We’ve chosen 24 April to publish our second issue. This coincides with International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, a way to reaffirm what drives this newsletter: the belief that culture can foster collaboration beyond borders and help us envision a shared “planetary imaginary” as philosopher Susan Buck-Morss suggests. Seen through this lens, the past three months offer a quieter, yet very real, alternative to the dominant discourse of polarisation, conflict and fragmentation.
In that spirit, the World in Focus section, curated with our guest contributors from Abu Dhabi, Bogotá and Hong Kong, brings together stories from across the globe that reflect a desire to connect and reach beyond the familiar. This same impulse is explored in our conversation with Panos A. Panay, President of the Recording Academy, whose journey shows how stepping outside your comfort zone can open up new ways of thinking, creating and leading.
This perspective also resonates with our reading recommendation, Cosmopolitan by Kwame Anthony Appiah, a thoughtful reflection on living, thinking and creating across differences.
We’re delighted you’re here. Enjoy the read!
Funding & creativity
CHINAFrom Beijing to Hong Kong: the aesthetics of precarious work
“What happens when the author of a bestselling memoir about working as a courier in mainland China, and a Hong Kong videographer who moonlights as a food delivery rider, meet?” Hu Anyan and Kong Yiu-wing reflect on gig work as both subject and method. Hu, author of I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, describes it as revealing “the texture of urban life”, while Kong captures its rhythms on film. Their exchange shows how the road itself becomes material for storytelling, shaped by movement, repetition and survival. (Source: South China Morning Post)
This raises broader questions: what happens when mobility, precarity and everyday work become sites of cultural production rather than just economic survival? How can culture translate ordinary, everyday labour into shared understanding across different places?
UAEArt, incentives and long-term cultural anchoring in Abu Dhabi
A new initiative from the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi waives customs duties on artworks that are brought into the capital for a minimum of three years. More than a financial incentive, the scheme was positioned as a framework for the long-term placement, conservation and exhibition of museum-quality works. (Source: The National)
UK and LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEANNew London residency for Latin American and Caribbean artists backed by Miami-based collectors
Major figures in Miami’s art scene, Jorge and Darlene Pérez, have partnered with Delfina Foundation in London to launch a new residency prioritising Latin American and Caribbean artists, as well as related diaspora communities in the United States. The programme offers four fully funded twelve-week residencies over two years. Starting this autumn, the programme aims to strengthen cultural exchange and address underrepresentation in international residency spaces. (Source: The Art Newspaper)
With philanthropists, collectors and foundations increasingly backing artistic mobility across the globe, cultural exchange is being reshaped, raising questions about the possibilities and constraints of privately driven cross-border collaboration.
UK Who pays for culture? Rethinking free admission in UK museums
The UK Government is considering charging international visitors for entry to national museums, following a review of Arts Council England and ongoing funding pressures. Other options including a hotel levy are also explored. (Source: The Guardian)
Following the Louvre’s introduction of higher entry fees for non-European visitors in January 2026, does this signal a broader shift in how major museums price access along geographic lines? Would these changes reshape international visitation as institutions balance access with financial sustainability? In effect, is greater openness now being traded against economic viability?
