throughout the summit, three key themes emerged:

1. Collaboration

2. Diversity and Inclusion

3. Digital Integration and Innovation. 

A series of Memoranda of Understanding pledged the interchange of skills, experience, and capabilities by 20 international cultural institutions (including the V&A and Tate). These included topics such as digitisation, research partnership, education exchange, preservation, innovation, and artist exchanges - highlighting Hong Kong's intention to maintain international collaboration.

Collaboration

The signing of 20 Memoranda of Understanding with the some of the world’s most renowned arts and cultural institutions, underscored Hong Kong’s strategic collaborative approach. These partnerships signify a shift toward leveraging international cultural relationships to bolster conservation, digital transformation, educational opportunities, and innovation, cementing relationships between eastern and western institutions.

Inclusivity and Diversity

The summit's deliberations on inclusive narratives and the merging of diverse cultures, histories, and art forms highlighted a critical directive towards better engagement with audiences. There was recognition that the international cultural sector's sustainability hinges on its ability to represent and engage with a broad spectrum of voices and perspectives, valuing diversity as an essential component of cultural relevance for both local and international audiences. 

Digital Integration and Innovation

Amid discussions on the future of museums and cultural institutions, a key theme was the necessity to collectively embrace digital technologies. This goes beyond digitising collections to reimagining museums as multidisciplinary spaces that engage audiences in novel ways, integrating AI, immersive technologies, and even blockchain for preserving and experiencing culture, opening opportunities for knowledge sharing between institutions. 

A clear message of the summit was that Hong Kong continues to act as a connector between East and West through international exchange. Considering the city's ongoing evolution, the summit reflected Hong Kong's commitment to maintaining its reputation as an art hub, asserting it will continue to be a dynamic platform for global dialogues.