25 Artists, Professionals, and Scholars from 20+ Countries Convene to Reimagine How Art Shapes International Relations
The inaugural Global Art Convention (GAC), organized by the Center for Strategy and Cultural Diplomacy (CSCD), concluded its three-day gathering in Dubai, bringing together cultural practitioners, diplomatic strategists, and academic researchers to explore how artistic expression functions as an instrument of soft power in contemporary international relations. The convention, held October 5-7 at venues including the Kutubna Cultural Centre, marked the first major institutional effort to establish art and cultural diplomacy as a legitimate professional field requiring specialized expertise spanning aesthetic practice, economic understanding, and diplomatic strategy.
The gathering convened participants including gallery directors shaping national narratives, practicing artists whose work challenges state boundaries, and scholars developing theoretical frameworks for understanding art and culture’s role in geopolitics. Over three intensive days, delegates engaged with six core modules addressing art as soft power, creative resistance and state response, sacred symbols as shared civilizational language, technology’s disruption of cultural authenticity, artists functioning as unofficial ambassadors, and collaborative practice as bridge-building methodology. Traditional diplomatic channels are increasingly insufficient for addressing global challenges from climate crisis to mass migration to technological governance. Meanwhile, artists are creating new languages for these conversations, cultural institutions are becoming sites of political negotiation, and audiences globally are hungry for narratives that transcend the nation-state. The gap between cultural practice and diplomatic strategy has never been larger—or more urgent to close. GAC exists to close that gap through rigorous engagement with culture’s political dimensions.
A highlight of GAC programming was the partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library and Kutubna Cultural Centre’s Motherhood exhibition, which provided delegates with an immersive experience of how curatorial practice functions as diplomatic intervention, addressing politically sensitive topics through metaphor and symbol while holding space for multiple perspectives without requiring consensus or resolution. This collaboration demonstrated the convention’s commitment to grounding cultural diplomacy in real places and lived experiences rather than abstract theoretical frameworks, with delegates contributing their own stories and perspectives to the exhibition’s ongoing dialogue about origin, displacement, resilience, and continuity across diverse cultural contexts.
The convention revealed both immense potential and significant challenges in integrating aesthetic considerations into diplomatic strategy, with delegates noting that despite shared interest in culture’s diplomatic dimensions, artists, diplomats, and academics often spoke past each other due to disciplinary silos and differing professional languages. The Center for Strategy and Cultural Diplomacy will host the second Art Convention in 2026, with location to be announced. Organizations interested in partnership opportunities or individuals seeking information about CSCD’s Institute of Arts, Economy and Diplomatic Studies can visit www.thecscd.org or contact the Centre directly.