Cultural Policy & Cultural Diplomacy
BRAZIL & SOUTH KOREAAI, rights and cultural policy: Brazil–South Korea cooperation
Brazil and South Korea strengthened cooperation on artificial intelligence and copyright, with discussions focused on digital regulation, rights protection and the impact of emerging technologies on cultural production. This reflects a shared concern over how AI is reshaping authorship and cultural ownership, as both countries seek to balance innovation with protection for creators and traditional knowledge systems. (Source: Brazilian Ministry of Culture)
CHILELatam-GPT: a regional model for AI and cultural representation
Chile has launched Latam-GPT, an open-source large language model developed with partners across Latin America and the Caribbean. Led by Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), it aims to reduce reliance on US-based systems by training on regional languages, data and contexts. Framed as both a technical and political project, it seeks to strengthen digital sovereignty and better reflect Latin American societies in AI. (Source: LatinaRepublic)
CONGO, US & BELGIUMAfricaMuseum and the politics of access to colonial archives
The AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, near Brussels, holds colonial-era geological archives of mineral deposits in the DRC, now sought by KoBold Metals, the AI-backed mining company supported by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Despite KoBold’s offer to digitise the records, the museum declined, citing an EU-funded project already under way and noting that access is available on site, with copies to be shared with Congolese authorities. The Belgian Government said it “cannot grant privileged or exclusive access” to a foreign private company, highlighting tensions over colonial-era knowledge and control of strategic resources. (Source: ARTnews)
The dispute highlights ongoing questions of ownership, access and accountability in post-colonial contexts, especially over who interprets, digitises and benefits from colonial archives. More broadly, it reflects a global reckoning over how such materials are governed, as museums, states and private actors negotiate control across heritage, science and strategic resources.
SENEGAL & GERMANYKéré’s sustainable Goethe-Institut building opens in Dakar as new hub for cultural exchange
The Goethe-Institut opened a new cultural centre in Dakar, designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Francis Kéré. Built around a preserved baobab tree and using local, sustainable materials, the building is intended as a community hub for cultural exchange, education and dialogue between Senegal and Germany. The project also aligns with broader United Nations–framed goals around sustainability, cultural cooperation and inclusive development. (Source: DW)
WORLD - UNESCOCultural policy in transition: insights from Re|Shaping Creativity 2026
Published in February, the Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity 2026 report examines how cultural policy is responding to rapid technological, social and economic change across more than 120 countries. It finds that while culture is increasingly embedded in national strategies, funding remains uneven and creative workers often face precarity. Digital transformation and AI are reshaping access and distribution, frequently reinforcing existing inequalities. The report calls for more inclusive cultural governance to support creativity and protect artistic freedom. (Source: UNESCO)
Cultural Hotspots to Watch
BRAZIL Brazilian cinema: global spotlight, domestic uncertainty
Brazilian cinema is gaining international visibility, with Oscar recognition and strong Cannes showings highlighting its global profile. Films such as I’m Still Here and The Secret Agent reflect both creative strength and politically engaged storytelling. This momentum is rooted in decades of state-backed funding, particularly through Ancine and the Audiovisual Fund, though industry voices warned that ongoing domestic instability and shifting policy could threaten its sustainability. (Source: IndieWire)
EGYPT, ETHIOPIA & IVORY COAST Is Africa’s skyscraper mini-boom a cause for alarm?
A wave of skyscraper construction is reshaping skylines across Africa, from Abidjan to Cairo and Addis Ababa, signalling a rapid push towards vertical urban growth. Yet alongside this momentum, debate is growing over what these towers represent: symbols of progress and economic confidence, or imported models that risk overlooking local context, identity and lived urban realities. Architects such as Omar Degan and Tosin Oshinowo questioned whether this trend suits African contexts. (Source: Dezeen)
THAILANDDib Bangkok: a new museum shaped by global experience and local identity
Bangkok offers a rare moment of pause in a city defined by speed and density. Designed by Thai architect Kulapat Yantrasast working between Thailand, the US and Japan, the museum is shaped by a transnational team bringing together Thai, Japanese and international curatorial and design perspectives, transforming a former industrial warehouse into a calm, contemplative space of light, rhythm and restraint. At its core is an emphasis on experience over form: a spatial journey from raw industrial beginnings towards more open, reflective galleries, informed by Buddhist ideas of progression and clarity and developed through cross-border collaboration. (Source: ArtAsiaPacific and ARTnews)
UAEA global recognition for Abu Dhabi’s Zayed National Museum
Zayed National Museum has been named one of TIME’s World’s Greatest Places 2026, recognising it among 100 global cultural destinations. Located in Saadiyat Cultural District, the museum presents 300,000 years of UAE history through artefacts and immersive exhibitions, combining heritage narratives with contemporary museum design. The selection highlights its role in Abu Dhabi’s wider cultural strategy, positioning the museum as a key landmark in the Emirates’ ambition to strengthen its global cultural profile. (Source: Abu Dhabi Media Office)
Transmission, Heritage, Crafts & Design
ARGENTINAFrom rolinga roots to Venice Biennale: La Chola Poblete’s hybrid language
La Chola Poblete, the Argentinian artist known for blending performance, painting and queer Indigenous imagery, reflects on her journey from Mendoza to the international art circuit, including Venice Biennale in 2024. Rolling Stone Argentina traces her evolution from “rolinga” youth culture into a visual language shaped by ancestry, politics and pop references. Her work challenges colonial histories and stereotypes, reworking religious and popular iconography into hybrid forms that resist fixed identity. At the Venice Biennale, it was framed within debates on migration, visibility and cultural displacement. (Source: Rolling Stone)
HAITIWearing heritage: Haiti’s identity on the Olympic stage
At the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Haiti’s debut was defined as much by visual presence as by athletic participation, with uniforms designed by Stella Jean turning the team into a cultural statement. The hand-painted outfits drew on Haitian heritage and challenged the muted aesthetics of winter sports. Framed as an “act of responsibility”, the uniforms positioned visibility itself as cultural affirmation. With just two athletes, Haiti’s appearance reframed the Olympic stage as a site where identity, diaspora and design intersect. (Source: Madamenoire)
UKRAINE & CZECH REPUBLICDigitising memory: protecting Ukraine’s heritage under fire
Prague’s National Museum deployed a mobile 3D digitisation lab to Ukraine to help safeguard cultural heritage at risk from the ongoing conflict. The van-based unit scans fragile objects and monuments on site, creating high-resolution digital records for documentation and future restoration. The initiative is part of broader efforts to protect Ukrainian heritage through rapid-response conservation, positioning technology as a means of preserving cultural memory in times of crisis. (Source: Radio Prague International)
Togetherness
AUSTRALIA Encounter as method: curating in dialogue
Artspace has relaunched its International Curators Program to support research-led exchange and long-term collaboration in contemporary art, bringing leading curators to Australia for studio visits and public programmes. The first guest curator is Naomi Beckwith, Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Guggenheim Museum and Artistic Director of documenta 16. The initiative reflects a broader shift towards curatorial exchange based on reciprocity, where international dialogue emerges from local contexts. (Source: Artspace)
INDIAWoven heritage: collective creation at Chanakya School
Chanakya School rejected the prevailing cult of the solo artist by anonymising individual makers, even as every team member is credited on a gallery wall. “I grew up with this collectivist approach to making art under my father’s guidance,” says Karishma Swali. The project, presented at Experimenter in Kolkata, unfolds as a layered meditation on textile as memory, archive and collective labour. Drawing on inherited craft traditions and women’s work, it uses embroidery, weaving and installation to trace lineages of knowledge embedded in material practice. (Source: Mint)
SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa)Art in the time of uncertainty: voices of peace from Bilad al-Sham to the Khaleej
This article featured artists from across Southwest Asia and North Africa whose practices respond to histories of conflict, displacement and fragility in the region. Through painting, photography and mixed media, their works reflect on lived experience while opening spaces for reflection, memory and resilience. Rather than offering a singular narrative of crisis, it highlighted how contemporary artists are using visual language to articulate shared questions of peace, survival and coexistence, positioning art as a form of dialogue. (Source: KHAMSA)
THE ART OF NAVIGATING THE UNKNOWN: A CONVERSATION WITH PANOS A. PANAY
Portrait written by Anaïs Aguerre, Founder and Director of Culture Connect
Some people stand out not because they speak more, but because they shift something when they do. That is what stayed with me when I first had the opportunity of working with Panos A. Panay on Culture Summit Abu Dhabi 2022. In a space full of strong perspectives and institutional voices, he had a way of letting things unfold - watching both the system and the individuals within it - before offering a thought that quietly reoriented the room. It was not about taking the floor, it was about moving it. It was not about providing answers but rather about making connections others hadn’t yet seen.
That quality is why Panos felt like an obvious choice for this second Cultural Bridge Builder portrait: not just because of the global roles he has held (founder and CEO of Sonicbids, co-founder of the Open Music Initiative, founder of the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship, Senior Vice President of Global Strategy and Innovation at Berklee College of Music, and now President of the Recording Academy) but because of how he works within complexity, holding different layers at once: systems and people, ideas and realities.
I recognised the same quality later as we were discussing in Nicosia, and again through a shared thread of work connected to Shenzhen. In my own projects there, the challenge was often to make different systems understand one another, to render visible what is not immediately legible. What Panos does, instinctively, is exactly that: he connects, translates and creates the conditions for something new to emerge.
When we sat down to talk, I asked him to go back to the beginning. He didn’t start with career milestones but with context. Growing up in post-war Cyprus, he describes a childhood marked by uncertainty. “That insecurity… gave me a backbone,” he told me. There is something striking in the idea that instability can become a form of grounding.
His family environment played a role in shaping that outlook. His mother worked with UNICEF, his father in government, eventually serving as Minister of the Interior. Their home was a meeting point of worlds: colleagues and visitors from different countries, conversations that extended beyond the Island. There was, early on, both a sense of rootedness and an openness to the outside.
That openness became more tangible when, at nineteen, he left for Boston. “I knew absolutely no one,” he recalls. 35 years ago: no mobile phones, no internet, just weekly (expensive) short phone calls home! Everything had to be built from scratch: “Whatever I accomplish… I will have to carve out my own direction.” It was not framed as risk at the time, more as necessity. But in retrospect, it reads as a defining leap.
His path since then has moved across continents and disciplines: music, technology, education, creative industries. From his work as a talent agent to co-founding initiatives like the Open Music Initiative, from shaping global campuses in Valencia and Abu Dhabi with Berklee to his position of President of the Recording Academy, the thread is less about sectors than about connection. As he puts it, “maybe the biggest strength that I have is to make connections… between things that to other people may seem disparate.”
That instinct is rooted in something personal. As a child, after spending time in Canada where his father completed his PhD, he returned to Cyprus and found himself out of place, unable to fully speak the language, slightly outside the rhythm of those around him. “I had this very strange experience of feeling like a foreigner in my own country.” It’s a small shift, but one that leaves a mark. From it comes a lasting awareness: “concepts are not static… they’re relative.”
You can hear how much that idea underpins the way he moves through the world. It allows him to sit comfortably across contexts - Europe, the United States, the Middle East - without expecting them to align. It also explains a certain ease with complexity. Not everything needs to be resolved. Some things need to be understood in relation.
Even his early relationship to music reflects this mindset. Discovering artists like Miles Davis or Charlie Parker required effort such as late nights listening to distant radio stations, asking for tapes to be brought back from abroad, piecing together fragments. “I had to work to find the music that I wanted to hear.” That process of searching, of connecting incomplete information, feels not so far from what he does today.
And yet, for all this movement, there is a steady return to the idea of roots, not as something restrictive, but as a grounding that allows you to move through the world with confidence and to meet the unknown and the unfamiliar with ease. “If you don’t have a strong sense of identity… it’s easy to get lost.” It’s a principle he applies equally to people and to institutions. Expanding globally is not about replication. “The idea is not to cut and paste something… but to take the DNA and watch how it adapts.” The success of an international project lies in its ability to evolve in a new environment: “you have to be open to the fact that this new thing you’re setting up will inherently be different, the same, but different.”
As our conversation moves to the present, we touch on technology, globalisation and the way music now circulates across borders instantly. He is clear-eyed about it. Technology enables, accelerates, amplifies but it doesn’t replace what matters most: “It will always have to be human-driven,” he says. The human connection, the curiosity, the respect: those remain unchanged.
Towards the end, the tone lightens. A quick-fire round, shorter answers. When asked about a work that captures cultural exchange, he mentions Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles, a moment where influences met before it became a formula. And when I ask for a book, expecting a title, he smiles: “A good old-fashioned world atlas.” Something to explore, to wander through, to imagine from.
It feels like a fitting image. Because what defines Panos A. Panay is not just where he has been, but how he moves: attentive, curious, anchored and open enough to let the unknown become part of the journey.
Our quick-fire round
1. When did ‘international’ first enter your life? Did you know then it would stick?
Very early on. I spent two years in Canada when I was about three, because my father was completing his PhD. I didn’t think of it as “international” at the time. It was just life, but it meant I grew up between two cultures from a very young age. When I returned to Cyprus, I actually felt like a foreigner in my own country for a while. I didn’t fully speak the language yet, and I had arrived slightly out of sync with everyone else at school. That early experience of moving between worlds stayed with me. I didn’t know then it would define my life, but in hindsight it did.
2. What’s the secret to a great international collaboration, and what do people gain from it?
Mutual respect and curiosity. A sense that no side is more valid than the other, whatever its size or type. Whether it is a government, a not-for-profit or a private institution, it only works when there is openness. What people gain is the ability to imagine. That spark that lets you see beyond your own frame because imagination needs something to respond to. Without that, it does not really exist.
3. Which projects best capture your international work? What’s next?
I’m very proud of the work at Berklee, whether in Abu Dhabi, Valencia or elsewhere, and of the Recording Academy’s expansion into regions such as the Middle East, Africa and Asia. These are platforms that create inspiration and reinforce a sense of shared humanity. I’ve met musicians across every continent. They are all different, yet also fundamentally the same: shaped by their environments but driven by the same aspirations, insecurities and motivations. As for what’s next, I always look forward. Ideally, it’s the next project I am about to encounter.
4. How do you see international collaboration evolving in today’s complex world?
Technology will play an even greater role as an enabler of collaboration. To unlock its full potential, it must be part of the process, but the work will always remain human at its core. It is that organic connection and shared humanity that ultimately makes collaboration meaningful.
5. Is there a work of art, song, performance or film that, for you, captures the essence of cultural exchange?
Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles. It is one of the earliest examples of boundaries dissolving, long before we had the language for it. The Beatles were exploring Eastern mysticism, influenced by figures such as the Maharishi and bringing those worlds together in a way that felt entirely new. More broadly, I also see cultural exchange across fashion, food and design whether it is Japanese influence in London fashion or encountering cuisines that carry the imprint of entirely different cultures. Creativity moves far beyond music alone.
6. One book you’d press into someone’s hands to spark their curiosity about the world?
A good old-fashioned world atlas. Not something to read cover to cover, but to open at random and realise how much exists beyond your own perspective.
Our Reading Recommendation
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers was published two decades ago. Yet, it feels more urgent than ever to read it as questions of difference, belonging and global interdependence are intensifying while also becoming harder to live by. The philosopher, who grew up between the UK and Ghana and now teaches and lives in the United States, returns to the ancient idea of cosmopolitanism, “citizen of the cosmos”, tracing its origins to the Cynics of the fourth century BC, who questioned narrow loyalty to the polis or city.
At its heart, the book confronts a persistent contemporary dilemma: our tendency, when working and living across cultures, to focus on what divides rather than what connects us. Appiah resists this pull towards separation, insisting instead on the possibility of ethical life built through conversation, respect and curiosity across boundaries.
The result is both a provocation and a guide offering a framework for thinking and working together more openly, attentively and responsibly in an increasingly interconnected world. Still deeply relevant, it invites readers not only to understand cosmopolitanism, but to practise it. This makes it particularly useful for those working in the cultural field across borders, where collaboration, exchange and translation between different contexts are increasingly central to how cultural work is made and shared.